MADISON TOWNSHIP — Doug Rickert prefers to downplay his success but Madison’s veteran skipper couldn’t keep Saturday’s milestone victory under his baseball cap for long.
Rickert joined an exclusive fraternity when the Rams knocked off Grafton Midview 11-1 over the weekend. The win was Rickert’s 300th in a career that began in 1999.
“What does it mean to me? It just means I’ve been doing this for a long time,” the unassuming Rickert said. “I’ve had a lot of great kids and great parents over the years. I can’t say enough about my assistant coaches and the school administration has always been very supportive.
“My wife (Lynelle) has allowed me to do this and my mom and dad (Norma and Bill) have been by my side this whole time.”
To put the accomplishment into perspective, consider:
· Rickert has won games in three decades, two centuries and two millennia.
· Madison has averaged more than 18 wins a season during Rickert’s tenure.
· Under Rickert’s guidance the Rams have won six conference championships, four in the defunct Ohio Heartland Conference (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003) and two in the Ohio Cardinal Conference (2005, 2006).
· In 15 full seasons, Madison has won 13 sectional championships and three district titles (1999, 2001, 2002).
· Thirty-six of his former players continued their baseball careers in college. He has coached four Division I players and one who played professionally (Ricky Marshall).
Then there are the memorable wins — and there have been plenty of them.
“In 2002 I think we were a couple games below .500 when we went into the tournament, but we had a bunch of scrappy kids on that team,” Rickert said. “We upset Celina in the district final and then we upset Toledo Start in the regional semifinals.”
The Rams lost to eventual state champ Cleveland St. Ignatius 3-0 in the regional finals that June.
A loss a year earlier in the regional championship game has also stuck with Rickert. Madison fell to Maumee 2-1 in 13 gut-wrenching innings. Maumee was state runner-up that year.
“I think we were one out away from going to Columbus,” Rickert said. “That was a tough one.”
Madison won a sectional championship in Rickert’s first 10 years from 1999 to 2008. After struggling in 2012, the Rams returned to the district tournament last spring, falling to eventual district champion Perrysburg 3-0 in the semifinals.
Going into Thursday’s game against Lexington, the Rams were 12-4 overall. Madison was 8-0 in Ohio Cardinal Conference action headed into this week’s rain-delayed home-and-home series against the Minutemen.
“We have had a pretty good run here,” Rickert said. “This is what I love to do. I love to work with kids and I love to compete.”
Saturday’s historic win came against Rickert’s former college roommate and teammate. Rickert and Midview coach Scott Jalowiec played and roomed together at Ashland University under legendary Ashland coach Lou Markle. When Markle retired after his sophomore season in 1989, Rickert transferred to Division I Appalachian State to finish his career. He was Madison’s junior varsity coach before taking over for Rob Peterson.
“I was telling someone the other day, I’ve never had a spring break,” Rickert said. “I played in high school and in college and then I got into coaching.”
Rickert also had a successful stint as Madison’s boys basketball coach, leading the Rams to the regional tournament in 2011 (Madison’s first regional appearance since 1948) before stepping down after the 2011-12 season. He was 67-45 in five seasons.
But baseball is Rickert’s first love.
“I could do this forever,” he said. “When you’ve got a good bunch of kids, it makes it that much more enjoyable.”
Rickert’s son, Cal, is an eighth grader. His daugher, Olivia, is a sophomore at Madison.
“My son will be a freshman next year and by the time he’s done playing, that will be 20 years in,” Rickert said. “We’ll have to see where we’re at then.”
So will Rickert stick around for another 300 wins?
“I don’t know about that,” he said with a laugh. “You never know though. I never dreamed I would get to 300 wins and here we are.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
