Last Updated on June 29, 2016 by cassnetwork
The third member of the coaching triumvirate that produced four state baseball championships for Logansport is the latest recipient of a special city award.
Rich Wild, who was junior varsity head coach and assistant varsity coach for the Berries, coached teams that won championships in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1991. His son Jeff also played for the Berries and his son Mike was a manager for the 1979 champs. Wild, the son of a former Logansport judge, joins the two other coaches on that staff, Jim Turner and Larry “Butch” Jones, as Bicentennial recipients.
“Not too many people can claim to have four championship rings in any sport,” Mayor Dave Kitchell said. “Rich, Jim and Butch were together for many years and they were loyal to Logansport. Many coaching staffs might have left Logansport for larger schools in metro areas, but ours never did despite the successes they had. They might have quit after one championship, but they didn’t. They kept doing things ‘The Logansport Way’ and established the template from which other baseball programs were copied.”
The mayor said their involvement in the Field of Dreams project at Woodland Acres north of the city is testament to both their love of the game and their community.
“This week is an appropriate time to honor Coach Wild because some of the best days Logansport High School athletics ever enjoyed happened in the waning weeks of June,” the mayor said. “Many who were around for those championships can remember caravans from Lafayette and Indianapolis and post-championship rallies at the Berry Bowl. It didn’t happen because we had a multi-million dollar field or a lucrative athletics budget. It happened because we had dedicated people like Rich, Jim and Butch.”
SOURCE: News release from the Office of Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell