On March 9, junior Chris Haddeland brought home the Ad Rutschman award. Ad Rutschman, a legendary Linfield College football coach and college football Hall of Fame member, created an award to honor student-athletes that have accumulated an array of achievements.
The criteria for this award included winning a qualifier, medaling, being All-American First-Team Individual, National Champion, and/or Athletic Conference player of the year. However, this list is short in comparison to Haddeland’s impressive resume.
Haddeland, the Wildcats’ ace pitcher, has been named National Pitcher of the year by both the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com, was noted as the Austin Regional Most Outstanding Player, all-West Region and Northwest Conference pitcher of the year, and led the Wildcats’ to their National Championship last season.
“Winning the award was sweet. It’s a great reflection of our program and the great season we had last year,” Haddeland said.
Haddeland has been playing baseball since he was 4-years-old and continues to find joy in his passion for the game.
“I started in Tee ball and just kept playing through, [I] played for McMinnville High School and ended up playing here. Once I got here it was a shock. The competition was pretty good and I had a mediocre first season so I worked really hard in the offseason to get stronger and better so that I could have the confidence to be that go-to guy,” Haddeland said.
Today, there is no doubt that Haddeland has achieved his goals of being a star pitcher. His work ethic, alongside his skill level, has brought him tremendous success.
“It’s not about what you do during the season. It’s what you do during the pre-season; getting stronger, working on your pitches, and preventing injury. You get what you’re given and you work on it–try to perfect what you already have,” Haddeland said. Haddeland does not take all the credit. His teammates and coaches have been vital instruments to his improvements and successes on the mound.
“My teammates are great. They always have my back. They play really good defense which is why I’ve been so successful—they make me look a lot better than I am,” Haddeland said. “My coaches have been great. They’ve helped me work out any mechanical issues I’ve had and they’ve helped me to develop into the player I am today.”
With the 2014 season already going, there is no doubt that Linfield will be seeing more of Haddeland in the future. His role on the team is vital to their successes and is a constant strength to the ’Cats baseball team.
“Talent wise, we’re definitely there,” Haddeland said. “We have a good chance to get back to the championship game. But we need to take care of conference first. There’s some good teams and we just need to focus on one weekend at a time.”
While only time will tell whether the Wildcats will repeat their title last year, there’s no question that Haddeland has high hopes and expectations for himself and this team.
Casie Gaza/Senior sports reporter
