In every collegiate athletic program there are defining moments. Some are totally unexpected. Some are more dramatic than others. Some validate tough decisions about personnel. Others are the culmination of plain, hard work. 

The accomplishments of the 2000 TMC baseball team can be defined by all of the above and so much more. Just four years earlier, the program was in complete disarray with little hope for the future. But attitudes and play on the field started to change in 1997 when Monte Brooks was named head coach. 

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the program took off, reaching unprecedented heights and national recognition. It all culminated in 2000 when the men in pinstripes went where no other Mustang athletic team had gone before in winning a school-record 37 games, capturing the NAIA Region II championship, and earning a third-place finish in their first-ever trip to the NAIA World Series.

The Mustangs started early and never let up, winning 22 of their first 27 games and climbing to No. 17 in the country. Taking 10 of their next 11 contests, the Mustangs rolled into May and earned the top seed in the Region II Playoffs. There they dispatched Biola in three games before moving to the NAIA Section I Tournament where they fell to third-ranked Albertson of Idaho.

However, their quest for a national championship continued when they qualified for their initial World Series appearance as an at-large club. Splitting four games, the Mustangs concluded the campaign tied for third in the country, moving up from their final regular-season No. 15 ranking. 

On the heels of the highest national finish in the history of TMC athletics and 22 new records came the benefits of individual awards. Senior pitcher Mike Ploharz, who went 11-2 with a 3.70 ERA, earned NAIA All-American Second Team and All-Region II honors while second baseman Ty Sager, catcher Mike Wertz, and pitcher Josh Higgins were Honorable Mention All-Americans and All-Region II selections.

But, most deserved of all was the selection of Brooks as the NAIA Region II Coach of the Year. Three years after taking over the helm, he was singularly instrumental in turning the Mustang baseball program into one of the best in the country.