Linfield didn’t have to look far for one of its offseason additions to the coaching staff.
The Wildcats added Ethan Krupp as an assistant coach earlier this summer, bringing him to McMinnville after two seasons on the staff at Chemeketa.
The move connects two levels of college baseball in the state — the NWAC and Northwest Conference — while giving Linfield a coach who has spent most of his playing and coaching career around Oregon.
Pitching Background Comes to McMinnville
Krupp worked with the Chemeketa pitching staff during the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The Storm finished among the NWAC’s top 10 pitching staffs in 2025 and earned a postseason berth.
That experience should translate naturally to Linfield, where Krupp joins head coach Jordan Harlow’s staff as the Wildcats prepare for year two under Harlow.
Linfield went 24-18 last spring and earned the No. 2 seed in the Northwest Conference Tournament.
For Krupp, the move provides an opportunity to take what he learned in the NWAC and apply it at the NCAA Division III level.
An Oregon Baseball Background
Krupp grew up in Corvallis and played at Crescent Valley High School.
He earned First Team Mid-Willamette Conference honors twice as a pitcher and also appeared in the Oregon High School All-Star Series.
His college career began at Chemeketa before taking him well outside the Northwest.
Krupp transferred to the University of Jamestown in North Dakota, where he made 43 appearances over three seasons.
His best season came in 2024, when Krupp posted a 2.84 ERA with 23 strikeouts across 14 appearances.
Even while playing in North Dakota, he stayed connected to baseball back home.
Krupp spent the summer of 2023 pitching for the Bend Elks in the West Coast League, making 17 appearances out of the bullpen.
Back in the Willamette Valley
Now Krupp is back on an Oregon college campus, this time as part of a Linfield program coming off a strong first season under Harlow.
The Wildcats are getting a coach with recent NWAC experience, an NAIA playing background and plenty of familiarity with baseball in the Willamette Valley.
Krupp’s path from Crescent Valley to Chemeketa, Jamestown and the Bend Elks has given him experience at several different levels of the college game. His return to the Willamette Valley adds another young pitching voice to a Linfield staff looking to build on last spring’s 24-win season.