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When Mike Schaefer set the SUNY Niagara all-time RBI record on May 9, he might not have known that his record was only going to stand for three days.
But, that is the reality of the situation after his teammate Dalton Harper broke his record. Now the two sophomores have started a friendly rivalry that fits into the backdrop of what they hope is the best season in program history.
The two plan to keep the chase going for as long as they possibly can because that means the Thunderwolves are going even further in the NJCAA Division III World Series.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Schaefer said. “Me and him have been competing for a lot of records here so that keeps us going and it creates a little battle between us, which is fun.”
On May 9, Schaefer went 1-for-3 with three RBIs to set the program record for most RBIs in a career with 116. Now he sits one behind Harper, who has 121 RBIs.
“It’s a cool thing,” Schaefer said. “That’s my job here, to score runs and it’s just great that I accomplished that. I’ll get it back too.”
Throughout this season, Schaefer had no idea how far or how close he was to the record until he set it against Jefferson Community College and saw the social media post after the game.
Now that Harper has set the record, the two have contributed 155 of the team’s 536 RBIs this season. While Harper leads the team with 83 runs batted in, Schaefer is not far behind with 72.
“I think it just helps that you have multiple people that can drive in runners,” Harper said. “The way to win games is to score runs and the more people you have on your team that can do that job, it makes it easier to win baseball games.”
As the two now compete for the record at the World Series they are concentrating more on team success rather than their statistical achievements. However, they are having a friendly competition to try to finish their career with the record.
They want to win the program’s first ever national championship, starting Saturday in Johnson City, Tennessee.
In order to do that, they need Schaefer to continue to play like he has been playing this season. During his sophomore season, Schaefer is hitting .395 with three home runs and 72 RBIs. The sophomore also has a .919 fielding percentage as an infielder.
This season, Schaefer has been incredibly durable playing in 56 of his team’s 58 games while getting a hit in 46 of them.
“It makes my job a lot easier,” SUNY Niagara head coach Matt Clingersmith said. “It makes our coaching staff, our offensive guys, our assistants job a lot easier. It makes our team feel comfortable. ‘Hey, we just gotta get on base.’ They don’t try to do too much because they know Mikey and Dalton will hit them in.”
After a freshman season in which he hit .437 with two home runs and 48 RBIs and 59 runs, Schaefer has grown a tremendous amount on the field and off of it.
“I’ve grown a lot coming to (SUNY Niagara),” Schaefer said. “I think I matured a lot. I learned how to play the game a lot better with having fun and not stressing over every at bat and just playing the game the right way. I think that’s what helped me a lot and especially getting in the gym and working out with all my friends and creating new connections that made me a better player today.”
Now that the infielder’s Thunderwolves career is nearing its end, he is thinking about the future and it just so happens to include the player whose RBI record he broke.
After breaking former teammate Gavyn Boyle’s RBI record, Schaefer is joining Boyle at the next level when he heads to the University of Southern Indiana in the fall. In the lead-up to committing to the Ohio Valley Conference school, the two friends talked and Boyle gave Schaefer advice on what it is like to play at the school.
Schaefer committed to Southern Indiana after taking one visit to the school and decided to commit because of the program’s commitment to winning and the fact that he was told that he was going to be a starter from day one.
Despite the two having a friendship, Schaefer and Boyle have not talked about the RBI record in the days since it was broken and instead are busy with their respective playoff pushes.
When he looks ahead, Clingersmith knows that Schaefer has the potential to take the sport as far as he wants to take it.
“Hopefully it’s further than college baseball,” Clingersmith said about Schaefer’s potential. “I do believe he has that ability. When you get to D-I … it’s a little bit better pitching at times than junior college and you gotta go do that at that next level consistently, which I think he will and hopefully he gets a chance, another kid in Western New York playing professional baseball at some level and I think that’s the goal.”
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But, that is the reality of the situation after his teammate Dalton Harper broke his record. Now the two sophomores have started a friendly rivalry that fits into the backdrop of what they hope is the best season in program history.
The two plan to keep the chase going for as long as they possibly can because that means the Thunderwolves are going even further in the NJCAA Division III World Series.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Schaefer said. “Me and him have been competing for a lot of records here so that keeps us going and it creates a little battle between us, which is fun.”
On May 9, Schaefer went 1-for-3 with three RBIs to set the program record for most RBIs in a career with 116. Now he sits one behind Harper, who has 121 RBIs.
“It’s a cool thing,” Schaefer said. “That’s my job here, to score runs and it’s just great that I accomplished that. I’ll get it back too.”
Throughout this season, Schaefer had no idea how far or how close he was to the record until he set it against Jefferson Community College and saw the social media post after the game.
Now that Harper has set the record, the two have contributed 155 of the team’s 536 RBIs this season. While Harper leads the team with 83 runs batted in, Schaefer is not far behind with 72.
“I think it just helps that you have multiple people that can drive in runners,” Harper said. “The way to win games is to score runs and the more people you have on your team that can do that job, it makes it easier to win baseball games.”
As the two now compete for the record at the World Series they are concentrating more on team success rather than their statistical achievements. However, they are having a friendly competition to try to finish their career with the record.
They want to win the program’s first ever national championship, starting Saturday in Johnson City, Tennessee.
In order to do that, they need Schaefer to continue to play like he has been playing this season. During his sophomore season, Schaefer is hitting .395 with three home runs and 72 RBIs. The sophomore also has a .919 fielding percentage as an infielder.
This season, Schaefer has been incredibly durable playing in 56 of his team’s 58 games while getting a hit in 46 of them.
“It makes my job a lot easier,” SUNY Niagara head coach Matt Clingersmith said. “It makes our coaching staff, our offensive guys, our assistants job a lot easier. It makes our team feel comfortable. ‘Hey, we just gotta get on base.’ They don’t try to do too much because they know Mikey and Dalton will hit them in.”
After a freshman season in which he hit .437 with two home runs and 48 RBIs and 59 runs, Schaefer has grown a tremendous amount on the field and off of it.
“I’ve grown a lot coming to (SUNY Niagara),” Schaefer said. “I think I matured a lot. I learned how to play the game a lot better with having fun and not stressing over every at bat and just playing the game the right way. I think that’s what helped me a lot and especially getting in the gym and working out with all my friends and creating new connections that made me a better player today.”
Now that the infielder’s Thunderwolves career is nearing its end, he is thinking about the future and it just so happens to include the player whose RBI record he broke.
After breaking former teammate Gavyn Boyle’s RBI record, Schaefer is joining Boyle at the next level when he heads to the University of Southern Indiana in the fall. In the lead-up to committing to the Ohio Valley Conference school, the two friends talked and Boyle gave Schaefer advice on what it is like to play at the school.
Schaefer committed to Southern Indiana after taking one visit to the school and decided to commit because of the program’s commitment to winning and the fact that he was told that he was going to be a starter from day one.
Despite the two having a friendship, Schaefer and Boyle have not talked about the RBI record in the days since it was broken and instead are busy with their respective playoff pushes.
When he looks ahead, Clingersmith knows that Schaefer has the potential to take the sport as far as he wants to take it.
“Hopefully it’s further than college baseball,” Clingersmith said about Schaefer’s potential. “I do believe he has that ability. When you get to D-I … it’s a little bit better pitching at times than junior college and you gotta go do that at that next level consistently, which I think he will and hopefully he gets a chance, another kid in Western New York playing professional baseball at some level and I think that’s the goal.”
Continue reading...
