Red Devil elite have their day

A handful of the greatest ball players to ever suit up for Allen Community College’s baseball team were honored with laughs, recollections and a few tears Saturday evening.
The second annual Red Devil Diamond Club Hall of Fame ceremonies featured the induction of former ACC superstars Rich Weisensee, “Rocket” Rod Rush, Duane Wales and Richard Thomas; Joe Haynes, the school’s first baseball coach; and Val McLean, who has coached Allen for the past 37 years and is the winningest active coach in NJCAA with more than 1,100 wins.

SPEECHES WERE frequently light-hearted, with several moments of poignancy, particularly when Iolan Mark Percy, a former high school teammate of Weisensee, spoke about the late shortstop.
Weisensee died in March following a yearlong battle with leukemia.
Percy, who coaches Iola High’s baseball team, talked about Weisensee’s prowess on the baseball diamond — “I don’t know how he did it, but he could just flick the ball out there, and always make contact,” he said — as well as his skills on the football field and basketball court.
But as good as Weisensee was as an athlete, he was an even better man.
He respected his elders, to the point that Percy recalled one afternoon when Weisensee stopped by his house to pay a visit.
Percy’s father, Glenn, met Weisensee at the front door as the youngster asked to talk with Mark.
“I’m sorry, he’s not here right now,” Percy recalled his father saying, just as the two youths made eye contact through the door.
Rather than raise a fuss, Weisensee simply answered a respectful “OK,” and turned to leave before the elder Percy assured him it was a joke.
“Rich was respectful enough that if my father said I wasn’t there, it meant I wasn’t there,” Percy said.
Weisensee starred at Allen in 1977 and 1978, setting a number of school records, including the team’s all-time batting average. He went on to Missouri Southern State University, where he again excelled on the field. (He’s also a member of the MSSU Sports Hall of Fame.)
Weisensee had an opportunity to play professional baseball, Percy noted, but chose another path after college — that of a family man.
It was a choice he never regretted, Price noted.
“Rich was a great teammate,” Price said. “But more than that, he was a great brother, a great husband, a great father and a great grandfather.”

RICHARD THOMAS, who starred at ACC in the 1990 and 1991 seasons, recalled growing up as a rather rebellious youth, never afraid to back down from a challenge, which frequently landed him in trouble at school.
He grew emotional recalling the influence of Phil Loomis, his high school coach.
“I was a high school parent’s nightmare,” Thomas recalled. “I was not a good kid.”
That changed in his sophomore year, when Loomis gave him effectively a clean slate.
“He didn’t care what I did yesterday,” Thomas said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Phil taught me to pay attention to the finer things, the little things. You could make big things out of little things. A bonfire starts with one stick.”
He thanked his parents for toting him back and forth to ball games “and for getting me involved.”
His grandfather taught Thomas how to catch by tossing him potatoes in the family garden. “He also taught me how to roll your own cigarette and how to put beer in a coffee cup so Grandma wouldn’t know.”
“Another thing he introduced me to was baseball on the radio,” Thomas said, which reveals “the heart and soul of baseball.”
He also carried special comments to McLean, who had no assistant coach during Thomas’ freshman season.
McLean used psychological strategies to reach the team. The Red Devils began dugout meetings before games.
“That sophomore year helped us turn the page,” he said.
Thomas went on to play professionally for the Florida Marlins minor league system before returning to Lawrence to play semipro ball.

MCLEAN offered several thanks during his speech.
“I’m thankful that Allen Community College gave me the opportunity to coach this many years. They took a gamble on me when I was 23 years old. They gave me a lot of time to prove myself. I’m also thankful Coach Masterson gave me a very good team start with.
“I’m thankful for all the alumni support in the program. The relationships, memories and stories will last a lifetime. Nothing is more fun than getting a group of alumni and hearing their stories.
“I’m thankful to have the opportunity coach many great athletes, many of whom are here tonight,” he said.
“I’m thankful to make it to the World Series twice,” he said. “It’s really hard to get there.”
He also offered special thanks to his wife,  Carolyn. “Baseball is hard on a marriage. It takes a special relationship and a special woman.”
“Now for some things I’ve learned, and I’ve learned a thousand things,” he continued.
“It’s very hard to get to the top, but it’s even harder to stay there,” he said. “Hard work, dedication and a positive attitude will eventually pay off. To have a great team you have to have good leadership, talent, you have to work hard, you have to stay healthy and you have to have a little bit of luck at the right time.
“The fourth thing I’ve learned is I don’t like losing at all. I hate it with a passion.”
McLean noted the irony of his induction Saturday, pointing out his team’s struggles this year, “perhaps the toughest year we’ve ever had at Allen.”
“Even though we’ve had trouble winning games, I’m proud of these young men, who play hard every day,” McLean said. “I’ve seen a lot of them get better. None of them have given up.”

COLLEGE president and one-time baseball coach John Masterson introduced Haynes.
“I met Joe Haynes in a graduate class at Emporia State,” Masterson said. “Joe was the biggest redneck I’d ever met in my life. And I liked him immediately.”
Haynes grew up in southwest Missouri. After high school, he served in the military four years before deciding on a teaching career.
Haynes’ teams enjoyed moderate success in his three years at the helm.
“I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I’m still kind of amazed at how I arrived at Allen, and proceeded to spend the next 40 years of my life here.”
Haynes said his adviser at Emporia State told him about Allen.
It was during his interview at ACC that the conversation turned to baseball. He was asked if he enjoyed baseball.
He did.
He was asked if he played before.
He had.
He was asked if he’d consider coaching with a $300 addition to the contract.
“Some still might think I was overpaid,” he joked.
He recalled talking with his wife after the first day at his new school.
“I told my wife the college was great, but I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into,” he said. “The field had no back stop, no fences, no dugouts, no place to sit and the field was full of rocks. All of our equipment was in a Navy sea bag, and all the players had really long hair.”
The players were willing to accept a coach with no experience, Haynes said. “Together, we were pretty successful.”
Finally, Haynes thanked his fellow teachers at the college, many of whom volunteered to help build the backstop, dugouts and stands, which remain today.

WALES AND RUSH were mainstays on Allen’s 1983 team, which took third in the NJCAA World Series, “and I still believe we were the best team there, by far,” Wales said.
Wales grew up in Ohio, dubbed “the Mouth from Portsmouth,” known for his prodigious home run blasts. He was put in contact with McLean in 1981, “although for some reason, he thought I was a left-handed pitcher before we met,” Wales recalled.
Wales set a number of hitting records his freshman campaign, then proceeded to break those marks his sophomore year. He still holds Allen’s all-time home run record.
Wales also claimed one of his hardest hits may have cost the Red Devils the World Series in 1983. Late in one game, his line drive struck the opposing pitcher in the head, bounced back over to the third base side and into the stands.
“I thought I killed him,” Wales recalled.
The pitcher recovered — even returned to the ball field the next day — but his replacement that night turned out to be a crackerjack pitcher himself.
“He shut us down the rest of the game,” Wales recalled, somewhat remorsefully.
Rush grew up in Lawrence, and used his blazing speed to set the tables for the Allen offense.
He let Saturday’s audience in on a secret.
Much of his success was driven by fear of failure.
“I was always afraid of letting my teammates down,” he said.
Saturday’s induction was a return trip for both Wales and Rush, who also were inducted en masse with their 1983 teammates last year.

THE PURPOSE of the festivities like Saturday’s was to offer more than a chance to reminisce, noted Tom Price, a former player and organizer of Saturday’s banquet.
“We need to stay in touch with our teammates, with each other, and with the school,” Price said.