04.27.09
- There
were many things on his mind as his
baseball team prepared to play
Indiana Wesleyan University in their regular season finale on
Saturday, April 25, of which the most important was the need to win
at least one game of the doubleheader to clinch an automatic berth
for the Foresters in the upcoming Mid-Central Conference (MCC)
tournament. Things got more intense after Huntington dropped game
one to the Wildcats, but the Foresters recovered with a 12-7 win in
the nightcap to capture the bid and hand Coach Mike Frame the 600th
victory of his 25-year career at Huntington’s helm.
Not one to want to
make a fuss about his achievements, Frame wasn’t aware that he was
approaching the milestone until just prior to the start of the
doubleheader. “In preparing for the games, my
main thought was that we needed to at least split because we needed
some time off,” said Frame. He realized the possible significance
of a win on the day when looking at a media guide before the
game to see how close Edwin Rodriguez was to breaking the RBI season
record. Both Rodriguez and Frame came away from the day with new
entries in Huntington’s record books. Rodriguez surpassed the
previous mark of 54 RBI in a season and his total currently stands
at 56. Frame joined the ranks of an elite group in the sport after
hitting the century mark for the sixth time in his career.
“It’s a nice honor, but it’s a credit to the great
players and assistant coaches that we have had here over the years,”
said Frame. “We have had some great men donate a huge amount of
hours with little or no pay to make an impact on the lives of young
men. The relationships are what last.”
In the fall of 1984, Frame took over Huntington’s
floundering baseball program. Four different coaches in as many
years had taken its toll and the university administration was
looking for someone to give the program stability. His original
commitment to stay for three years has turned into twenty-five
seasons, and 600 wins later, Frame shows no signs of relenting.
Fourteen wins in his first season remains a career low for him and
by his third year; he guided the Foresters to a 29-14 record and his
first of seven MCC Championships. During his tenure, Huntington has
captured the MCC regular season title and MCC Tournament title 11
times in his previous 24 years. His teams have been above .500 in
16 of his 25 seasons with record highs of 35 wins in both the spring
of 1988 and 1991. He has a current career record of 600-481, all
coming as the Foresters’ skipper.
In addition to being named MCC Coach of the Year five
times, Frame was selected as the NAIA District 21 and NCCAA District
Coach of the Year each one time, and was one of eight coaches across
the nation to receive NAIA Area Coach of the Year honors in 1987.
Huntington University honored Frame with his induction into the
Athletics Hall of Fame in November of 2003 and in January of 2009,
he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. Under
Frame’s tutelage, five players have signed professional contracts,
10 have received NAIA All-American honors, five have been honored as
NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes, and 35 players have earned MCC
All-Conference honors. |
