IHSBCA 2024 Hall of Fame Press Release
The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association has selected the 2024 inductees for the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. This year’s class includes 3 coaches and 2 players. Dean Lehrman of Heritage, Dave Ginder of Fort Wayne Carroll, and Joe Decker of Silver Creek are the coaching inductees and Clayton Richard (McCutcheon) and Bryan Bullington (Madison) are the player inductees.
The 2024 class will be honored on January 19 at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet which is a part of the 3-day IHSBCA State Clinic. The banquet will be held at the Sheraton Keystone Crossing Indianapolis and will start at 7:00 PM. The banquet is preceded by a social hour at 6:00 PM and a Red-Carpet show at 5:00 PM. All events for the Hall of Fame will be held at the Sheraton. The Hall of Fame Banquet is a celebration of baseball as we recognize our state champion coaches, district coaches of the year, and victory club, along with our Hall of Fame inductees.
Tickets are available for the banquet through the IHSBCA website (www.ihsbca.org) or by using this LINK. Questions regarding the event can be directed to Hall of Fame Chairman Jeff McKeon at 317-445-9899 or jmckeon@plainfield.k12.in.us
Congratulations again to the 2024 inductees to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame!
Brian Abbott
IHSBCA Executive Director
Hall of Fame Members:
Dean Lehrman graduated from Heritage HS (1973) where he was a four-year letter winner in baseball and then received his bachelor’s degree from IPFW (1977) where he pitched/lettered for the Mastodons all four years.
Coach Lehrman has coached high school baseball for 45 years; 9 years at Woodlan HS and 36 years at Heritage HS. To date, his teams have won 685 varsity baseball games including 14 Allen County Athletic Conference championships. He is an 8-time ACAC COTY and has also garnered IHSBCA District COTY honors and twice served as a member of the North All Star coaching staff. Coach Lehrman was inducted into the NEIBCA Hall of Fame in 2021.
Dean’s teams have won 9 sectional titles, 4 regional championships, 1 semi-state crown, 4 Final Four appearances and were class 2A state runner up in 2007. He has also coached football for 41 years, including 6 seasons as head coach at Heritage (40 W – 26 L). Coach Lehrman and his wife Janice have three grown children: Camryn (Jeremy), Derek (Amy), and Ryne (Makenna). They have four grandchildren. Dean retired from teaching mathematics at Heritage High School in 2020.
Dave Ginder is a graduate of Carroll HS and Anderson University. He has been the head coach at Carroll HS and enters his 22nd season as Head Coach at CHS and has won 446 games against 154 losses. During that time, his teams have captured 7 Northeast Hoosier Conference crowns, 11 sectional titles, 4 regional titles, 2 semi-state championships, and 2 state titles in 2010 and 2011. Coach Ginder has been named State COTY twice (2010 and 2011), NHC COTY (2003, 2011, and 2013), and District COTY in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2022.
Dave is an active member in the IHSBCA serving as an assistant North All-Star coach in 2011 and Head Coach in 2022 and a member of the 4A Poll Panel for many years. He is also involved with local baseball camps and clinics, along with being a member of the ABCA and Northeast Indiana Baseball Association where he was inducted into their HOF in 2022 and serves on the NEIBA board.
Coach Ginder teaches Mathematics at Carroll High School. He resides in Fort Wayne with his wife, Kristen, a Registered Nurse at Parkview, and Certified Health Coach. They have 3 children Langston (24), Drezdan (22) and Jantzyn (19).
Joe Decker is a 1987 graduate of Silver Creek High School and a 1991 graduate of Hanover College. He began his coaching career at Brown County High School in 1992 before moving to Silver Creek in 1996. He also was the head coach at Indiana University Southeast from 2003-2006.
He has amassed an overall head coaching record of 634 – 344 over his 30-year coaching career. At the high school level, he has an overall record of 553 – 256. His teams have won 16 conference championships (including a current 65 game winning streak in the Mid-Southern Conference), 12 sectional championships (6 straight), 4 regional championships, 2 semi-state championships and 1 state championship in his final game in 2023. Coach Decker has been named conference coach of the year 16 times and district coach of the year twice. He has over 40 players go on to play at the next level, 8 All-State players, 6 North-South All-Stars and 4 Academic All- State players.
He has served on numerous IHSBCA committees as well as serving as a coach on the North/South All-Star series at Indiana Wesleyan in 2022. Joe teaches math at Silver Creek H.S. and lives in Sellersburg with his wife Stephanie who is a motivational speaker. They have 3 children: Nolan (25), Dominic (20), and Reese (17).
Clayton Richard played high school baseball for HOF Coach Jake Burton at McCutcheon High School where he participated in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was 4 time All-State, an All-American, and was awarded the Indiana Mr. Football Award in 2002. He lettered 4 years in basketball and is a member of McCutcheon’s 1,000-point club and set rebound records. In baseball, he played varsity all four years. He led the state in pitching his senior year while allowing only one earned run all season en route to the Mavericks second state championship in 5 years. Clayton was awarded with the Mr. Baseball award following that season, becoming the first Hoosier athlete to win both Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball. During his time at McCutcheon, he was a valedictorian of his class.
He went on to play football and baseball at the University of Michigan. He played two seasons of football and one of baseball before being chosen by the Chicago White Sox in the 8th round of the 2005 player draft. He was promoted in 2008 and made his debut for the CWS in July. He played baseball professionally from 2005-2020. He spent most of his career as a starter for the San Diego Padres.
Clayton Richard lives in Lafayette, where he coaches QB’s during the fall and is the Head Baseball Coach at Lafayette Jefferson High School. He also owns Captain Spiffy Golf Carts. He is married to Ashley, and they are the proud parents of three children: Cashton 11, Cannon 10, and Kile 7. He is very appreciative of the support he has received through the years from all the members of the Lafayette community, especially Barry, Cindy, Casey, and Taylor.
Bryan Bullington attended high school at Madison Consolidated High School, where he was a two-sport athlete. As a sophomore for Coach O’Neal’s Madison Cubs, he had a 6-3 record while compiling 74 strikeouts. In 1998, as a junior, he was 10-1, with a 1.69 ERA and 65 strikeouts. During his senior season, in 1999, Bryan was an impressive 15-0 with a 1.49 ERA and 127 strikeouts. He led his team to the 1999 3A State Championship where he threw a one- hitter vs. Ft. Wayne Carroll. Following the 1999 season he was named Indiana’s Hoosier Diamond Mr. Baseball, MVP of the IHSBCA North-South All-Star Series and drafted in the 37th round by the Kansas City Royals.
Bullington decided to forego Major League Baseball at that time to attend Ball State University. In three seasons at Ball State, Bullington had a career record of 29-11 with 357 strikeouts. He was named first team all MAC in all three years that he attended Ball State and was named MAC pitcher of the year for both the 2001 and 2002 seasons. In 2001 he was chosen to pitch for the Team USA Collegiate National Team. Upon leaving Ball State, Bullington held school records for most career wins (29), single season strikeouts (139), career strikeouts (357) and single season wins (11). He still holds the MAC conference record in career and single season strikeouts. In 2014 Bullington was inducted into the Ball State Hall of Fame and was inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame in 2020.
In the 2002 MLB Draft, Bullington was chosen as the first overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since the start of the MLB draft in 1965, there have only been two number one overall picks from the state of Indiana. His pro career lasted 13 seasons, spending the first 8 between Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toronto, and Kansas City. His Major League career was highlighted by an 8 inning, 2 hit, shutout performance vs. the New York Yankees to earn his first big league win. On the minor league side, Bullington had a record of 61-38 with a 3.68 ERA and had 602 strikeouts. Following the 2010 season, he signed a contract to play professional baseball in Japan. During his 5 seasons in Japan’s NPB, with the Hiroshima Carp and Orix Buffaloes, he was 45-45 with a 3.25 ERA, and 521 strikeouts.
Bullington continues to stay connected to the game of baseball, working as a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers and coaching his sons with the Cangelosi Sparks organization. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, Lauren, and three children, Bella, Matt and Jack.