Oct. 3, 2006

The house that Schaly built
Stephen Hayward
sjh001@marietta.edu
The Pioneer baseball stadium recently received a name change and is now named in honor of former coach Don Schaly. It’s a fitting name for the home of the Marietta baseball team, as it was Schaly whom built the program up over his 40 year tenure and perhaps is still a part of Marietta College and the ‘Etta Express.’ Brian Brewer, who took over three years ago and lead the team to a record-tying fourth national championship (the previous three were won under Schaly), was recently named the 2006 Division III Head Coach of the Year by his peers (the American Baseball Association). Brewer played under Coach Schaly from 1990- 1993 and was assistant coach here at MC since 2000.

Bill Robinson, former sports editor at The Marietta Times and friend of Don Schaly writes, “Schaly could be tough. The earth could tremble on occasion. He was mentally tough but he was a sentimentalist, too. One of his prime attributes was that he was a caring individual beneath that sometimes hard outer core. He really sincerely cared about his players when they were there and after they were gone.”

Don Schaly, whose record as coach for Marietta stands at 1,442 - 329, is only the third coach in NCAA history to reach the 1,400 wins plateau. His .814 winning percentage as coach from 1964 -2003 makes him arguably the best coach in Division III history. Schaly coached ten teams to the Championship finals, winning it all in 1981, 1983 and 1985. He was named Coach of the Year four times and was named Coach of the Century be Collegiate Baseball. The Ohio Athletic Conference Championship trophy is named after him, as his teams won it 27 times (including 13 straight from 1990-2002). Don Schaly was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1995.

Don Schaly passed away March 9, 2005, after a brief fight with cancer. Father Dave Huffman said at the funeral on March 21, “He would hope you have learned the game of life, with its ups and downs...In more than 40 years, he touched the lives of 600 players.” Fittingly, the stadium where Schaly touched so many people, not only players and fans, is now officially named in his honor. “The Ol’ Man”, as he called himself, may have left the field, but his memory will live on in the hearts and minds of Marietta.