Dean Bowyer

Dean Bowyer – Minnesota State University-Mankato – Dean Bowyer graduated from Ada High School in 1962 and from Mayville State University in 1966. After college, Bowyer played three years of minor league baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization, having Cal Ripken, Sr., as his manager for two years. Bowyer started his coaching career with one year stops at high schools in Benson, Appleton and Barnesville. He then went into college coaching at Minot State for four years, posting a 71-42 record and winning two conference championships, before coming to Mankato State where he has been the head coach for the past 29 years, during which time he has won 19 conference championships with a 874-439 record and he has taken the Mavericks to the College World Series three times. Dean has won nine conference coach of the year honors along with three region coach of the year awards. Dean has had 39 players sign pro contracts, including five in 2002. His overall college record is 945-490 which ranks 6th among DII active coaches and 8th overall for DII coaches. Dean has worked very hard to help high school baseball, putting on many camps and clinics around the state as well as running a fall baseball league for high school players. Bowyer is also a member of the Mayville State University Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

 

Dennis Denning

Dennis Denning – Cretin High School – Dennis Denning graduated from Cretin High School in 1962 and from St. Thomas University in 1973. The reason for the delay was that after playing at St. Thomas for four years, Dennis played minor league baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization for four years. Dennis had a phenomenal high school coaching career at Cretin and then Cretin-Derham Hall where he had an overall record of 378 wins and just 78 losses which comes to an 83% winning percentage. His teams won six state championships in 11 trips to the state tournament. His teams also twice finished third at state and once placed fourth. He also won a couple state championships as a VFW coach and a couple state titles as a Babe Ruth coach. He was also head coach of the Gold Medal winning North Squad in the 1989 Summer Olympic Festival. Dennis is a past Dick Siebert Award winner and a past president of the High School Baseball Coaches Association. He was Minnesota High School Coach of the Year four times, Region 3AA Coach of the Year seven times, and was a National High School Coach of the Year finalist three times. Dennis coached at Cretin and Cretin-Derham Hall for 17 years and his teams won the conference title 14 times. Dennis has been head coach at St. Thomas University for the past 12 years and has won seven conference titles while compiling a record of 382 wins and 110 losses. St. Thomas won the national NCAA DIII championship in 2001 and Dennis was named the national DIII Coach of the Year. Dennis is also a member of the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame and Mancini’s St. Paul Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Dean Jaacks

Dean Jaacks – Windom – Dean Jaacks graduated from Jasper High School in 1965 and from General Beadle State College in South Dakota in 1969 where he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player. Dean began his coaching career at Windom High School in 1969 where he was an assistant baseball coach for seven years and the head baseball coach for 26 years, compiling a record of 362 wins and 220 losses. His teams won 10 Southwest Conference titles and he coached the Windom Eagles into eight state tournaments, including five in a row from 1983 through 1987. His teams did well in state tournament play as they won back-to-back state championships in 1984 and 1985 and finished second in 1983, third in 1986 and fourth in 1987. Jaacks is a past president of the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association, was a long time member of the Baseball Advisory Committee, was chairman of the Lions All Star Selection Committee for about 25 years and he coached four times in the Lions All Star Series. In 1986 Dean was one of eight finalists for National High School Coach of the Year. He is a past winner of the Dick Siebert Award and the 1969 basketball team he played on is in the General Beadle State College Hall of Fame.

 

Neal Jeppson

Neal Jeppson – Burnsville – Neal Jeppson graduated from Elbow Lake High School in 1964 and Concordia-Moorhead in 1968. After spending a couple years at Brooten and a couple years at Anoka thinking he was going to be a football coach, Neal got a job at Burnsville as the head baseball coach and he spent 29 years in that position. During that time, Jeppson’s teams won 291 games, advancing to the state tournament three times, in 1981, 1983 and 1989, before retiring as head coach after the 2002 season. Neal still coaches the sophomore team at Burnsville. Burnsville also won a couple of conference titles during his tenure. Jeppson is a past winner of the Dick Siebert Award and was a section coach of the year three times. He is also a past president of the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association and a long time member of the Baseball Advisory Committee. During his tenure as president Neal did a lot of work on getting the three class system for baseball as he has always been a tireless worker for the betterment of high school baseball in Minnesota.

 

Jim Luther

Jim Luther – Edina – Jim Luther graduated from St. James High School in 1961 and Gustavus Adolphus College in 1965. Jim coached high school baseball for 34 years, starting with three years at Ramsey Junior High in St. Paul before moving to Edina for 11 years as an assistant and then 20 years as the head coach. During that time he won over 250 games, six conference championships and took his team to two state tournaments, finishing third in 1981 and winning the state championship in 1983 with a team that had five players go on to play Division I college baseball. Jim was very involved in many areas of high school baseball. He is a past Dick Siebert Award winner. He is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association, has been a committee chairman for selection of All-State baseball teams, chairman of class rankings, a member of the Baseball Coaches Association Advisory Board, a member of the Lion’s All-Star baseball selection committee as well as a coach in the Lion’s All-Star series. He has served on several national baseball committees and has spoken numerous times at baseball clinics. Currently he is an official scorer for the Minnesota Gophers and the High School State Tournament.

 

Lowell Scearcy

Lowell Scearcy – Brainerd – Lowell Scearcy graduated from Pillager High School in 1963 and from Bemidji State University in 1967. Lowell started his coaching career at Pillager in 1967, where he coached track, cross country and basketball, no baseball. In 1969 he moved to Verndale, winning the conference title in basketball and baseball all three years that he coached there. Moving on to Brainerd High School, Scearcy continued his success as Brainerd has won 15 conference championships and has gone to the state tournament nine times, winning state championships in 1995 and 2000, plus finishing second once, fourth once and fifth once. Scearcy is now in his 36th year as a head baseball coach and has a won-loss record of 549 wins and 222 losses, a percentage of .706. His win total puts him second all-time in Minnesota High School baseball behind New Ulm’s Jim Senske. Scearcy is a past Dick Siebert Award winner, a section coach of the year, state coach of the year, and a finalist in 2000 for national high school coach of the year. He is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association. Scearcy is a member of the Bemidji State University “Outstanding Alumni” and the Brainerd High School Hall of Fame.

 

Dale Welter

Dale Welter – Chaska – Dale Welter graduated from Chaska Guardian Angels High School in 1960 and from Mankato State University in 1967. Dale started his coaching career in Maple Lake in 1967, winning a conference championship there before moving to Eden Prairie in 1970, where he was the head coach for three years. For the past 25 years, Welter has been the head coach at Chaska High School where the Hawks have enjoyed a large amount of success, winning five conference championships and advancing to the state tournament four times, in 1986, 1993, 1996 and 1997. Welter’s teams have won 362 games while losing 297. Dale is a past Dick Siebert Award winner, a national finalist for high school coach of the year in 2004, a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association and a member of the Baseball Advisory Board. Dale has been very action as a site coordinator for the Minnesota Lions High School All-Star series and for the Class A State High School Baseball Tournament, both of which have been held in Chaska for a number of years. Welter is also a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Max West

Max West – Brownton – Max West graduated from Brownton High School in 1940 and from Moorhead State University in 1950. Max started his coaching career in Clinton, Minnesota in 1951 and coached there for five years. In 1956 he went to Brownton where he coached for another 29 years winning 10 conference championships and three district titles on his way to a record of 355 wins against just 155 losses. Max is a past president of the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association and served as a member of the Lion’s All-Star Selection Committee. He was also a member of the Minnesota State High School Delegate Assembly for many years and is lifetime member of the Minnesota High School Coaches Association. Max has won many awards including the Dick Siebert Award and the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Retired Coach of the Year Award. Twice he coached in the Lion’s All-Star Series. He was the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1980 and was the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year for District 6 in 1981. He is a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the KDUZ Sports Hall of Fame in Hutchinson.