SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Just three years removed from major arm surgery and one year after feeling the sting of being released from his first professional baseball team, Kurt Hartfelder, Wittenberg class of 2005, is proof positive that persistence really does pay off.
Hartfelder, a four-year baseball letterwinner at Wittenberg and a two-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) honoree as a pitcher, came into the 2006 Frontier League (FL) season as an unknown quantity on a team hoping to contend for the East Division title. He made his professional debut on May 28 against the Florence ( Ky.) Freedom, allowing seven hits, one walk and one earned run in six strong innings of a 9-2 Chillicothe victory.
He hasn't looked back, reaching the FL's midseason All-Star break with a league-leading 1.20 earned run average and a sparkling 6-2 record. Meanwhile, the Paints start the second half of the season tonight with a 28-16 record, just one game behind Traverse City in the East Division standings.
To top it off, Hartfelder was selected to pitch in the All-Star Game. He responded by retiring the side on just seven pitches in the second inning of a game played Wednesday in Evansville, Ind.
It's been a thrilling, if somewhat unexpected, ride.
"I can't say I expected to be an all-star this year," Hartfelder said. "My first priority was to make the team. But after my first two games, I realized that I was pitching pretty well."
Kurt Hartfelder
Hartfelder had every reason to be unsure about what the summer of 2006 had in store for him. A phenomenal 2005 Wittenberg season, in which he earned first-team All-NCAC honors after tossing eight complete games and compiling a league-best 7-1 record, earned Hartfelder an invitation to participate in the FL's annual tryout camp and entry draft. The Mid-Missouri Mavericks picked Hartfelder No. 1, but then they cut him just before the start of the season.
Disappointed, Hartfelder headed home to Upper Arlington, Ohio, with his professional future in question. While participating in an amateur baseball league during the summer and then coaching a youth team in the fall, Hartfelder was consoled repeatedly by friends and family members who advised him that the sequence of events may well have been a "blessing in disguise."
The description fits because as a result of the odd roster decision by the Mavericks, Hartfelder, coming off a college baseball season in which he threw more than 50 innings, was not involved in a disastrous 2005 Mid-Missouri season. The team finished last in the West Division while playing before sparse crowds, and after the season, the Frontier League suspended Mid-Missouri's operations.
Instead, Hartfelder re-focused his priorities and re-dedicated himself, "doing my homework both mentally and physically" to earn another shot at his dream of playing professional baseball. He got that chance with the Paints, the most stable franchise in the FL (Chillicothe is the only remaining original franchise in the 14-year-old league) with a refurbished stadium and a squad that was league runner-up in 2005.
He has made the most of it.
"I had a lot of doubts about myself coming into this spring," Hartfelder said. "But I love baseball too much, so I decided to give it another try. I dedicated myself to the same rigorous training regimen that I used when I came back from my arm injury while I was in college."
As a result, Hartfelder said he feels stronger than ever heading into the second half of the season. His arm is fully healed, and in many ways he is mature beyond his years. Five years of college (Hartfelder missed the 2003 baseball season due to injury and accepted a medical red-shirt from the NCAA to play in 2005) and the perspective gained from overcoming obstacles can do that.
Having direction in life often provides perspective. Hartfelder, who posted a grade point average above 3.0 while studying art at Wittenberg, plans to take classes in computer animation at the Columbus College of Art & Design in the offseason to possibly lay the groundwork for graduate school in the future.
"This is a special time for me," Hartfelder said. "Back when I was in middle school, I took art classes in the summer and then played baseball. I've always had an interest in both areas, and here I am still able to pursue both."
While already preparing for life after baseball, Hartfelder's recent success has certainly piqued his interest. The Frontier League has produced more than a dozen players who eventually reached Major League Baseball, including Brendan Donnelly, a mainstay in the Anaheim Angels' bullpen the last few years.
First things first, however, which means taking care of business in the Frontier League in 2006.
"Several Frontier League players have made the majors through the years," Hartfelder said. "That would be my wildest dream right now. My goal is to pitch well in the second half of the season here in Chillicothe and go from there."
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