| School: Wilson | Graduation Year: 1974 |
Year Inducted: 2014
Sports Played: Baseball
High School Honors: 3-year starter & letter winner, second team All-PIL as junior and member of PIL championship team; All-PIL and All-State as senior, member of PIL championship team and played in State-Metro series. Recipient of ’74 Sportswriters/Sportscasters scholarship and the Paul McCall scholarship. 4-year starter on Watco Electric American Legion team, 3 state championship teams, regional winners once; played in ’73 Legion World Series (3rd place).
Post High School Career: Portland State University, 4-year letter winner, twice winner of team best defensive player; set record for most double plays in a season; member of Nor-Pac championship team; played in ’77 NCAA regional tournament. Signed with Pittsburgh Pirates in ’78; played in Gulf Coast League, leading league in fielding percentage. Career in food service industry: food broker for Key Impact of Tualatin.
Commentary:
I’m truly honored to be an inductee into the class of 2014 PIL Hall of Fame.
My roots with the PIL started when I was a 4 year old bat boy for my dad’s teams at Cleveland High where I aspired to be the next Walt Reynolds, Bob Hefflinger or Ted Amato.
The life lessons learned on the ball field; hard work, preparation, dedication and teamwork are something that I have used as guiding principles as a husband, parent and in my professional life.
A special thanks to all of the coaches, parents, volunteers and to our opponents who made high school sports so much fun! To my dad. who has been the biggest influence on my life, my brothers who taught me how to compete, and my Wilson teammates many of whom remain my best friends today, thank you!
As they used to say on Saturday Night Live, "Baseball (and the PIL) been very, very good to me!"