National News

 February 3, 2010

 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class has been released by the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association.  This year's class is made up of four well-respected coaches both on and off the diamond.  The class includes long-time Head Coach of Olney Central College (Ill.) Dennis Conley, former Head Coach at Linn-Benton (Ore.) and Yavapai College (Ariz.) Dave Dangler, and current Head Coach Bill Hamilton of Pensacola Junior College (Fla). 

Dennis Conley
Head Coach
Olney Central College (Ill.)

Dennis Conley has enjoyed many years of success as the Head Coach of Olney Central College (Ill.).  His successes include 26 straight winning seasons, 23 consecutive 30_­+ wins in a season where 13 of those seasons were made up of 40+ wins, 15 Sectional Championships, and three GRAC regular season titles.

Dennis went to high school at Charleston High School in Illinois.  He attended college and played baseball at Eastern Illinois University.  As player and as a coach his colleagues have regarded him as a man of integrity with an uncompromising code of ethics.  Dennis took over the baseball program at Olney Central College in 1981.

Besides being the Head Coach of Olney Central College, Dennis was the Baseball Chairman for Region NJCAA's Region 24 from 1986 to 1990.  He has been a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association since 1981, and has worked in a number of summer baseball camps since 1982.  As well as guiding young men on the field, Dennis has also been a featured speaker at different functions over the years.  Conley has been named the GRAC Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions (200, 2004, 2005). 

In April of 2008, Olney Central College baseball field was dedicated as Conley Field in his honor.

Dave Dangler
Head Coach
Yavapai College (Ariz.)

Dave started his coaching career at Linn-Benton where he coached from 1977-1983 and put together a record of 222-86.  At Linn-Benton he took his team to three straight appearances at the JUCO World Series during 1979-1981.  Those same years he won the Region 18 Coach of the Year award.

In 1983 he left Linn-Benton to coach at Yavapai College in Arizona.  He continued his winning ways at Yavapai posting an overall record of 294-274 during 1984-1994.  In 1986 he took Yavapai to the JUCO World Series where they took third place and won the team sportsmanship award.  In 1993 he took Yavapai back to the JUCO World Series where he would finally win a National Championship and win the NJCAA National Coach of the Year.  In 1986 and 1993 he was named the Region 1 coach of the year.

In his time at Linn-Benton and Yavapai, Dave recorded an overall record of 516-360.  He is one of only two coaches in NJCAA history (Bill Griffin, Panola & Howard) to take two different programs to the JUCO World Series.  He coached eight NJCAA All-Americans and had 44 players selected in the MLB Draft.

Dangler was hired as the Head Baseball Coach at Portland State University from 1995 to 1998 when the program was dropped.

Dave worked as a Major League Baseball Scout with the Montreal Expos (2001 Scout of the Year), Florida Marlins (2003 Scout of the Year), and the Baltimore Orioles from 1999-2009.  Dangler is now the pitching coach at Notre Dame University.

In addition to his induction to the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, he has also been inducted into the Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Northwest Community College Hall of Fame.

Bill Hamilton
Head Coach
Pensacola Junior College (Fla.)

Hamilton started his coaching career in 1987 with North Florida Junior College.  While there, he compiled a record of 84-72.  In 1990 he took over the Pensacola Junior College baseball program and has since put together a record of 591-379. 

Under Hamilton, Pensacola has won two conference championships, and in 2004 they won the regional championship, district championship, and made a JUCO World Series appearance.

In his time as a head coach, he has seen more than 175 of his players move on to four year colleges and more than 60 players move into the professional ranks.

In 2002 and 2008 he was named the FCCAA Coach of the Year.  In 2004 he was named the NJCAA Region Coach of the Year, FCCAA Baseball Coach of the Year, and the NJCAA District Coach of the Year.

From 1992-2002, Hamilton served as the chair for the Florida Panhandle Conference, a member of the Florida JUCO State Baseball Committee, a member of the FCCAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament Committee, and a member of the NJCAA All-District Selection Committee.

In addition to his outstanding commitment on the field, he has also done many things for the community.  Bill served as a committee member for the Fredwaters Baseball Clinic from 1990-2001.  Since 1996 he has served as a Charter Staff Member for Advanced summer baseball camps at Florida State University and Troy University.

By Lance Cox

NJCAA