McKendree University Athletics

Wayne earned four letters in baseball and finished his Mckendree pitching career with a 28-3 record. His college career culminated in an outstanding senior year that included pitching 54 1/3 innings and striking out 73 batters while walking only 15. He led the team in batting, with a .418 batting average. He also led from the mound with a 1.66 earned run average and was co-winner of the most Valuable Player Award in 1959. During his four years, in which his lowest batting average was .333, the Bearcats won the Prairie Conference Championship every year and went undefeated in the conference his junior and senior year. Wayne had the opportunity to play professional baseball and instead enjoyed a 35-year teaching and coaching career at Freeburg Jr. High School. He was an outstanding pitcher and player on amateur baseball teams and refereed basketball and umpired baseball for 16 years.