The Edmond Sun

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March 26, 2010

Simmons to step down at end of season

The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — Longtime Central Oklahoma baseball coach Wendell Simmons has announced that he will retire after the 2010 season, ending a 34-year career as one of the state’s most successful coaches.

Simmons is in his 19th year with the Bronchos after spending 15 years in the high school ranks, including 14 at Edmond Memorial High School.  He takes a 1,074-526-1 record into UCO’s four-game Lone Star Conference series at Southeastern Oklahoma this weekend.

“I’ve got nothing but great memories of my coaching career, especially here at UCO,” said Simmons, who played at UCO in the early 1970s.   “I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of great players come through here and we had a lot of success.  It’s been fun and I know I’ll miss it, but it’s time to move on.”

Simmons is 628-359-1 at UCO and has had 15 winning seasons, including the eight best seasons in school history.  He’s guided the Bronchos to six LSC North Division championships, three overall LSC titles and seven NCAA Division II playoff appearances, with the 1997 team finishing as national runner-up.

Simmons was named LSC Coach of the Year in 1994 and ‘97, earned LSC North Division Coach of the Year accolades five times in seven years and has coached 134 All-LSC and All-LSC North Division players during his long tenure, with 14 players having earned All-America recognition.

Simmons came to UCO after a sensational high school career that saw him spend one year at Dover High School and 14 at Edmond Memorial in compiling a 446-167 record.

He guided Memorial to eight regional titles and eight state tournament berths, producing 13 All-Staters.  Simmons was inducted into the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003.

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