The Hillsdale College baseball team had to battle against an extremely tough schedule in the 2024 season.
The Chargers played multiple contests against six of the seven teams that made up the Midwest Regional field, as well as four games against a Wayne State team that just missed the tournament and spent most of the year nationally ranked.
Despite the challenges, Hillsdale held its own, taking games off of five of those seven top teams and hanging in late in most games. While Hillsdale finished with a 21-28 record overall, the Chargers were just a few pitches away throughout the season from potentially flipping that record, making the G-MAC Tournament and giving themselves a chance at a postseason run.
Hillsdale's 2024 campaign also played host to one of the best individual performances in program history, as junior first baseman Will Shannon became just the program's sixth All-American in 34 years of NCAA Division II baseball, and just the third conference player of the year in program history.
Despite missing Hillsdale's first seven games with an injury, Shannon put up incredible numbers in 2024 to lead the Chargers in virtually every hitting category, finishing with a team-high 63 hits, 14 doubles, 15 home runs and 52 RBIs while scoring 50 runs and drawing 27 walks. Shannon's .838 slugging percentage is second only to Jeff DePorter's .848 in 1988 for a single season in program history, and for a single season the junior's 2024 campaign ranks seventh in batting average (.426), sixth in runs scored (50), ninth in doubles (14), third in home runs (15) and sixth in RBIs (52).
2024 also marked the final season for a 15-player senior class that left its mark all over the Hillsdale College baseball record books. Designated hitter Jeff Landis graduated second all-time in program history in home runs (43) and RBIs (171), and also finished fourth in career doubles (39), sixth in career walks (81) and ninth in career hits (195).
Close behind Landis in several categories was fellow graduate Joe Hardenbergh, who finished his career third at Hillsdale in home runs (40) and RBIs (143), sixth in doubles (38), ninth in runs scored (122) and 10th in hits (189).
Also leaving a mark on Hillsdale's record books was graduate outfielder Danny Passinault, who finished his career third in runs scored (142), fifth in hits (199), eighth in walks (80) and ninth in RBIs (111), and Jaekob Sallee, who finishes his career ranked fourth in triples (eight) and eighth in stolen bases (43).
Hillsdale will miss its large senior class, which included three starting pitchers in Tommy MacLean, Paul Brophy and Drew Olssen as well, but has a solid foundation returning alongside Shannon next season. The Chargers' entire infield returns with catcher Will Millard, second baseman Tyler Turner, shortstop Aaron Jasiak and third baseman Rocco Tenuta, all freshmen in 2023, back for 2024, while breakout contributor Zak Kent is set to lead a retooled outfield.
Promising young arm Daniel Higdon and experienced veteran Brandon Scott lead a staff that will look to build on 2024, while major reinforcements are on the way for the Chargers in a massive freshman class set to join the team in 2025 and challenge for playing time as well.
Photo by Reva Ludwig