Updated after 2007 season

Historic Moments and Notable Performances

• The first recorded Hope baseball game occurred on June 6, 1872. The Flying Dutchmen defeated the Grand Haven Eagle Club 30-12. It was also the first recorded Hope athletic event in any sport.

• Hope's first MIAA season was the spring of 1927. The Flying Dutchmen finished third in their inaugural season. Baseball was dropped as an MIAA-sponsored sport from 1930 through 1947.

• The format of MIAA games changed from single games to doubleheaders in 1956 and to a three-game series format in 1992. An expanded 28-game league schedule began with the 2006 season. The schedule now exists of home-and-away doubleheaders against each team.

• Five Hope players have signed major league baseball contracts over the years -- John Lavan (St. Louis Browns, 1911); Jim Poppen (Baltimore Orioles, 1925); William "Bill" Rink (Philadelphia Phillies, 1955); Jim Kaat (Washington Senators, 1957); Joey Bosworth (Kansas City, 1964).

• John Lavan, Class of 1908, went on to earn a degree in medicine from the University of Michigan. According to the Society for American Baseball Research, Lavan was one of a small group of Major League players (25 between 1876 and 1991) to practice medicine. Lavan was a shortstop who played on four different teams over 11 seasons, ending his career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1919-24). He began his medical practice in 1927, pursuing his longstanding interest in public health. He gained national recognition as the director of social hygiene at clinics in St. Louis, Kansas City, Toledo and other cities. During World War II, he served as commander of the Brooklyn Naval Hospital and later became the director of research for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Born in Grand Rapids, he died at the age of 61 in 1952. He is one of 16 Major League players buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

• Sherwood VanderWoude pitched all 13 innings in a 3-2 loss to Calvin, 5/2/60

• Three pitchers -- Don Kroodsma, Mark Johnson and Gary Frens -- combined to strike out 18 batters over seven innings in a 5-2 victory over Goshen, 4/5/68

• Jim Bultman reached base six consecutive times in a game -- four walks, a single and one hit-by-pitch -- versus Union, Ky., 4/4/62

• Jim Van Til struck out 10 consecutive batters, striking out the side in the first, second and third innings and first batter in fourth inning in 6-5 win over Calvin, 5/15/62. (It should be noted that Van Til also walked nine consecutive batters later in the same game.)

• Hope's first game on its current field was a 1-0 nine inning victory over Ferris State on 4/18/63. Glenn Van Wieren single home the winning run scoring Jim Bultman from third. Joey Bosworth pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

• Catcher Art Kramer caught four baserunners trying to steal in a 5-4 victory over Alma, 4/27/63

• The first recorded no-hitter in Hope baseball history was thrown by Don Kroodsma, a 17-0 whitewashing on Alma on 4/24/65. He followed with a pair of one-hitters versus Albion (4/28/65) and Olivet (5/1/65).

• Cal Beltman stole home in the final game of the 1966 season to give Hope a 3-2 victory over Adrian and clinch the MIAA championship. It was the second time Beltman had stolen home that season.

• Three Central Michigan University pitchers struck out 20 Hope batters in a seven-inning game won 3-0 by the Chippewas in 1967.

• Twice in one season (1968), Gary Frens pitched both victories in a doubleheader. Against Kalamazoo on 5/3/69, Frens was the starter and left in the sixth inning with Hope ahead 5-0. Fortunately he didn't leave the lineup, moving to rightfield. Kalamazoo rallied in the seventh and had the bases loaded when Frens returned to the mound to get the final out. In the second game, he gained the win in relief, not only through his pitching, but by delivering the game-winning single with two outs in the seventh. On 5/14/69 Frens gained both victories in a doubleheader with Alma, first as a starter and in the second game in relief. Frens pitched a league record seven victories and was also the league's leading batter.

• The longest game in Hope baseball was a 16-inning 2-1 loss to Albion in 1969. Gary Frens pitched all 16 innings.

• In 1984, Randy Cutler became the first player in MIAA baseball history to win back-to-back league batting championship. He won the 1984 crown (.450) in dramatic fashion by getting a hit in his final at-bat for the season. He batted .500 in 1983 league games.

• Just seven years later, Vic Breithaupt set MIAA history by winning the league batting championship for a third consecutive year -- 1989 (.487), 1990 (.500) and 1991 (.486). He gained notoriety for his achievement by being included in the Faces of the Crowd feature of "Sports Illustrated" magazine.

• The Flying Dutchmen have appeared in the NCAA Division III championship tournament four times -- 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2007.

• Pitcher Kenny Bart picked three runners off first base in an NCAA tournament game against Anderson, May 16, 2003.

• B.J. Maas hit two walk-off grand slam homeruns in the 2002 season. He had two more grand slam homeruns in 2003 enroute to a Hope career record 30.

• The Flying Dutchmen turned a triple play in an 8-1 victory over Kalamazoo on April 15, 2005. Shortstop Mike VanderVelde snatched a liner headed for leftfield, wheeled around to catch the runner trying to return to second base. There, second baseman Jon Edmondson took the throw and then fired to first baseman Kyle Trapp whose catch just beat the Kalamazoo baserunner. Just two weeks later, the Flying Dutchmen were the victim of a triple play by Tri-State.

• Brothers Mike and Matt VanderVelde were both voted to the 2007 All-MIAA baseball team. It marked the fourth time that brothers on the Hope baseball team achieved All-MIAA honors. The others: John (1986) and Jim (1987 & 1988) Klunder; Roger (1966) and Don (1965, 1966 & 1967) Kroodsma; and Jim (1971 & 1972) and Bob (1973 & 1974) Lamer.

• Nine pitchers combined to throw a three-hit shutout as the Flying Dutchmen, playing their first game-ever on foreign soil, blanked the Swedish National team 5-0 in a “friendly” game in Prague, The Czech Republic on June 25, 2007. Few games in the 137-year history of Hope baseball had as much historical significance as this contest as the Flying Dutchmen played an international opponent for the first time and in a stadium nearly 4,500 miles from Holland, Mich. Nine pitchers, each throwing for one inning, was also unpredecented. Each threw a single inning in a pre-determined rotation. Hope’s unique pitching rotation began with Shawn Grose followed, inning-by-inning, by 2. Matt Richardson, 3. Mike Rodgers, 4. Brian Guerriero, 5. Pete Zessin, 6. Steve Tompkins, 7. Matt Schrader, 8. Anthony Pastrick, and 9. Michael Dekker.

• The 2007 trip to Prague also marked another first -- the Flying Dutchmen played in their first-ever nationally televised game. The game on national Czech television began with the U.S. Ambassador to The Czech Republic, Richard Braber, throwing out the first pitch. Hope won the game 10-3.