From Fargo to Chapel Hill, Jake Schaffner Brings Midwest Grit to UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — If Jake Schaffner took anything away from his two years of playing baseball at North Dakota State, it was that his head coach, Tyler Oakes, wanted his players to be Bison. 

The large animals used to thunder across the plains of the Dakotas. NDSU’s mascot is the Bison. Oakes wanted his baseball team to follow a specific pattern of the Bison. Why? You see, bison meat finds itself on kitchen tables; it’s only a few dollars more for ground bison than ground beef at Whole Foods. 

But there’s more… Bison are the only animal that runs toward the storm. That’s the mentality that Schaffner brought with him to Chapel Hill. 

“I’ve taken it to be tough and push into hard times, just always focus on the next play and don’t look at the past,” Schaffner said. 

He hasn’t shared the exact bison anecdote—although head coach Scott Forbes, in all of his Nick Saban wisdom, will appreciate it—but Schaffner’s play speaks for itself.

With a quick release, sharp footwork, and a lanky 6-2 frame, the junior looks to slot in nicely to a shortstop job that was vacated last year by Alex Madera. 

But back in Janesville, Wisconsin, at Craig High School, Schaffner hadn’t really planned on college baseball. He played football, hockey, and baseball in high school. He was a decorated athlete in all three, earning First Team All-Conference and All-State Second Team honors in hockey, as well as First Team All-Conference in football and All-State Second Team honors in baseball. He would wake on Saturday mornings, and everything would just hurt.

He thought he was going to play hockey in college, then maybe the NHL. But that dream died when he was cut. 

“It stung a lot because I really thought I was going to make it,” Schaffner said. “And then I got the calls I didn’t, so it was heartbreaking.” 

However, a hockey rink closes, a baseball diamond opens. 

He played for the GRB travel team in Wisconsin and began to think about baseball seriously. Schaffner started reaching out to schools and got his only offer from North Dakota State up in Fargo—yes, that Fargo. 

“I took a visit there, and I loved it,” he said. 

Schaffner spent two years at North Dakota State in the small six-team Summit League. 

While the league was small, the Bison played some of the top competition in the country each year, facing off against the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, DBU, Oregon State and the eventual 2025 national champion LSU Tigers. 

Brandon Hunt, assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for NDSU, was a pillar for Schaffner and guided him on his journey with the Bison. It paid off. 

Schaffner was a constant production machine at the plate in his two years in Fargo, slashing a career .353/.435/.446. He didn’t command much power—three homers—but displayed excellent bat-to-ball skills, recording 84 hits in his second campaign. For his performance in the field, he was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.

“I had two of the greatest years of my life there,” he said. “I mean, between the coaches, my teammates, like the faculty members, it was so great.” 

Honestly, Schaffner does not know precisely why he transferred. He wanted to play against better competition and surround himself with better players. But he can’t pinpoint a single feeling or moment that led to the trip to the South. 

The Scotts got to him first. Scott Forbes made the initial reach out, and then Scott Jackson took over. On his visit, he was surrounded by all five UNC coaches at Boshamer Stadium, Top of the Hill, and a pit stop at the Smith Center. 

But besides the sea of Carolina blue monogrammed weights, hard court, and burgers, Schaffner felt at home with the coaching staff, specifically Forbes and his brand of coaching.

“He’s always talking about being a better person and player, but more importantly, a person,” Schaffner said. “And I think that’s so important in life.”

Schaffner spent the fall season in Chapel Hill getting oriented with the program. And while he has caught on with Forbes and his Saban-inspired wisdom, the skipper expects a lot from Schaffner and the other veteran transfers who have come to Chapel Hill. 

“I explained to them, ‘Hey, look, don’t tiptoe around — this is your team, just as much as everybody else’s team. We’re all working towards the same goal, so go ahead and lead.’ So that’s something we work hard on, and that’s my job as a coach,” Forbes said. 

Schaffner plans to bring his run-into-the-storm spirit and grit that come with playing baseball in sub-20-degree weather to the rest of his teammates. His toughness isn’t just talk. 

While with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks on the Cape this summer, he was hit in the hand by a pitch and was X-rayed at the local Cape Cod Healthcare center. The tests didn’t show anything serious, but the pain was immense. Most players would take this as an excuse to leave, after all, the season is a grind. 

But not Schaffner, he kept playing, hitting a grand slam, only striking out 12 times, and earning the Cape’s 10th man of the year award. 

“I really couldn’t take a day off because the players are so good,” he said. “We were so deep, so really I couldn’t take a day off and lollygag a little bit.” 

Whatever lineup spot he’s in – he’ll be a candidate for leadoff – he’s looking to make an impact with his hit tool. But he doesn’t want to stop there; he’s worked in the fall to get bigger and stronger to start driving balls a bit farther. 

Regardless, at the end of the day, Schaffner is going to put his head down and run right into the storm.