selby

Goodbye Coach Selby

By Russ Fegles
Caledonian Sports Editor
North Eugene Caledonian, June 1998

In high school baseball, there are coaches who are just coaches, and there are coaches who become legends. In his 23 years of coaching at North, Garry Selby has reached legend status.

Whenever anybody thinks of North Eugene baseball, the first name that comes to mind is Garry Selby. Selby has led the Highlanders to incredible feats (although a championship still waits). Now, after 23 years of dirt, double plays, no-hitters and home runs, Coach Selby has decided to call it quits, and let someone else run the program that he has carefully molded into one of the best programs in the state of Oregon.

Selby played high school ball in Butte, Montana. After that, he went on to the University of Utah to play in the collegiate ranks. He became a Physical Education teacher after college, and started his coaching career right with a semi-pro team in Idaho. Later, he came to North Eugene High School, but did not coach baseball right away. In fact, Selby coached football when he first came here as a teacher.

In 1974, when Tom Stone left the Highlander baseball coaching ranks, Selby made his move, a move that would influence the next 24 years of his life. He was hired as the new varsity baseball coach, and started coaching the team in 1975.

Since that year, Selby and his Highlanders have accomplished some amazing feats. Selby�s career record at North is 514 wins, 183 losses, and one tie. Selby�s overall winning percentage is .737. His teams have won 347 league games, and have lost only 97. His league winning percentage is .781.

Selby�s teams have won the league championship an amazing 15 times, including four in a row in Selby�s first five years as a coach. Selby�s teams have also gone to the state playoffs a total of 18 times. The highest placing in state for the Highlanders came in 1977, when they finished in 3rd place.

1977 might have been the best year for North. Selby led the team to a 16-2 finish in league, winning the league title. They went 26-5 in all games that year, and placed six players on the all-league team, an incredible amount. Some of those players included Dan England, Tim Kammeyer, and Highlander legend Danny Ainge. England and Ainge were co-MVPs in the Midwestern league that year, and four players on the Highlanders made all-state, including Ainge, England, Kammeyer, and Mike Babb.

Overall, Selby has coached 25 all-state players, 11 league MVPs, and 56 college players. Eight of his players went on to play professional baseball.

Who was the best Selby-coached player? Probably Danny Ainge, who went on to play collegiate baseball at Brigham Young, and played in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays for three years before going on to an NBA career. � Danny Ainge was probably my best player, talent-wise,� says Selby. � He was a hot-dog kind of kid. He was really talented. He played baseball very well, and played a lot of other sports just as well. He was very aggressive, easy to coach, and he loved to play.�

Other good players who were coached by Selby include: Tim Kammeyer, Richard Duke, Jimmy Fritz, Andy Bendix, Kyle Tucker, Marshall Bennett, Kevin Alexander, Jeremy Lahmann, and even Selby�s own son, Nate Selby.

Even after a new coach takes over, after the league championships are all but forgotten, one thing will remain that speaks of the impact Coach Selby has had on the program: Swede Johnson Stadium. � Our American Legion team (the Challengers) used to play at Civic Stadium,� says Selby. � We couldn�t schedule our own tournaments, because the Ems played there too. So, we decided to build our own stadium. A bunch of people helped out, people like George Burke, Carl Nicholsen, Jack Wormdahl, and Elbert Williams. It took about two years to finish the stadium.�

�The stadium has helped North out a lot,� adds Selby. � We get to play more home games, and play more often. Teams want to play us here, so we don�t have to travel as much as we used to. Practices also go a lot better for us.�
In the past few years, the Highlanders have had great seasons. Last year, the team won the league championship. This year, Selby took North to the National Classic tournament, the most prestigious high school tournament in the country. North was the first team from Oregon to be invited, and finished with a 1-3 record in the tournament, beating a top team in the first game.

Now, Selby�s career is finally winding down. � I�ve been teaching here for 30 years, and it�s time for me to move on,� he says. � I�ve coached long enough, and it�s time to call it a career.�

�I don�t know what I�m going to do, but I�m going to have a lot of fun. We�re moving to Las Vegas in July. I�ve got two grown kids down there, and grandkids as well, so we�re going to do family oriented things.�

Next season, for the first time in 24 years, North will begin its season with a new coach. Fans and players alike are wondering just what the future will be like for the Highlanders. �I hope that the program stays on the same path it�s been on,� says Selby. � I can�t imagine that it will be any different.� Selby has enjoyed tons of memories, the latest of which was his 500th win at North on April 6. What will he remember about his coaching career? � I will remember all of the kids I�ve coached, hundreds and hundreds of them. We�ve had good players, and we�ve had bad players, but they�ve all been good kids. That�s what I�ll remember the most.�

North Eugene may have won four basketball championships, but the school�s most consistent team has been the baseball team. Every year, something good happens for the team, and the statistics prove it. Under Selby, the team has won less than 20 games only six times. The team has never placed under fifth place in league play. Selby�s teams have missed the state playoffs only seven times.

Every year, you can count on the team finishing near the top of the standings. Credit that to Coach Selby, who has provided expert coaching, helping all of his players improve.

23 years have come and gone. It is time for the program to move in a new direction. However, Selby will still have an influence on the team. Out in left field, there is a sign that pays tribute to Coach Selby. It reads �Gary Selby field�. Even though his name is Garry Selby, he will still be remembered as the best baseball coach in Highlander history.