The Hope College baseball team made coach Stu Fritz one of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's all-time leaders by winning a share of the 2013 MIAA title.
The league championship was the ninth in 20 seasons under Fritz. He tied for the most MIAA baseball crowns coached with Albion College's Frank Joranko (1973-95). It also was the 22nd MIAA baseball title in Hope history.
The Flying Dutchmen finished 2013 with a 27-15 overall record and a 20-8 mark in MIAA play. The season brought several postseason honors for Hope as well.
Senior TJ Klein of Circle Pines, Minn. (Centennial HS) was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings all-region team. He was picked to the second team in the Mideast region which represents NCAA Division III schools in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
A three-year starter in centerfield, Klein was co-captain of the team as a junior and senior. He received All-MIAA honors for three seasons, second team in his sophomore and junior years and first team as a senior. Klein batted .365 with a team-leading 50 hits in 2013.
Klein ended his career with a .346 batting average, ranking among the all-time Hope leaders in several categories, including runs scored (fourth-118), hits (fifth-161), stolen bases (fifth-30) and RBIs (eight-85). His career fielding average was a stellar .988. The Flying Dutchmen over his career posted 105 wins, the most in any four-year stretch for Hope baseball history
Klein also received First Team All-MIAA honors, along with freshman second baseman Brady VanderWeele of Kalamazoo (Parchment HS). VanderWeele is the only first-year player named to the All-MIAA first team. Second-team selections were junior catcher Eric Vachon of Sterling Heights (Warren De La Salle HS), junior third baseman Eric Dawson of Grand Haven (Midland HS), junior outfielder Tim Bodine of Gurnee, Ill. (Warren Township HS), senior pitcher (utility player) Jordan Carrigan of Buchanan (Berrien Springs HS), and senior Cory Schmidt of Milan, Ohio (Edison HS).
