Derrill “Dee” Kline made a significant impact on the Shippensburg University baseball team in the late sixties and early seventies. Kline helped Shippensburg gain its first winning season in several years and begin a long streak of consecutive winning seasons.
Kline played on the freshman team in 1967 and then lettered for three years on the varsity. In 1968 he hit .304 as the team won six games and lost eight. The following season he hit .425 and drove in 18 runs in 14 games. He also hit two homeruns and was named to first team All-District II team and was an All-American candidate. The Red Raiders had an 11-4 record that year.
In 1970 Kline was elected co-captain of the team. He was slowed by a knee injury, which caused his batting average to dip to .280. However, he led the team to a 9-6 record. That year he was the recipient of the Lt. Ray Ellis Memorial Award honoring the outstanding male athlete on campus.
During the next three seasons, he served as an assistant coach and helped the team compile records of 19-4-1 in 1971, 12-3 in 1972 and 18-8 in 1973. His 1973 team was the first Shippensburg baseball team to be invited to the NCAA tournament.
In addition to his accomplishments at the University, Kline became player-coach of the Shippensburg Triple-A’s in the Franklin County League. The team had a combined record of 77-9 in his two seasons as coach and won two league championships.
After graduation, Kline became employed by Xerox in a sales management position.
