Five to be Inducted into Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame

The Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association has announced its Hall of Fame Class for 2008. The inductees will be honored at the State Baseball Hall of Fame and Honors Banquet to be held in Milwaukee on February 9th.

The class includes four coaches, who have met with outstanding success over the last 25-years, and Joe Braun, who started programs at Frederic and Neenah, leading the Rockets to five Conference titles in the 50’s and 60’s.

After four successful years at Frederic, in Northern Wisconsin, the 95-year old Braun started Neenah’s program in 1949, serving as their head coach until 1966. He compiled a 115-88 record before retiring and led the team to a second-place finish at the 1966 State Tournament, where their only loss was to eventual champion Eau Claire Memorial.

Joining him at the induction Banquet will be recently retired coaches Lynn Held from Whitewater, Rick Hofeditz from Beloit Turner, and Tom Bennett from Madison Memorial, and one active coach, Richard Sykes of Nicolet.

Held retired after the 2006 season and Hofeditz last year after leading their respective schools to numerous titles and championships.
Held finished with a 308 and 132 mark and his Whitewater teams won State Championships in 1993, 1995, and 1999. His tenure with the Whippets included eight Conference titles and eleven Regional Championships.

Hofeditz retired following the 2007 spring season after 20-years as a head coach and 315 wins and only 93 defeats. Turner won ten Conference Championships during that time and one State Title.

Sykes and Bennett remain in coaching meanwhile, as two of the winningest active coaches in the State. Both began their baseball involvement as outstanding players at the college level, Sykes at UW-Parkside and Bennett as an infielder for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Sykes has headed programs at Bayview and Nicolet, where he has accumulated over 400 wins, five Conference championships, and a State Title in 1998. Bennett, meanwhile, has coached 30 years at Madison Memorial, and his Spartans have grabbed 390 victories, five Big Eight Championships, and State Titles in 1990 and 1992.

“The class of 2008 has five outstanding coaches and gentlemen, whose contributions make them very worthy recipients of this high honor,” said WBCA Hall of Fame committee chairman Mark Fuller of Cumberland.