As we reach this milestone, it’s important to share the stories that have made Marietta the best in college baseball
Baseball has a long and illustrious tradition at Marietta College, and the program is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2024. Since the first pitch was thrown in 1874, generations of players have donned the Pioneer uniform and left their mark on one of the most storied programs in Division III.
Over the past 150 years, there have been moments when the program had to pause because of wars and other national emergencies. But through 133 seasons, the Etta Express have amassed an incredible 2,347 victories, including six national championships and 23 NCAA World Series appearances.
Under the leadership of legendary coaches like Don Schaly ’59, who ranks ninth in all-time victories in college baseball history, the Pioneers have dominated the diamond for decades. Schaly mentored future major-leaguers like Kent Tekulve ’69, Jim Tracy ’78, Terry Mulholland ’85, and Matt DeSalvo ’02. Their professional success is a testament to Marietta's sustained excellence.
Let’s not overlook the amazing contributions that current coach Brian Brewer ’93 has made to the program. The former All-American has led the program to three national championships and he has won 640 games at Marietta — and he has plenty of time to add many more victories to that total. Brewer has also tutored 14 former Pioneers who played at some level of professional baseball, including Turner Hill ’22, who is currently in the Giants organization.
Yet behind these famous names are countless unsung heroes who also positively impacted the program. As Marietta opens its 2024 season on February 22, we look back and celebrate more than the championships and records but the players, coaches, and staff whose passion and dedication built the foundation. From the first Pioneers who took the field 150 years ago to the current players chasing championship dreams today, this is a time to reminisce about the individuals who made Marietta baseball the close-knit family it is today. This anniversary offers an opportunity to highlight their stories once more.
And, as Coach Schaly would always say, “Surround yourself with good people.” You’ll see that’s exactly what he did when you read about these members of the Baseball Fraternity.
WMOA-AM 1490, the Voice of the Pioneers, has been broadcasting Marietta College baseball games over the radio since 1967. It all started with Big John Wharff, who was the Voice of the Etta Express for 29 years, and for the past 25 years his son, John, has traveled the U.S. sharing the program's exploits with Marietta fans. John and and his brother, Chris, will broadcast games in 2024, upping the total to 57 years.
Put Me In Coach!
Jamie Holland ’94 enhanced the Schaly mystique with MVP performance
When Jamie Holland ’94 was converted from an infielder to a pitcher during his junior season, he thought his days of hitting were over. For most of the 1993 season, he was right.
Before the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament opened on May 13, 1993, Holland stepped to the plate just six times — one base hit in four at-bats and two walks. Not a likely candidate to crack the lineup as the Pioneers prepared to face Ohio Northern at Pioneer Park.
“Since I was considered a utility player, I did the workouts with the pitchers and then had to do the workouts with the infielders, which included batting practice,” Holland says. “I knew I wasn’t going to play, so I was relaxed, having fun and hitting the ball really well.”
Call it a hunch or maybe it was a suggestion from Associate Coach Bill Mosca to give the Pioneer line-up a spark by putting Holland at third base and batting him sixth. “It didn’t take much convincing,” Mosca says. “Coach Schaly was known for making moves like this.”
Holland rewarded the confidence Schaly and Mosca showed by going 18-for-25 with 22 RBI and three home runs — including a grand slam — to win the OAC Tournament MVP award.
“We knew Jamie just needed another chance and when Coach gave him the opportunity, he took full advantage. Coach always had a knack for or an instinct to take a chance on a player. He would roll the dice on them even when they weren’t expecting it and putting them in the middle of the biggest games. It was unreal how many times those players were successful in the unexpected role. Coach was amazing. He always believed in us even when we might not have believed in ourselves.”
“When I hit the grand slam, Coach Schaly had this grin on his face when I got back to the dugout. It was sort of his way of telling me he was proud of me,” Holland says. “The only drawback was the players giving me a hard time for making Coach Schaly look like a genius for playing me. He already had a mystique about him, so this just added to it.”
In his senior season, Holland moved to left field and remained a part of the pitching staff. He earned second team All-America honors as a utility player.
“I had so much fun that season. I realized early in the year when we were training that this was it for me,” Holland says. “I was going to enjoy every moment, even when we were doing sprints up hills. It was a dream season.”
Holland is about as far removed from baseball today, except for attending a few spring training games each year.
After moving up the corporate ladder during a 16-year career with Hendrickson, a truck transportation company based in Woodridge, Illinois, Holland and his wife, Dawn, decided to make a change.
“We were living in Chicago and both of us were doing well. But we got to a point, right before COVID, that we’d had enough,” Jamie says. “We sold our house and cars, bought a 40-foot RV and a Jeep and we just started driving around the country.”
With Jamie’s children, Brendan and Rylee, from his first marriage and his stepson, Brandon, all in their 20s, the decision to uproot their lives was easy. They settled in Mesa, Arizona, and run a 55-and-over RV resort.
“It was a 180 from our lives, but we’re loving it,” Holland says. “We’ve met people from all over the country. During the winter we have 2,000 people and then we drop down to 200 in the summer.”
On April 7, 1999, the Etta Express easily defeated La Roche College (now University) 48-0 at Pioneer Park. In doing so, Marietta set a Division III record with 24 runs in one inning. Todd Timmer ’01 led Marietta by hitting for the cycle, which included a grand slam.
“Don considered his student secretaries a part of the baseball program, just like the players, coaches, managers and grounds crew. And he held them to the same high standards as the players. However, despite his gruff demeanor, Don had a soft spot for the girls that worked in the office. They were more like daughters to him than student workers.”
Behind the Scenes
Student office workers provided invaluable support for decades
Imagine never fielding a ground ball or driving home a winning run but believing your contribution to the team was as important as the pitcher getting the last out in a conference doubleheader.
Well, that’s how Tammi Milner Weigand ’90 felt every day during her four years working for Coach Schaly.
“Coach treated us like we were part of the program,” say Weigand referring to the work study students who typed letters to recruits and alumni while also completing countless other tasks for Hall of Fame baseball coach Don Schaly. “There was never a day go by, as long as he was in the office, that he didn’t thank me for helping him and the baseball program.”
Weigand is just one of a few dozen — maybe even more than 100 — former students who embraced the demanding job. For the majority of Schaly’s 40-year career, he employed four female students — one in each class to ensure consistency and so the more experienced students could train the newcomers.
Every year, Schaly and his wife, Sue Knicely Schaly ’62, would take the girls out for a holiday lunch. Weigand says the Schalys also treated the senior office workers like they were senior players.
“Sue Schaly was another reason the job was so great,” Weigand says. “When she stopped by the office, she would chat with us and give Coach direction, which was amusing.”
Coach Schaly became a fatherly (or grandfatherly) role for many of the women.
“He reminded me of my grandfather. My grandfather’s bark was worse than his bite — like Coach,” Weigand says. “Because I had grown up with someone similar, we got a long really well. Things that may have bothered other people, didn’t faze me. I knew he was striving for excellence, and it wasn’t personal.”
He was also protective. Weigand recalls a sorority formal her senior year, and …
“I didn’t have a date, so I asked a baseball player to go with me. We were just friends and he liked one of my sorority sisters,” Weigand explains. “He spent most of the night with her. At the end of the formal, I said to him that I was heading downtown with some friends, and he was welcome to join us, but it wasn’t necessary. He decided not to go.”
Word quickly got to Coach Schaly.
“On Monday, I could tell something was bothering Coach Schaly,” Weigand says. “I worked my two hours and was ready to leave when he said we needed to talk. He looked at me and said, ‘Don’t you ever let any young man treat you like that.’ I will never forget those words or realizing how much he really cared about me.”
Weigand has worked at Marathon Petroleum (formerly Marathon Oil) since she graduated from Marietta. That is where she met her husband, Craig, whom she has one daughter, Lydia, 19. She credits Schaly with showing her what it meant to be a leader, which has helped throughout her career.
“He made me feel like I wanted to be better at anything I did. That’s what set me apart from others at Marathon. Everyone knew I was willing to go the extra mile to be successful,” says Weigand, Director of Marketing and Scheduling for Marathon Petroleum Logistics. “If I hadn’t had the experience and gotten to know Coach, I don’t think I would have been as successful.”
How dominant was Marietta in the 1980s? The 1982 (649), 1981 (638), and 1986 (619) squads are the only Division III teams to ever eclipse 600 runs in a season. Those teams also surpassed 700 hits in a season — 1982 (762), 1986 (743), and 1981 (737).
Baseball in his Blood
Assistant coaches like Paul Page helped shape championship teams, successful individuals
Paul Page still remembers working 40 hours a week for his family’s kitchen and bathroom remodeling business and finding the time and energy to be an assistant coach for the Etta Express from 1978-84.
“I was only part-time, and I wasn’t making a lot of money, but I loved baseball, and I loved coaching,” Page says. “I learned a lot from Coach (Don) Schaly, and I appreciate how much he trusted me. We were able to establish a system and put it in place to the benefit of almost everybody.”
Page’s influence on the Etta Express helped the program get over the hump and win the 1981 NCAA Division III National Championship. The Pioneers came back again in 1983 and won their second title. Page also got to see the competitive side of Schaly following the first championship.
“We got back to the locker room to shower in 1981. Coach’s son, John, had just been named MVP of the World Series, and we hadn’t been in there more than five minutes and Coach turned to me and said, ‘We’re really going to have to get after these guys next year.’ I thought to myself, ‘Can’t we just enjoy this for a day or two?’ But that was his personality,” Page says.
After the 1984 season, Page stepped away from coaching to take over the family business. But a few years later, Ohio Dominican College’s (now University) Vice President for Student Services, Jim Sagona, called to see if he was interested in becoming the athletic director and baseball coach.
“I thought I had missed my opportunity to be a college coach,” Page says. He accepted the job and coached at ODU for 29 seasons, compiling a career record of 1,007-552-7 (.643) and ranked among the top 13 in career NAIA wins (864) and fifth in win percentage (.683) before the program transitioned to NCAA status.
Page says the two years he was a graduate assistant under legendary Mississippi State coach Ron Polk and the eight years as an assistant under Schaly helped formulate his coaching philosophy.
Page, a former All-OAC catcher at Muskingum, lives in Hurricane, West Virginia, with his wife, Sally. He heads up Coaches Fore Coaches, a non-profit organization that helps provide funding for assistant and graduate assistant coaches at small-college baseball programs and financially assists small-college baseball programs in Ohio.
“He is by far the best hitting coach I ever had. Let’s be honest, if he could make me a decent hitter, he must be a great coach. Paul came along at the right time for Marietta College baseball, and he played a key role in helping so many of us become better baseball players and better people.”
Did you know that Hall of Fame baseball coach Don Schaly ’59 was also an assistant football coach for 17 seasons (1963-79)?
“While Bryan was not the most talented player in our program, he was absolutely the most ‘unsung.’ Bryan was a plus defender, Brooks Robinson-type stuff, at third base and was one of the better hit-and-run guys we have had in our program. Bryan was the perfect complementary piece to our lineup. We tried for two years to find ‘a more talented guy’ but Bryan always refused to go away. Great work ethic, incredibly unselfish, phenomenal teammate, and such an even-keeled temperament.”
Getting Defensive
Work ethic, determination kept Bryan Gregorich ’13 on the field
For the better part of three seasons, Marietta baseball coach Brian Brewer did everything he could to find a replacement for Bryan Gregorich ’13 at third base.
“That’s what he always told me,” Gregorich says. “I thought by my senior year I’d be safe, but I checked the lineup before every game to make sure I was starting.”
Gregorich, a key contributor on back-to-back national championship teams, was often overshadowed by the star power on the 2011 and 2012 teams. Playing in 144 games over four years, the slick fielding Gregorich had a .282 batting average with no home runs. His fielding percentage was .941, but Brewer believes it would be much higher if Gregorich had played on the Field Turf surface at Pioneer Park today.
“I wasn’t highly recruited. I didn’t have any power numbers, but I was a defensive specialist and I prided myself on that,” says Gregorich, who went on to earn an MBA from Lake Erie College. “I was mainly a late-inning defensive replacement my freshman year. I knew when I got an opportunity, I better take advantage of it. I didn’t have the God-given attributes of so many of my teammates. I knew Coach Brewer would always put the best lineup out there, so I worked as hard as I could to make it impossible for him to take me out.”
That focus and determination helped him succeed in his career. For the past 14 months, Gregorich has worked as the Director of Operations at Dakota Wealth Management. Before that he worked more than nine years at MAI Capital Management. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Colleen, and their baby daughter Penelope.
“I wouldn’t be as successful if I wasn’t part of that program. A lot of outsiders only see the national championships, and they think it’s easy to win at Marietta,” Gregorich says. “When you pull back the curtain you see the hard work and dedication that was needed by everyone to succeed. What we had to do to achieve that success was extraordinary – a lot of time, energy, and effort was put in over four years. On top of that, we had to go to class and keep our grades up. Just being able to learn time management skills and the mental aspect that Coach Brewer instilled in us, really helped shaped me into the person I am today, and it helped set us all up for success in life outside of baseball.”
During Don Schaly’s first career game as head coach of the Etta Express in 1964, Mike Wright ’65 threw a 4-0 no-hitter against Morris Harvey (now the University of Charleston). There have been 20 more no-hitters since then — the most recent was by Christian Herstine ’16 against Montclair State on March 13, 2014.
Built with Shorthand