Aurora University names baseball field for longtime coach Schmid

Jim Schmid is a name familiar to Aurora, having served as head baseball coach at Aurora Central Catholic, Aurora University and Waubonsie Valley for 23 years.

Now, Schmid will forever be linked to Aurora baseball after Aurora University named Jim Schmid Field at Stuart Sports Complex during a ceremony between games of the Spartans' doubleheader with Concordia Chicago on April 23.

Schmid, an Aurora native, guided Aurora University to an impressive 245-122-2 record (. 670 winning percentage) during his 10 seasons (1983-1992) at the helm.

During that time, the Spartans recorded seven 20-plus win seasons, including five NCAA Division III tournament appearances and two of the school's six NCAA Division III World Series appearances.

Schmid threw out multiple ceremonial first pitches, including one to former head coach Mark Walsh - Aurora University's all-time wins leader, who served as an assistant on Schmid's staff for seven seasons.

"I threw one for a strike," joked Schmid. "It was such a special day - just super stuff. It's one of those things that you figure would never happen to you. I'm not sure if I'm that deserving."

Schmid was joined by family members, friends, and several former players, including American Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-American outfielder Bob Guajardo (1990), ABCA Third Team All-American shortstop Dale Koehring (1986), All-Central Region Second Team pitcher Lou Hernandez (1992), and ABCA All-American Second Team pitcher Maurey Sage (1987).

"It was a nice turnout," said Schmid. "I enjoyed hearing all the stories. Those were 10 great years."

After his first AU team finished 16-18 in 1983, Schmid enjoyed 9 consecutive winning seasons, which included a pair of 30-win campaigns - 31-10 in 1987 and 34-9 in 1992.

In 1987, the Spartans made their first NCAA Division III Mideast Regional tournament appearance, finishing 3-2 in the double-elimination event with wins over Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster and Marietta sandwiched around losses to North Park and North Central.

Three years later, Aurora swept 4 Mideast Regional games on its way to a second-place finish in the 1990 NCAA Division World Series. The Spartans claimed victories over Montclair State, North Carolina Wesleyan (two) before losing the national championship game, 8-1, to Eastern Connecticut State.

During Schmid's final season at Aurora in 1992, the Spartans captured the Central Region title with a 3-2 victory over William Penn before suffering back-to-back losses in a seventh-place NCAA Division III World Series showing.

"I enjoyed my time building the baseball program at Aurora University," said Schmid. "At the outset, we were an up-and-coming program and then began to recognize that we were pretty good. It was a great run.

"We really didn't have a lot of home run hitters. We played a lot of small ball - bunting and running. We could field and pitch well."

During Schmid's time, the Spartans' chief local rivals included Benedictine, Carthage, North Central, and North Park.

"One of our keys was getting local kids to stay home," he said.

Prior to his arrival at AU, Schmid guided ACC to a 5-year record of 102-40, highlighted by the Chargers' second-place class A state finish in 1981.

After leaving AU, Schmid guided Waubonsie Valley to an 8-year record of 171-111, highlighted by the Warriors' second-place Class AA state showing in 1996.

"I guess you can call me 'second,'" joked Schmid. "Reaching the championship game at three different levels was a great thrill and something I'm really proud of."

Schmid also served as an assistant baseball coach at Metea Valley.

His career coaching record is 518-273-2.

"I was surrounded with good assistant coaches and really good players," said Schmid. "I loved coaching - watching the development of players and the game strategy and decision making."

Originally planned for 3 years ago, the field naming ceremony was pushed back a couple years due to COVID concerns.

"It was worth the wait," said Schmid.