Carthage College Baseball: A Legacy of Excellence
Carthage College, a private institution rooted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, boasts a rich history extending back to its founding in 1847. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the college has evolved from its origins as The Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church in the Far West to a comprehensive institution offering bachelor's degrees across more than 40 subject areas, as well as master's degrees in select fields. Among its many athletic programs, the baseball team holds a distinguished place, marked by championships, memorable moments, and a tradition of excellence.
Early Years and Conference Affiliations
From 1912 to 1941, Carthage was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Association (IIAA) for football, men's basketball, baseball, men's golf, and men's track and field. The IIAA had its roots in the 1870s when a number of Illinois schools banded together for oratorical contests. The IIAA was formed in April 1908 for a May 22 track and field meet with eight charter members, including the Bradley Polytechnic Institute (later Bradley University), Illinois College, Illinois State Normal University (later shortened to Illinois State University), Illinois Wesleyan University, Knox College, Lombard College (now defunct), Millikin University, and Monmouth College.
Carthage's athletic journey includes a significant association with the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). The CCIW, now in its 73rd year as of 2018-19, has earned a reputation as the "Best Small-College Conference in the Nation." Established on April 26, 1946, in Jacksonville, Illinois, the league originally comprised nine charter members: Augustana College (Ill.), Carthage College, Elmhurst College, Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Lake Forest College, Millikin University, North Central College, and Wheaton College (Ill.). Carthage was a charter member of the CCIW when it was first organized in 1947.
Carthage's relationship with the CCIW has seen some changes over the years. The college initially left the conference in 1952 but later returned in 1961. Since then, the CCIW membership has experienced several changes. After Carthage left in 1952, Illinois College withdrew the following year. Elmhurst and Wheaton withdrew following the 1959-60 academic year. Wheaton rejoined for all sports but football in 1967 and for football in 1970. Elmhurst rejoined in the fall of 1967 for all sports but football and for football in the 1968 season. Carroll (Wis.) joined officially with the 1955 spring sports seasons. Carthage returned in the fall of 1961, and North Park College (now North Park University) entered the following fall. Lake Forest dropped out at the end of the 1962-63 year. The last change in CCIW membership came following the 1991-92 season when Carroll (Wis.) withdrew.
CCIW Baseball Championships
The CCIW has sponsored baseball since the league was first organized in 1947. Since then, Illinois Wesleyan has won a league-leading 24 championships or co-championships, followed by Carthage with 14 titles, North Central (Ill.) with 13, Millikin with eight, Elmhurst with seven, North Park with six, Augustana (Ill.) with six, Lake Forest two, and Wheaton (Ill.) one title. Carthage won its first baseball championship in 1966 and won a co-championship with Illinois Wesleyan in 1970.
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Memorable Moments and Achievements
Carthage is the second team in organized baseball and the only collegiate squad ever to play and win four games in one day. The quadrupleheader came about as the Carthage team found itself in a three-way race for the CCIW title in the final week of the season. Five days of rain in the Midwest washed out several doubleheaders the final week, including a Carthage-North Park set in Kenosha, Wis., and two games with Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill. Normally, those games could have been re-scheduled for the following week, but Carthage was set to close its dormitories on Sunday, May 17, with the end of the academic year. Classes actually ended on May 12, and several baseball players were ready to leave campus for previously-arranged summer jobs. As a last resort, Carthage coach Augie Schmidt III offered to play the North Park games in Chicago on Monday, May 18, and to play Illinois Wesleyan immediately after, also on North Park’s field. The Redmen had only a 25-minute break between the morning and the afternoon doubleheaders. Carthage defeated Illinois Wesleyan, 12-3, in the first game of that set. The Redmen won the fourth and final game in dramatic fashion. Seven Carthage players played all 28 innings that day, and catcher Fred Richter caught all four games. Craig Deaton drove in 11 runs on the day.
After the marathon ended, coach Schmidt said, “I doubt if any of us imagined we could win four games in one day from the two leading teams in the league. I think we were hoping for a split at worst and three-of-four at best, but our confidence seemed to blossom with each win. With the four victories, Carthage finished the season with a 12-4 record that Illinois Wesleyan matched the next day. Following the completion of their twinbill against Carthage, the Titans returned home from Chicago and then traveled to Decatur, Ill., the next morning to sweep Millikin in a season-ending doubleheader.
According to researchers from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), a Hudson, N.Y., minor league team, playing in the Hudson River League, swept a Sept. 20, 1903 quadrupleheader against Poughkeepsie. A quintupleheader was attempted once in the same league, but the two final games were thrown out, as the teams failed to play a required minimum number of innings. Between 1972 and 1976, Carthage played three additional quadrupleheaders, although the Redmen never duplicated the 1970 sweep.
Carthage played its second quadrupleheader on April 6, 1972, on its spring trip to Oklahoma and Texas. doubleheader in Tishamingo, Okla., versus Murray State College, sweeping 8-3 and 11-5. Following a 1 1/2 hour bus trip to Perrin Air Force Base in Grayson, Texas, the Redmen split a twinbill with Grayson County College, winning the first game, 12-5, but losing the second contest by a 3-2 margin. curfew on the base. Carthage’s third “four-bill” took place on May 10, 1973, when the Redmen played host to Carroll (Wis.) College in a morning doubleheader, sweeping, 11-3 and 6-0, and then traveled to Milwaukee to take on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in an afternoon set. The Redmen’s fourth and final quadrupleheader took place on March 23, 1976, on another spring trip to Texas.
Dan Falkinham and Cory Everts threw back-to-back no-hitters in a doubleheader sweep of Carroll College (Wis.) on April 21, 1991, at the Carthage Baseball Field in Kenosha, Wis. Everts won the first game, 1-0, and Falkinham won the nightcap by a 2-0 margin. Falkinham and Everts are both members of the Carthage Athletic Hall of Fame. Falkinham was named American Baseball Coaches Association third-team All-America in 1991 and second-team All-America in 1993.
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Facilities and Coaching
Carthage played its first known baseball doubleheader on May 24, 1913, versus Western Illinois University. Baseball was dropped at Carthage after the 1921 season, which may have had something to do with the College’s hiring of Lewis Omer as athletic director and football coach in April 1921. Omer reportedly told the student newspaper, “The Carthage Collegian,” in the spring of 1923 that he could not coach baseball without sacrificing his spring football practice. That’s the way things stayed throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s.
When Carthage helped form the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 1946, baseball was reinstated as a varsity sport and resumed play in the 1947 season. Head baseball coach L. Paul LaVinn doubled as football coach in 1947. Lacking a home field, the Redmen were the “road warriors” in 1947, playing all nine games at opposition fields. From 1948 to 1950, the baseball team called the Jaycee Field, just west of downtown Carthage, Ill., their home park. The College began construction of its first, on-campus facility in 1950, but the field was not ready in time for the 1951 campaign. Carthage took its first spring-break trip in 1951, playing an independent team from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., on March 25 and Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., on March 26.
After Carthage College moved to Kenosha, Wis., in 1964, the Redmen played their 1965 and 1966 seasons at Petzke Park near the corner of 31st Street and 17th Avenue on Kenosha's north side. In 1966, Carthage also began a tradition of playing occasional games at Kenosha's Simmons Field. The Redmen played 1966 doubleheaders versus Wisconsin-Whitewater and Carroll (Wis.) at Simmons.
The Firebirds Era
In 2020, the Carthage Board of Trustees and Athletics voted unanimously to retire the Red Men/Lady Reds nickname and mascot "Torchie" from athletics. Subsequently, the college adopted the new team name of "Firebirds". Carthage athletic teams are the Firebirds. The college is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) since the 1961-62 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1946-47 to 1951-52.
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