DEFIANCE — Crestview’s veteran high School baseball coach Jim Wharton
was inducted into the ACME baseball Hall of Fame last Sunday at the
Sweetwater Chophouse, located at the Eagle Rock Golf Club in Defiance.
Wharton,
along with fellow inductee and current Shawnee head baseball coach Chad
Spencer, were the guests of honor and were joined by friends and
family, along with the ACME Board of Directors for the induction
ceremonies. ACME baseball started in 1961 and exists to provide Ohio
high school baseball players, coaches and teams an opportunity to
continue to play competitive organized baseball after the high school
season ends.
As ACME baseball concludes its 58th year, Coach
Wharton has been a part of it for 34 years at Crestview. Wharton and
Spencer were introduced earlier in the day at the 2018 State ACME
Tournament on the campus of Defiance High School before game two of the
state tournament between Van Wert and Versailles.
Crestview High School guidance counselor Dave Springer spoke on behalf of Coach Wharton to open the ceremonies.
“It
was a privilege to have been an assistant to Coach Wharton for 20
years. Of all the things I could say about him, I will always admire how
he treated his players. Sometimes the words team and family can be
thrown out there and lack a genuine feel….not so in Coach Wharton’s
program. God gives kids different abilities and skills, but Jim treats
the All-State kids and the freshman the same. He creates that
environment with his staff and players. That is why his relationships
with his current and former players is so special,” Springer said.
Wharton
and Spencer become the 30th and 31st members of the ACME baseball Hall
of Fame, joining other Van Wert County members Don Bachman, Frank Doan
and Art Mosier. Wharton was also inducted into the Ohio High School
Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.