Brooks Coetzee to play in College World Series with Notre Dame
By FRED KRONER
When Brooks Coetzee III committed to playing baseball at Notre Dame, the Mahomet-Seymour athlete wasn’t joining a program that was prominent on the national scene in the sport.
When his freshman year in college (2019) ended with a 24-30 team record, it marked the fourth consecutive year that Notre Dame baseball did not finish with an above-.500 record.
Coetzee’s sophomore year (2020) showed promising signs of a turn-around – following a coaching change – but COVID-19 caused an 11-2 season to end before a home game had been played.
The baseball revival continued during Coetzee’s junior and senior seasons and Notre Dame is now one of eight qualifiers for the 75th College World Series.
The right fielder – who has started 123 of the 132 games he has played for the Irish (including all 55 this spring) – will be the first M-S graduate to play in the College World Series.
“A guy from Mahomet in the ACC and in the World Series, stuff like that is crazy to think about,” Coetzee said. “It’s special that someone from a small town is on the national stage.”
As recently as one week ago, few of the so-called experts would have predicted that the season would last past Sunday (June 12) for the Irish.
Notre Dame (ranked 17th) was assigned to a best-of-three super-regional at Knoxville (Tenn.), where it was paired with a Tennessee program that was 56-7 for the season, ranked No. 1 nationally and had the fourth-best home run total in NCAA history (158).
The Irish won the first game, 8-6, but were beaten, 12-4, in the second game, setting the stage for the winner-takes-all third-game tiebreaker.
With 4,590 spectators in the stands, Notre Dame trailed 3-1 in the seventh inning, but scored six unanswered runs – one by Coetzee—before the game ended with the Irish (40-5) capturing a 7-3 triumph.
The game’s final out, Coetzee said, provided “a rush of emotions. It’s a moment you dream about, but I don’t know how you put it into words.”
Some national journalists have called the Irish’s victory “the upset of the year.”
Notre Dame plays Texas in a 6 p.m. game on Friday (June 17) in Omaha (Neb.). The second game for the Irish will be played on Sunday (June 19) at a time to be announced against either Texas A&M (42-18) or Oklahoma (42-22).
Coetzee, who has never seen a College World Series game in person, recognizes that it will be difficult to treat the College World Series opener as just another game.
“Once you step in the batter’s box, it will be a whole different experience,” Coetzee said. “If you’re not nervous, something is wrong.”
Coetzee, a two-time All-Stater at M-S and the No. 2-rated outfielder in the state as a high school senior (according to Perfect Game), is not just along for the ride. He is in his third year as one of the team leaders.
As a sophomore, Coetzee led the Irish in runs scored (16) and hit by pitch (five) in the abbreviated season.
As a junior, he was second on a 34-13 team in stolen bases (11) and third in home runs (six). That year, Notre Dame lost in a three-game super regional to eventual NCAA champion Mississippi State with Coetzee earning all-tournament honors at the regional.
As a senior, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Coetzee stands second on the team in hit by pitch (16), third in home runs (11) and third in runs batted in (42).
In those three seasons, while playing in a combined 112 games, Coetzee has committed one error.
“I attribute it all to Coach Link (Jarrett),” Coetzee said. “I’ve been struggling at the plate, but he has worked with me on my approach, the whole entire approach.”
The versatile Coetzee – who grew up in South Africa – has found his name on different portions of the lineup card. He has batted leadoff, second, cleanup and eighth.
“Whatever spot I am in, I play the role,” he said.
That he has been hit by pitches 30 times in his collegiate career comes as no surprise to his high school coach, Nic DiFilippo.
“He’s not afraid of the hit by pitch, and finds a way to get on base,” DiFilippo said.
Coetzee stood out at M-S for more than his play on the field.
“He never stopped working,” DiFilippo said. “He knows the work doesn’t stop. You have to continue to push and grind.”
That attitude was Coetzee’s mantra at M-S.
“We (coaches) knew he would be successful,” DiFilippo said. “So many kids talk the talk, but they don’t understand how hard it is to work at that level.
“Most of his junior and senior year (at M-S), he would lift before school and hit (at the shed of former teammates Joe and Tom Kenney).
“If you live that type of lifestyle in high school – and this was after he had committed to Notre Dame – it’s not a surprise to see him compete at that level now. It’s a serious job. He has played in the (collegiate) summer leagues, continuously trying to get better.”
Though he earned some playing time as a true freshman at Notre Dame (posting his first collegiate two-hit game against 12th-ranked Clemson), Coetzee noted, “I got to play in some games, but I didn’t seize the opportunity. That summer, I played 70-plus games in the Northwoods League.”
Coetzee’s reputation as a hard-nosed player was first earned while playing for the Bulldogs in multiple sports. Besides baseball, he lettered two years each in football and basketball.
“I got hit all the time,” he said. “In basketball, I took the most charges. I’m not going to back down.”
In the decisive game of the super-regional last weekend, Coetzee crowded the plate in his final at-bat.
“They had been pitching me inside,” he said. “I hung in there, got hit and wound up scoring an insurance run (the team’s fifth run of the game).”
Playing in the College World Series won’t be the culmination of Coetzee’s collegiate baseball career.
When the 2020 season was canceled prematurely, the NCAA granted all athletes an extra year of eligibility.
Coetzee, who earned his bachelor’ degree last month, took his first two graduate classes on Tuesday (June 14,in sports analytics). He will return to Notre Dame in the fall for a fifth year of baseball.
“I’m back in full swing,” he said.
That expression is applicable to both the student and the athlete.
He is as comfortable in South Bend (Ind.) as he is patrolling right field.
“I don’t know where else to call home,” Coetzee said.
Folks from his hometown continue to follow his progress. DiFilippo, for one, likes what he sees.
“We all are trying to coach great kids,” DiFilippo said. “We want them to be successful in life. I hope Brooks realizes how proud we are of him.
“Hopefully, his story motivates a few others. It’s fun for me to be a fan of one of our guys.”
