The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will soon usher in it Class of 2025 for the annual Baseball & Softball Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company.
CEO & Executive Director Rob Marsh on Tuesday announced the ceremony, set for 11 AM on Wednesday, May 21 at the new Wilson Logistics Arena, part of the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield.
Additionally, the Hall of Fame will honor Erick Taylor of Price Cutter Supermarkets with the President’s Award, bestow the Summit Award on the Hall of Fame’s Taylor Frederich and recognize the Diamond Nine Awards on stage, too.
The Class of 2025 is as follows:
- Jim Winn – Clever High School & Pittsburgh Pirates
- Dave Plassmeyer – Lebanon High School baseball coach
- Nora Whitcomb – Missouri State University softball pitcher
- Nolan McCaulley – Umpire
- Dixon High School Baseball Era of 1976-1978
- Foremost Dairy Women’s Softball Era
- Joplin Globe Sports Writers Wendell Redden, Anvil Welch, Jim Henry & Jim Fryar
- Norwood High School 1991 State Championship Softball Team
The Diamond Nine awards recognize former All-State baseball and softball players from Missouri high schools, colleges and the pros, or who made positive contributions to the game.
This year’s Diamond Nine are Brent Bartlett (Lockwood High School/Missouri State University), Kaitlyn Bowles (Boonville High School/Drury University), Jereme Foster (Hillcrest High School/Wichita State University), Brock Kissee (Sparta High School/College of the Ozarks), Jud Kindle (Sedalia Smith-Cotton High School/Crowder College/Missouri State University), Shelby Romines Liska (Ozark High School/Missouri Southern State University), Jenna Marston (Principia School/University of Missouri), Matt Meyr (Perryville High School/Missouri Southern State University), and Joe Rohlfing (Lee’s Summit High School/Lee’s Summit West High School/Drury University).
Sponsorship tables with eight seats are $450 and include recognition in the printed program and at the table. An individual ticket is $60 in advance, or $70 at the door. Head table tickets right up front are $100 each. Numerous sponsorships are available, such as associate, video and table standard sponsorships, as well as congratulatory ads. Call 417-889-3100.
Erick Taylor – President’s Award
Taylor will be bestowed the President’s Award, for his generosity and leadership as the longtime President of Pyramid Foods, Inc. – which owns the Price Cutter Supermarkets across the Ozarks. The award recognizes individuals who champion the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and sports in general in the Show-Me State. A graduate of Springfield’s Hillcrest High School, Taylor has done just that in his 32 years as president of the Springfield-based grocery company, as Price Cutter has been a corporate sponsor of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and a lead sponsor of the PGA Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Hiland Dairy Foods. That’s significant, considering both organizations are 501(c)(3) not-for-profits and have never applied for state or federal grants. The Hall of Fame opened in 1994, and the PCCC began in 1990, with Price Cutter having been a title or presenting sponsor of the tournament for 26 years now – with millions of dollars raised for children’s charities. For both organizations, Taylor has ensured that Price Cutter support induction ceremonies and golf events. Along the way, Taylor has served as president of the Missouri Grocers Association and as a board member with Associated Wholesale Grocers. In his youth, he played baseball for Hillcrest, as well as at Crowder College in Neosho and for Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.
Taylor Frederich – Summit Award
A 2009 graduate of Branson High School and 2014 graduate of the University of Missouri, Frederich will be bestowed the Summit Award. It is presented for longtime service to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and PGA Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. He has worked for the Hall of Fame for 11 years, having joined the organization after working as an intern on the PCCC in 2012 and 2014. Overall, he has been a leader and important voice in the direction of the success of each. Additionally, he is a perfect example of making the most of an opportunity and working hard to climb the ladder. He started as an Administrative Marketing and Operations Assistant and worked the front desk in the lobby before rising through the ranks. At one point, he handled Sponsorship Development and Sales and, since April 2022, has been the Hall of Fame’s Director of Operations. Frederich wears many hats for both organizations, which are both 501(c)(3) not-for-profits and do not apply for state or federal grants. As Director of Operations for the PCCC, he has led the set-up every July at Highland Springs Country Club, overseeing everything from skyboxes to the Ozarks Club food & beverage tent to bleachers and more. He also coordinates all celebrities and pros for golf classics and pro-ams, and works with Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling and Wil Fischer Distributing on the Hall of Fame and tournament’s beverage needs. His final day at the Hall of Fame is May 30.
Jim Winn – Clever High School & Pittsburgh Pirates
Winn graduated from Clever High School in 1978, months before helping the Republic American Legion baseball team win the state championship. He then went on to John Brown University in Arkansas, and in three seasons went 27-9 as a pitcher. That included a 10-2 record in 1981, when he led the team to the NAIA World Series. That season, he earned All-American honors from the America Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings and was a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Two years later, on April 10, 1983, Winn made his big-league debut for the Pirates, starting a six-year career in Major League Baseball. He worked two scoreless and hitless innings in his debut that day, and spent the next four seasons with the Pirates. He pitched in 1987 for the Chicago White Sox, and finished his career in 1988 with the Minnesota Twins. Overall, Winn appeared in 161 games, mostly as a reliever. He won 12 games and had 10 saves, with the 1985 to 1987 seasons becoming his best work as he appeared in 136 games, worked 257.2 innings and finished 42 games. He struck out 159 batters in his career. After retirement, Winn returned to Springfield and has enjoyed a long career with Conco.
Dave Plassmeyer – Lebanon High School Baseball Coach
Plassmeyer coached the Lebanon Yellowjackets baseball program for 25 seasons, with his players and staff helping the club to a 323-218 record. Two of his teams reached the Final Four, with the 1982 team placing third and the 2002 team placing fourth. His teams also won nine conference championships, nine district titles, made six quarterfinal appearances and won eight other tournaments. Along the way, his teams enjoyed 23 winning seasons. Plassmeyer had graduated from Owensville High School, where he played basketball, ran track and played baseball. He later graduated from Missouri State University in 1973 and then signed his first teaching and coaching contract at Joel E. Barber School. He signed on with Lebanon schools in 1976. He has since been inducted into the Missouri Baseball Coaches Association and was the athletic director of Lebanon High School for nine years while coaching his baseball teams until retiring in 2003.
Nora Cagwin Whitcomb – Missouri State University Softball Pitcher
Whitcomb was one of the top starting pitchers in Missouri State softball history in a career which ran from 1996 to 1999 for the Bears of coach Holly Hesse (MSHOF 2018). The Bears won 128 of 220 games played in Whitcomb’s career, with four consecutive Missouri Valley Conference first division finishes. The Bears won the MVC Tournament and advanced to NCAA regional tournament play in each of Cagwin’s first three seasons. Some 25 years since her last game, she holds the all-time record in strikeouts (767), ranks second in wins (71), saves (13) and shutouts (29), third in games pitched (148), games started (99) and complete games (69), and fourth in innings pitched (706.1). She also issued only 47 walks. Whitcomb was a three-time First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and on its all-tournament team (1997, 1998, 1999) and was the Valley’s Pitcher of the Year in 1998 and 1999; and the Valley’s MVP in 1998. These days, she is a teacher in Olathe, Kan., and provides pitching lessons to youths.
Nolan McCaulley – Umpire
What began in 1962 became a passion, as McCaulley was a baseball umpire, football referee and basketball official for nearly 50 years in the Springfield area. In baseball, he not only umpired high school and American Legion games but also emerged in the mid-1980s as the main coordinator of officials – including those in the Southwest Missouri Baseball Umpires Association and Mid-America Umpires. He also served as commissioner of the local American Legion baseball league and served on the board of the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association (NFIOA) in the early 1980s. In 1984, he was named the Missouri High School Umpire of the Year and, a year later, was the NFIOA’s Regional Umpire of the Year. Additionally, McCauley served as director of Springfield’s Fourth of July Holiday Baseball Tournament from 1978 well into the 2000s. Additionally, he officiated in MSHSAA state championship games in almost every class in football, basketball and baseball, and was coordinator of officials for MSHSAA state baseball. McCaulley also worked college games in NCAA Division I and D-II. In basketball, he officiated 36 Greenwood Blue & Gold Tournaments from 1969 to 2004, more than any other official in tournament history. His total of 178 Blue & Gold games is second only to Jim Ewing’s 237. He also called a record 39 Nixa Invitational Tournaments beginning in 1966.
Foremost Dairy Women’s Softball Era of 1970s
In the 1960s, companies in the Ozarks began sponsoring men’s fastpitch softball teams, and among them was Foremost Dairy. But as women began fielding sports teams on college campuses, and with the passage of federal Title IX legislation, those companies enhanced their marketing by adding women’s teams. Out of that effort came the idea of Foremost Dairy Women’s Softball, a 1970s-era team composed of southwest Missouri talents, many of whom played several sports at Missouri State University. Kay Hunter was a player and coach, with the roster also including Sue Schuble, Linda Dollar, Carole Meyers, Jan Trotter, Jackie Tekotte, Launa Goddard, Billie Joe Goodman, Cindy Henderson Snead, Nora Sousley Greenwade, Janice Crumpley, Diane Cline, Marlene Moore, Brenda Gunier, Laura Doran, Mary Shaefer, Mary Doyen, Irene Barnes, Reba Sims, Judy Bonnett, Debbie Bellman, Cheryl Feeback, Dana Aust, Debby Dace, and Fran Salsman. Hunter, Schuble, Dollar, Snead, Crumpley and Sims have been honored by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Meyers, Goodman and Bonnett have since passed away.
Dixon High School Baseball Era of 1976-1978
The Dixon High School baseball team enjoyed quite a run in the mid-1970s, advancing to the Final Four three times in Class A. Coached by Ron Hopson, the Bulldogs won it all in 1976, beating Lilbourn 11-2 in the state championship game. That team finished 19-0. The roster included second baseman Chuck Baker, Randy Bowman, centerfielder Ralph Chambers, left fielder Ken Copeland, first baseman Jerry Goodman, third baseman Mike Hall, Jay Harrison, shortstop Randall Hayes, pitcher Gerry Lewis, Blane Mathis, right fielder Mike Nichols and catcher Gary White. The 1977 team nearly made it a repeat before falling to Chaffee 8-1 in the finals, and the 1978 team placed fourth. Many of the 1977 players were back from the state championship season, with Marty Prewett, Duane Van Scoy and Roger Yoakum on the roster. The 1978 team had several players from the previous two seasons, and the Bulldogs added Marty Cross, Randy Howser, Dean Kelley, Jeff Kelley, David Pease, Larry Perkins, Kim Russell and Jerry Thompson. Team manager was Billy Beydler.
Joplin Globe Sports Writers – Wendell Redden, Anvil Welch, Jim Henry & Jim Fryar
For a combined 157 years, Redden, Welch, Henry and Fryar anchored the sports department of the Joplin Globe newspaper. In fact, the “Redden Era” spanned 70 years, from 1951 to 2021.
- Wendell Redden, who passed away in 2011, started there in 1951 before graduating from Joplin High School and assumed sports editor duties in 1952. He covered local sports, as well as the Kansas City Athletics’ opener at Municipal Stadium in 1955, the Arkansas-Texas football national championship game in 1969, Big Eight Conference football games, the 1972 Missouri Southern NAIA national championship and was part of the Big Eight Conference Skywriters tour for 10 years. After retiring in 1996, Redden worked for the sports information department at Missouri Southern State University. He also was tournament director for Golden Gloves, coached youth baseball, was president of the Joplin Boys Club and helped found the Joplin Sports Authority.
- Anvil Welch: A 1964 Eminence High School graduate who attended what’s now Missouri State-West Plains and later Missouri State, Welch was a sportswriter for more than 40 years. He started at the West Plains Daily Quill. He later joined the Globe in 1984 after working for the Springfield News-Leader and retired in 2015. Like so many sportswriters, he was passionate about local high school sports, not only covering games but hurrying back to the newsroom in order to help take phone calls almost every night of the high school sports season. Welch’s main beats were Webb City and Joplin high schools.
- Jim Henry: A 1971 Boonville High School graduate, Henry has been covering sports for 54 years. He worked for the Globe for 39 years (1978-2003 & 2007-2021). He primarily focused on Parkwood High School and Joplin High School, as well as Missouri Southern. Henry also covered eight World Series games, Missouri Southern’s 1992 National Softball Championship Team (MSHOF 2023), as well as nearby Pittsburg State’s NCAA Division II football and track & field championships. In 2015, as part of 14 years as sports editor, he covered both the Little League World Series (Webb City qualified) and the Major League Baseball World Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets. He previously worked for newspapers in Boonville and Waynesville, and is in his second stint with the Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kan.
- Jim Fryar. A 1966 graduate of Shaw Memorial High School in Kidder and College of the Ozarks, he worked in the sports department from 1975 until 2017. The 1975 Parkwood-DeSmet state championship football game was his first assignment. He primarily covered McAuley Catholic High School, Missouri Southern and high school track & field meets. He also handled most of the page design. Fryar started on the C of O newspaper staff and worked for the Branson Beacon, and weeklies for the White River Leader, Forsyth and Reeds Spring.
1991 Norwood High School Softball State Championship Team
The Norwood High School softball team of 1991 made a lasting impression in the fall that season, winning the Class 1-2 state championship by beating Princeton 7-4. Coached by Don Forrest, the Lady Pirates completed a 18-1 season. Lynn Long was the assistant coach. The roster featured pitcher Tracy Curtis, third baseman Heather Cutbirth, catcher Christy Denman, Allyson Dwyer, second baseman Hannah Hancock, Amy Kelley, centerfielder Kathy Kelley, Carolyn Moore, first baseman Laura Pendergrass, shortstop Lori Sinning, and right fielder Connie Ussery. The scorekeeper was Glen Ussery. That season, the Lady Pirates’ only loss was to Marian C. Early, 3-2, in extra innings (8). In the state championship game, Sinning and Denman were both 2-for-4 with RBI, and Hancock had two RBI. Curtis tossed a complete-game six-hitter, striking out four. Kathy Kelly made two highlight-reel catches. The victory came a day after Norwood beat Marion County 15-3 in the semifinals.
DIAMOND NINE AWARDS
Brent Bartlett – Lockwood High School/Missouri State University
A farm boy from Lockwood, Bartlett was a three-sport standout in high school – and would have been four had the school offered the sport. Because it didn’t, he played for the American Legion baseball team in Willard, for Conco Quarries, and helped the team win the 1986 Legion state title. That was after he had been All-State in football and basketball (1,932 career points, Final Four) and was on the track & field team. He then played at Allen County Community College in Kansas, leading the 1987 team with a .475 batting average and was a 37th-round draft pick of the New York Mets. The next year, he earned All-American and All-Region honors for the juco. At Missouri State, he played third base and, as a senior, led the team in steals and batting average (.365). There, he was a two-time all-conference selection in 1989 and 1990. Bartlett then went into teaching and coaching. He coached Drexel girls basketball for three years, guiding the 1996 team (31-0) to the state title a year after earning a third-place finish. He later coached for 22 years at Nevada and has been at Joplin McAuley coaching junior high boys & girls basketball the past three years. Overall, he has coached for 35 years.
Kaitlyn Bowles – Boonville High School/Drury University
Bowles was a four-year starter in both softball and basketball at Boonville, earning First Team All-North Central Missouri Conference honors, First Team All-District and Class 3 All-Region. She hit .376 and led the Pirates in hits, home runs and RBI as a senior. In basketball, she was a First Team All-NCM selection, All-District and on the KMZU Dream Team, as well as the Columbia Tribune All-Area team. She is the Boonville career leader in 3-point field goals in a game, career 3-pointers and third all-time in scoring. At Drury, she overcame a shoulder injury her freshman season and finished her carer third all-time for putouts (726) and hit by pitch (10), tied for fifth all-time for hits (134) and was sixth for career RBI (59). In 179 games, she made 177 starts and hit .265 with 134 hits, 59 RBI, scored 42 runs, drew 34 walks, had 17 doubles, four steals and three home runs. These days, the 2014 Drury graduate is an occupational therapist in Springfield.
Jereme Foster – Hillcrest High School/Wichita State University
Foster was among the area’s top talents in the late 1990s and early 2000s, pitching for Hillcrest High School. The right-hander was a two-time All-State selection in Class 4, and was a key part of the 2001 Ozark Conference championship team. He also pitched a couple of innings in Hillcrest’s state tournament run in 1998. Foster also played two years of football there, ran cross country for two years and played basketball for four years, including varsity as a junior and senior – with the 2001 team winning the conference and reaching the Class 4 state quarterfinals. Every summer, though, he focused on baseball, playing for the Hillcrest American Legion team. He then went on to pitch for Wichita State University, earning four letters from 2003 to 2006 and helping the Shockers to a 195-79 record that included three Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament berths. In 2005, he fired a complete-game shutout in Evansville – and was a bloop single away from a perfect game. These days, he is the senior director of data engineering for a health care company in Kansas City and sat on the Olathe, Kan., Parks and Recreation Board as a foundation member from 2018 to 2021.
Jud Kindle – Smith-Cotton High School/Crowder College/University of Arkansas/Missouri State
Kindle was an All-State catcher at Sedalia Smith-Cotton High School in 2000. He then went on to play at Crowder College in Neosho. At Crowder, he received the James Payne Academic Award along with being selected as an NBC All-American during his sophomore year. After Crowder, Kindle attended the University of Arkansas, where he played one year before finishing his career at Missouri State University. There, he earned First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors as a catcher in 2004. He later played for the independent Ozark Ducks and Evansville Otters. He began his coaching career under Keith Guttin (MSHOF 2015) at Missouri State before moving home and starting the Sedalia Bombers collegiate baseball team. Kindle served as manager and coach for the Sedalia Bombers of the MINK League from 2009 to 2015 after one season managing the Chillicothe Mudcats. He is now in his ninth season as the baseball coach at State Fair Community College in Sedalia. Kindle has accumulated a collegiate win loss 445-351. He has also had the privilege to coach more than 60 draft picks, including six former big-leaguers.
Brock Kissee – Sparta High School/College of the Ozarks
Kissee was a standout at Sparta from 1996 to 1999 and, 26 years later, he is still MSHSAA’s state leader in career home runs (47) and walks (102), No. 2 in hits (188), third in slugging percentage (.989) and fourth in extra-base hits (76). In the program, he holds the best career batting average (.518) and is third in both runs scored (141) and RBI (138). Kissee was a four-time all-conference selection in baseball, as well as the conference’s Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior. He also played basketball, earning all-conference. He went on to play three seasons at College of the Ozarks, graduating in 3 ½ years. You can find him these days working for Play It Again Sports in south Springfield, where he is the team sales manager and a real estate agent with Keller Williams.
Shelby Romines Liska – Ozark High School/Missouri Southern
Liska was a four-year starter and letterwinner for Ozark and was a four-time All-Central Ozark Conference and All-District selection – and All-State in 2008. She set school records for most games won (58), most games played (123) and finished second in school history in career assists (309), strikeouts (430), career RBI (93) and lowest ERA (1.30). The Lady Tigers won three district titles and placed fourth in the state in 2007. She played basketball her freshman and sophomore seasons. In four seasons at Missouri Southern, Liska hit 15 home runs, tied for fourth in program history, and her 96 RBI were three shy of reaching the top five in program history. She played in 154 games in her final three seasons, after seeing time as a freshman, including as a pitcher. As a junior in right field, she had a 1.000 fielding percentage, and received the Pat Lipira Award and Lionbacker Award. Liska has given back as a softball coach at Baxter Springs (Kan.), East Newton and Parsons (Kan.) high schools.
Jenna Marston – Principia High School/University of Missouri
Marston was a two-time All-State softball selection for the Principia Panthers and, overall, earned 12 varsity letters as a high school athlete who also played basketball and boys baseball. She helped the softball team to two district titles, too. In the summers, she played for the St. Louis Diamond Cats softball team. At Mizzou, Marston the starting shortstop in 2011 and a standout catcher from 2011-2013 and was a four-time all-conference selection (three in the Big 12 and once in the Southeastern Conference). As a senior, she started 52 games – including 10 in center field – and finished her career as one of the program’s all-time offensive threats. She ranks in the top 10 in hits (299), doubles (53), at-bats (693), runs scored (193), RBI (118) and walks (134). Additionally, Marston was a member of the USA Baseball Women’s National Team, which won the 2015 Pan-American Games. These days, she is a flight instructor for Fulltron Aviation in Springfield.
Matt Meyr – Perryville High School/Missouri Southern
Meyr graduated from Perryville High School in 1997, having played football, basketball and baseball. In baseball, he was shortstop, outfielder and pitcher. He earned First Team All-State as an outfielder, All-District as an outfielder and All-Conference as a pitcher and outfielder. He then played two seasons at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, helping the team to the 1998 Juco World Series. At Missouri Southern, Meyr was a two-year player who, in 2001, earned the Third Team NCAA Division II All-American honors, the MIAA Player of the Year award and the MIAA’s Ken B. Jones Award. He was second in the MIAA in batting average (.457) and led the team in average, runs (71), hits (85), doubles (22), home runs (7), RBI (73), slugging percentage (.720) and on-base percentage (.720). He also was All-Region. The 2001 team advanced to the Division II Midwest Regional. Since graduation in 2002, he has taught and coached at Galena High School in southeast Kansas for 20 seasons as an assistant coach, with the team earning eight trips to the state tournament, with a 2010 state title and two state runner-up berths. He has coached basketball for 17 years, with eight trips to the Final Four, and a 2021 state runner-up finish. He has been the head softball coach the past three seasons.
Joe Rohlfing – Lee’s Summit High School/Lee’s Summit West High School/Drury University
Rohlfing was a three-year letterwinner in high school and Class 3 First Team All-State infielder as a senior at Lee’s Summit West. He also was the Conference Co-Player of the Year his junior year at Lee’s Summit West, batting .440 and earning First Team All-Area as a shortstop and Honorable Mention All-Metro. As a senior, he was All-Area and All-Metro again after leading Lee’s Summit West to a state runner-up finish. At Drury from 2007-2010, he became known as “Joe Baseball” and was a key part of its re-launch after a nearly 30-year hiatus. There, he started all 205 games at shortstop and ranks in the top 10 of seven statistical career categories, including first in triples (25), second in at-bats (802), hits (286) and runs scored (178). His batting average (.357), doubles (39) and RBI (135). As a junior and senior, he earned NCAA Division II All-Midwest Region Gold Glove honors and was All-Great Lakes Valley Conference both years. As a junior, Rohlfing led NCAA Division II in triples (13). After graduating in 2011, he coached baseball and girls golf at Harrisonville High School and, in recent years, has been an assistant coach at Lee’s Summit High School. He has since been inducted into the Drury Athletics Hall of Fame.
