Joliet Junior College renamed its baseball field Wayne L. King Jr. Field in a Sept. 24 ceremony to honor the college’s athletics director and head baseball coach, whose 803 collegiate career wins are the most in school history.
2010 will King’s 24th year as the head baseball coach at JJC. During that time, 90 percent of his student athletes have transferred to four-year schools.
The dedication ceremony began at 6 p.m. at the baseball field on the Main Campus. Scott Slocum, local WJOL morning host and JJC alumnus served as master of ceremonies.
JJC President Dr. Gena Proulx and Mark Smith, a former player of King’s during the 1991 and 1992 seasons and an assistant coach at JJC with King from 1995 to 2006, gave remarks and then revealed the new scoreboard adorned with King’s name.
During his tenure at JJC, King has established Joliet as one of the most successful Division III baseball programs in the NJCAA. Under his leadership, the college has won 13 Region IV titles and two national championships, including the 2008 World Series title.
King attended Beaver Local High School in East Liverpool, OH. He was a three-sport athlete there and earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball.
He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Ohio University in Athens, OH, where he was admitted with a baseball scholarship and was a four-year starting catcher.
He is a member of the Region IV Hall of Fame as a Coach/Administrator as well as the Beaver Local High School (Ohio) Athletic Hall of Fame.
On May 22, 2009, King was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame at the NJCAA Division I World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. At 50 years old, King is the youngest coach to ever to be inducted.