By Lisa Allmendinger
Wayne Welton recently received word that he will be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in January 2024.
“This recognition is quite an honor and really is a testament to who he is as a coach, administrator and mentor,” said Chelsea High School Principal Nick Angel.
Welton is being honored for his 32-year tenure as the Chelsea High School baseball coach amassing a career record of 767-357-11 (.676). Along the way, Welton led his teams to 13 Southeastern Conference championships and earned Regional Coach of the Year honors eight times.
He also guided the Bulldogs to a Class B state title in 1991, for which he earned MHSBCA Coach of the Year honors.
“There is nobody more deserving than Wayne for this recognition,” said Jason Morris, assistant athletic director and dean of students at Chelsea High School.
“He has given his life to coaching at the high school and college levels. He will be the first one to tell you that the most gratifying part of coaching was all of the relationships and friendships that he has developed over the past 50 years. However, I would tell you that every one of those people he has encountered, including myself, has benefited in so many ways from being able to learn from Wayne. Simply put, he is the best.”
This year, Welton returned to Chelsea High School and stepped in as the Athletic Director, filling the position when Brad Bush left mid-year to take a new job as assistant director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).
Welton previously served as the CHS Athletic Director and was named the Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) in 2010 and earned the Bush Service Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association in 2006.
Welton was again honored by the MIAAA with its Jack Johnson Distinguished Service Award in 2017.
In 2018, Chelsea named its baseball stadium, Wayne R. Welton Field, in his honor.
In addition, he spent 10 seasons on the staff at the University of Michigan, including nine as the Director of Baseball Operations, and was a part of the 2019 Wolverine team that advanced to the College World Series, the first College World Series appearance for the Wolverines since 1984.
Welton also coached with USA Baseball as part of the Junior Olympics Task Force in 1995 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
He will inducted into the Hall of Fame in January, 2024 alongside nine other baseball coaches. They are: Cal Bailey, West Virginia State University, Danny Hall, Georgia Tech, Pat McQuaid, Nova High School (Fla.), Jim Morris, University of Miami (Fla.), Brian O’Connor, University of Virginia, Tim Pettorini, The College of Wooster (Ohio), John Vodenlich, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Jim Wells, University of Alabama and Jeff Willis, Louisiana State University Eunice.
“It’s amazing that no matter where I go in Michigan, when folks here I am from Chelsea, they ask about Wayne. His legacy is real,” Angel said.
