 Since
1994, Hope College has won nine Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
(MIAA) championships and appeared in the NCAA tournament four times
under coach Stuart (Stu) Fritz < fritz@hope.edu >.
He has guided the Flying Dutchmen to
MIAA Championships in 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003,
2006, 2007 and 2013. The nine league championships places Fritz in a tie for the most MIAA baseball titles by a coach, sharing the honor with Frank Joranko of Albion (1973-95). The Flying Dutchmen have appeared in the NCAA
Division
III championships in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2007. His collegiate
coaching record through the 2013 season is 435-313-2.
His teams have won more than two-thirds of their MIAA
conference games (312-156, .667). He is also an assistant
professor of kinesiology.
Coach Fritz has chaired the NCAA championships national committee.
From 1996 to 1998 he coached a youth
team through the Roberto Clemente All-Stars program in
San Juan, Puerto Rico during the summer. In the summer
of 2001 he coached a U.S. youth allstar team in Australia.
The 2007 Hope team played in the 26th annual "Prague
Baseball Week" tournament in the Czech Republic. He is
currently president of the Division III section of the
American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and serves
on the organization's executive committee.
Prior to coming to Hope, Fritz taught
in the Humboldt, Iowa school system. He was an elementary
physical education teacher, the high school baseball
coach and offensive coordinator for the high school football
team.
He is a 1988 graduate of Wartburg College
where he lettered in football and baseball. He received
the masters degree in sports administration from the
University of Northern Colorado in 1992. In 1998 his
alma mater honored him as Wartburg's Alumni Coach of
the Year.
His wife Carol is a member of the Hope
College admissions staff. They have a son, Tucker.
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