Clay to honor past baseball coaches

On Monday, at its baseball game against Southview, Clay will hold a dedication ceremony at Oregon Municipal Recreation Center's Ousky Field, naming its new press box/locker room facility after former longtime coaches Dick Kandik and Karl Knierim.

After the school's original baseball coach, Harold Potter, posted a 472-277 record with 13 league titles between 1928-1974, Kandik, who had been Potter's assistant, served as head coach from 1975-1996, guiding the Eagles to a 438-164 record, nine Great Lakes League titles, and a 25-2 Class AAA state championship season in 1979.

Knierim, a 1976 Clay grad who had played for Kandik before moving on to Kent State University, was Kandik's assistant for 11 years before succeeding him as head coach in 1997. In his 13 seasons (1997-2009), Knierim was 234-106-1 with five league titles (three in GLL, two in City League) and three district championships.

“With how successful the program has been here over the last 95 years, it helps to have that stability with coaches,” current Clay coach Jim Phillips said. “We've only had five in all those years, so there's continuity.”

Back in 2002, Clay recorded its 1,000th all-time win as a program, and the Eagles currently rank No. 4 in Ohio prep baseball history with 1,369 victories.

“People feel very passionate and prideful about this program,” Phillips said, “and it's been successful. We're definitely a baseball community for sure. As far as coach Kandik and coach Knierim, they're big-time people in our community.

“Those two guys are very special people to me, and they're very deserving to have our locker room named after them. It's a no-brainer.”