By JOHN BOHNENKAMP
IOWA CITY — Kooper Schulte was described as “a true son of a coach” by his new college coach, and that is the perfect description.
Schulte will be the starting shortstop for Iowa when the Hawkeyes open the season with a three-game series at South Florida, starting Friday.
It is Schulte’s first season with the Hawkeyes after two seasons of junior-college baseball, and it’s a chance for him to play in the same program where his father, Justin, was a player before becoming one of the top junior-college coaches in the nation.
It is that bloodline that coach Rick Heller can see in Schulte.
“Really good baseball player, that’s the best way to sum it up,” Heller said at the Hawkeyes’ media day earlier this week. “He’s got a lot of intangibles to his game. Justin is a tough guy, he brings a lot of toughness to his teams, and Koop has that. He’s just a steady Eddie in how he goes about his business.”
The chance to play at Iowa was something Schulte couldn’t pass up.
“My dad played here, and obviously it’s a great program, so it’s pretty special for me to be a part of it,” Schulte said. “Coming from a coach like him, he asks a lot of questions about the program, what do we do and stuff. But at the end of the day, he just tells me to trust the coaches, do what they say, and just work hard.”
Schulte is coming off a season at Southeastern Community College, where he played for his father. He hit .317 with eight home runs and 45 runs batted in, becoming a first-team all-region selection while leading the Blackhawks to the NJCAA World Series.
Schulte, a graduate of New London (Iowa) High School, played at Central Arizona Community College in 2023. He played that summer for the Burlington Bees in the Prospect League, hitting .373 in 19 games before suffering a season-ending hand injury.
He played last summer for the Waterloo Bucks in the Northwoods League. He hit just .170, but appreciated what he gained from a higher competition level of summer baseball.
“I didn’t play the best baseball, but it was a good experience playing with a lot of other guys from Division I schools,” Schulte said. “So I got that little experience before coming here.”
Schulte spent Iowa’s fall workouts on different parts of his game.
“I worked a lot on my hitting, really honed in on my mechanics, really tried to feel myself create more power, use my strength more in my swing,” Schulte said.
“I think that there’s a chance that he may surprise some people and provide maybe a little more offense than advertised,” Heller said. “I think he’s done some stuff in his swing with Marty Sutherland, our hitting coach, and he’s strong right now. The ball’s jumping off his bat. And so we’re hoping we can get some offense out of Koop as well.”
Heller said Schulte has been impressive with his defense.
“Koop is maybe the perfect guy to come in after Michael Seegers,” Heller said. “Michael was down there a long time, and was a big-time defender for us. I think Koop can step in and do a really solid job defensively.”
“He’s always been a really good defender in my eyes, and just like his dad, he’s always been super competitive,” said Iowa teammate Caleb Wulf, who played with Schulte at SCC and with the Bees. “He always knows how to win and how to put himself in the best position to succeed or do the job we need him to do.”
Schulte will return to the Bees this summer, but before that he will get a chance in the starting lineup of a program that is all too familiar to him.
“Coach Heller really wants me to just be that defensive player that I know I can be,” Schulte said. “So I take pride in my defense, make all the plays and if I hit, that’s a plus. But I’m really glad I’m here and getting this opportunity.”
Photo: Kooper Schulte fields a ground ball for the Burlington Bees in the 2023 season. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)
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