By Raymond G. Hebert, PhD
Thomas More University
Traditionally, when remembering Thomas More Athletics in the 1990s, most of the focus is on the beginning of the new Football program and especially its incredible undefeated Year II team in 1991.
Simultaneously, however, and often forgotten, the next few decades and into the 21st century also showed great success in both basketball (see this NKyTribune column) and baseball. In baseball, the head coaches were Dave Russo (1991–1994), Todd Asalon (1995–2000) and Jeff Hetzer (2001–2020).
David Meier and Coach Dave Russo, after the 1994 AMC Conference Championship, May 1994. (Courtesy of David Meier)
The first of those periods were transition years under coach Dave Russo. A glance at NCAA Official Statistics, Press Releases, Record Books, and Newspaper Articles (Kentucky Post) reveals the following:
• The team was the 1992 Division III National Team Batting Champions with a Team Composite Batting Average of .372;
• Russo’s squad was the 1993 and 1994 AMC Regular Conference Champions; and the 1994 AMC Tournament Conference Champions;
• In 1994 the 29 team wins were the most by a Thomas More intercollegiate team to that time;
• The 1991–1994 overall coaching record of 88-41 for Coach Russo, for a .682 winning percentage was the highest to that point for a comparable period;
Todd Asalon, Thomas More Baseball Coach from 1995–2000. (Thomas More University Athletics)
• In his two final years of 1993 and 1994, Coach Russo was named AMC Coach of the Year, with the two highest winning percentages in school history;
• As the team’s Most Valuable Player, David Meier was the AMC Player of the Year, and an American Baseball Coaches Association 2nd Team NCAA Division III All Mideast Region Selection (the first in school history);
• In 1994, David Meier’s Season Earned Run Average (ERA) was 0.32, which still remains a school record for a Single-Season ERA.
Coach Russo praised his team’s success referring to it as a “pleasant surprise,” adding proudly: “They just go out and make the routine plays, catch the ball, and do all the little things that help you win ball games” (Series of newspaper articles by David Schumacher in the Kentucky Post, 1993–1994). Quietly and confidently, it was these well-coached, fundamentally sound Russo-era team successes in the 1990s that provided the catalyst for the later achievements of the Todd Asalon and Jeff Hetzer teams that followed.
Robby Kramer, third baseman for Thomas More. He played for the baseball team from 1998–2002. (Thomas More University Athletics)
In 2020, at the Thomas More University Hall of Fame induction, the final honoree (that year’s “Team of Distinction”) was the 2000 men’s baseball team, coached by Todd Asalon. They were representative of the fast-moving 1990s, the decade that would bring football and a new Convocation Center to campus, as well as a consistent, ongoing successful baseball program.
“The 2000 Thomas More baseball team was coached by Todd Asalon and had a 32-13 record, which was a single-season record for wins at the time and made the first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship. The Saints were the fifth seed in the Mideast Regional and played their opening game at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Akron, Ohio. During the season, the team got off to a 27-4 start and were ranked No. 25 in the nation after winning 19 of 20 at one point in the season” (TMU Athletic Hall of Fame Website).
There is much to highlight from that season, which was the fourth in a row with 20 wins under Coach Asalon, highlighted by the 32 victories and the school’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. According to the “2000 Season Review” on the TMU Athletic Department website:
Adam Freeman, pitcher for Thomas More, played for the baseball team from 1998–2002. (Thomas More University Athletics)
“Marc McMannon (Moeller H.S.) led the team with a .374 batting average. The starting centerfielder started all 45 games last season. Marc led the team in doubles (15), triples (2), base on balls (24), stolen bases (23), and sacrifices (8). He was second on the team in hits with 55.
“Junior College transfer, Jarod Kees (Covington Catholic H.S.), also had a great season for the Saints. Jarod led the team in runs scored (47), hits (60), and slugging percentage (.647). He was also second in batting average (.373), doubles (13), HR’s (9), RBI’s (44), and total bases (100).
“Third baseman, Robby Kramer, had a standout season as well. Robby started all 45 games and hit .337 while leading the team in at-bats (172), HR’s (10), RBI’s (48), and total bases (103). He was also second in hits (58), doubles (13), triples (1), and slugging percentage (.633).
“The pitching staff was paced by Chris Booth and Adam Freeman, who both registered 8 wins.
“Freeman led the team in ERA (2.93), strikeouts (58), complete games (7), shutouts (1), and tied for first in appearances (14). He also finished second in innings pitched (67 2/3), and games started (9).
“Booth led the team in innings pitched (68 1/3) and tied for first in appearances (14). He finished second in ERA (3.56), strikeouts (53), games started (9), and complete games (6).”
Noah Welte, second baseman/center fielder for Thomas More, played for the baseball team from 2001–2005. (Thomas More University Athletics)
From that team, the Hall of Fame members were Bobby Kramer and Adam Freeman, both inducted in the team’s 10th anniversary year in 2010.
Other highlights of the year were victories in two tournaments: the Wittenberg tournament with a 6-0 record and the MacMurray Invitational, which precipitated the national ranking at #25 four days later. On May 6, the school’s single-season record was set with a sweep of ranked Rose-Hulman, which was followed by the first-ever tournament bid on May 17 and on May 19, the first- ever NCAA tournament win, beating Calvin University 10-5. Not to be forgotten from early in the year, on March 6, was Pat Eagan’s complete game no-hitter against Clark University. Coincidentally, Pat Eagan returned to Thomas More after earning an MA in History from the University of Cincinnati as a History Department adjunct and Assistant Baseball Coach. Currently, Eagan serves as Assistant Professor of History as well as Assistant Women’s Softball Coach.
Interestingly, it was timing that was crucial for catapulting that 2000 team into national conversations with tournament championships, a streak of 19 wins in 20 games, and key victories within the top seeds in the Mideast Region. The result was a 5th seed after defeating, at the end of the schedule, the sixth-ranked team, Anderson University. The NCAA bid was received on May 17 and the first NCAA tournament victory came two days later on May 19. A loss followed the next day on May 20, 2000, but it had been a season to remember that would jumpstart the Men’s Baseball Program into a successful 21st century. Among the leaders on that talented team were Robby Kramer, Adam Freeman, Pat Eagan, Brad Beimesche, Zach Zoz, Brad Voegele, and Marlon Styles (the only senior), who is currently the Superintendent of the Middletown, Ohio schools.
Brad Thoma, hitter for Thomas More, played for the baseball team from 2003–2006. (Thomas More University Athletics)
Another component of that team’s success was its direct link to Coach Asalon’s success. With a background as an assistant for the Northern Kentucky Norse baseball program from 1991–1994, he was recommended for the Head Coach’s position at Thomas More, a position he held from 1995–2000. In his first year of 1995, he was named Association of Mideast Colleges Conference Coach of the Year, had success in all five of his years and even served as athletic director for two of those years (“Todd Asalon,” Northern Kentucky Athletics website Men’s Baseball – History). Not surprisingly, the success in 2000 was followed by Asalon becoming the Head Coach of the Northern Kentucky University Norse in 2001 where he has since coached for twenty years, even recently taking the Norse to Division I status as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Prior to that year, he had guided NKU to the NCAA Division III Tournament eight times. Similar to his immediate success at Thomas More, Asalon won his first Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Coach of the Year in 2002 and repeated as GVLC Coach of the Year in 2006, 2009, and 2010. He retired from NKU in 2021 with an overall head coaching record of 564-581-1. Typical of Todd Asalon’s legacy, at the time of his retirement, when praised for his track record of over two decades by the NKU Athletic Director (Ken Bothof), he said: “Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of coaching many incredible young men and working with loyal, dedicated coaches . . . The most rewarding part of this job has been witnessing the growth and development of young men both off and on the field” (“NKU baseball coach to retire at the end of this season,” Cincinnati.com/The Enquirer, February 26, 2021). Whether at NKU or TMC, Todd Asalon was always a class act, and Thomas More was fortunate to have had him as Head Baseball Coach from 1995–2000.
Meanwhile, NKU’s gifts to Thomas More men’s baseball did not end with Todd Asalon since his successor, Jeff Hetzer, also arrived with NKU roots and, ironically, like Coach Asalon, had been a player, assistant coach for four years and graduate at NKU before accepting the position at Thomas More as the head coach. Comparably, just as Coach Asalon transformed the NKU program over his twenty years there so did Coach Hetzer do the same at Thomas More. For his first two years he still had Robby Kramer (’02) and Adam Freeman (’02) and even in a rebuilding year the 2003 team established a new single-season record for wins with 33 victories.
Jeff Hetzer was the head baseball coach from 2000–2019. He is the winningest coach in the baseball program’s history. Hetzer now works as the associate athletic director. (Thomas More University Athletics)
Meanwhile, symbolic of the talent from the 2000 team, their two Hall of Famers (Kramer and Freeman) showed their lasting power and consistency by the way they continued to produce until they graduated in 2002:
• Robby Kramer was one of the best hitters in the history of Thomas More baseball for many years holding the career records for home runs (38) and runs batted in with 59. He remained top-ten in these categories and also runs scored (128), at-bats (456) and career hits with 163 (Hall of Fame Induction Biographical Sketch).
• Adam Freeman was, in a comparable assessment, “one of the top pitchers ever to take the mound for the Saints. He owned the school record for strikeouts with 217 and the most complete games in school history with 21 at the time of induction,” is in the top-five in career wins with 22, innings pitched with 227, career shutouts with two and Earned Run Average with an ERA of 3.45. Among his achievements was a no-hitter against Centre in 2002 and a repeat in that year (2002) of his All-Mideast Region selection, similar to 2000.
These two were among Coach Hetzer’s leaders just as they had been for Coach Asalon.
Interestingly, though, the early team of Hetzer’s to surpass the single-season victory record, as noted above, was the 2003 team, led by two other Hall of Famers: Brad Thoma and Noah Welte:
• “Thoma (’06) played baseball for the Saints from 2003–2006 and was one of the top hitters in school history as he was in the top-ten in nine categories of the Thomas More career batting record book” – and top-5 in most. His 19 home runs, 48 doubles, and 143 runs batted in are a sign of his versatility (Hall of Fame Induction Biographical Sketch).
• Welte (’05) also ranks in the top-ten in several categories as well. This speedy second baseman/center fielder was invaluable at getting hits (197), stealing bases (46), and scoring runs (146). After earning his law degree at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law (NKU), Noah returned to work at Thomas More since 2015 and, in March of 2021, he was named Assistant Vice President for University Operations while also continuing to work as the University’s Legal Counsel.
Jeremy Martin is the current head baseball coach for Thomas More. Since 2000, Martin had served as the assistant coach and in 2019 he was promoted to head baseball coach. (Thomas More University Athletics)
Of course, every season of Jeff Hetzer’s nineteen years had players of similar caliber and consistency because it coincided with his coaching style and his devotion to finding ways for his players to be the best they could be—which is why as examples, after earning advanced degrees, Pat Eagan and Noah Welte wanted to return to be part of the culture that had nurtured coaches Asalon and Hetzer. Not surprisingly, his success did not stop after those initial years. When President Joseph Chillo and Athletic Director Terry Connor announced on June 11, 2019 that Hetzer, after nineteen years in the dugout, would be moving into a role as full-time Associate Athletic Director, it was the same overall confidence in the future of the institution that had influenced his proteges, Pat Eagan and Noah Welte before him.
Looking back at Hetzer’s legacy, “a total of 104 players were named all-conference under Hetzer, including 40 named first-team all-conference. He coached four President’s Athletic Conference Players of the Year (Brad Thoma – 2006; Andrew Thole – 2011; Donovan Pogue – 2005; and Ben Laumann – 2018) as well as one PAC Pitcher of the Year (Paul Uhl – 2010). During Hetzer’s tenure, 39 Saints were named all-region (ABCA) and seven earned All-America honors” (“Thomas More’s Hetzer moves to full-time associate AD role, Jeremy Martin promoted to baseball head coach,” Northern Kentucky Tribune, June 12, 2019). The Tribune also added that Hetzer had coached two prestigious NCAA post-graduate scholarship recipients (Pat Eagan 2001 and Chris Fishburn 2010), 13 academic all-district players and six Google Cloud Academic All-Americans, showing that the student side of the athlete was as important to him as the baseball player. Not accidentally, during his 19 years he was “named the ABCA Conference Coach of the Year in 2008, 2011, and 2015 as well as the PAC Coach of the Year in 2011, 2014, 2016, and 2018.” Most significantly, as a reflection of his consistency, his teams went to the NCAA tournament seven times during his tenure, with one regional final and five regional semi-final appearances.
Most telling as a reminder of his tenure, were his words on the day of his promotion as he thanked all who had brought him to that point saying: “I will forever be grateful to those who have helped make Thomas More Baseball what it is today – a family. I’m excited to transition to a full-time administrative role and see Coach Martin put his mark on the baseball program as we move forward.”
Coach Hetzer’s words rang especially true that day for consistently recognizing his closeness with Jeremy Martin who was making his move to head coach after serving for the previous twenty years as the team’s pitching coach. Over those years, his pitchers had earned an impressive .639 winning percentage. As noted in the Tribune, “he had coached 27 All-PAC pitchers with one being Pitcher of the Year (Uhl) and seven of the pitchers had been named All-Region with one being named second-team All-America by d3baseball.com. Clearly, just as Jeff Hetzer had earned his promotion so had Jeremy Martin. The Thomas More University Men’s Baseball Team has remained in good hands with Coach Martin at the helm.
Dr. Raymond G. Hebert is Professor of History and Executive Director of the William T. Robinson III Institute for Religious Liberty at Thomas More University. He is the leading author of Thomas More University at 100: Purpose, People, and Pathways to Student Success (2023). The book can be purchased by contacting the Thomas More University Bookstore at 859-344-3335. Dr. Hebert can be contacted at hebertr@thomasmore.edu.
Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Editor of the “Our Rich History” weekly series and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). He also serves as Director of the ORVILLE Project (Ohio River Valley Innovation Library and Learning Enrichment), as well as Editor of the forthcoming ORVIE (Ohio River Valley Innovation Explorer), premiering in Summer 2024. ORVIE is now recruiting authors for entries on all aspects of innovation in the Ohio River Watershed including: Cincinnati (OH) and Northern Kentucky; Ashland, Lexington, Louisville, Maysville, Owensboro and Paducah (KY); Columbus, Dayton, Marietta, Portsmouth, and Steubenville (OH); Evansville, Madison and Indianapolis (IN), Pittsburgh (PA), Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg, and Wheeling (WV), Cairo (IL), and Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville (TN). If you would like to be involved in ORVILLE or ORVIE, please contact Paul Tenkotte at tenkottep@nku.edu.
