2016 Inductees

The Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame at CP-1 was founded in 2015 to recognize people whose baseball experience in the area reached a very high level and made them positive examples for those who followed. The 2016 inductees were Ellis Childers, who played on the state championship semi-pro Ashland Pure Milk and for Schenker’s Market in the National Amateur League, signed with the Chicago White Sox farm team in 1939, also pitched softball for Ashland Oil and the Kentucky Colonels, and coached the Red Sox in the first year of Ashland Little League in 1955; Dan Smith, one of the greatest catchers in Ashland Tomcat history from 1979-82, an all-OVC performer at Morehead State, and a second-round selection, 38th overall, by the Dodgers in the 1985 Amateur Draft who played three years in the organization before health issues curtailed his career; Charles “Chuck” Dickison, a late-1940s Ashland Tomcat star who excelled in baseball as a center fielder and pitcher and was killed during the Korean War, after which Ashland Post 76 named its annual Player of the Year award for him; Steve Rolen, a third baseman for the Ashland Tomcats and Ashland Post 76 in the 1980s, one of the best to play on CP-1, who hit .380 at West Virginia University and .425 with a .828 slugging percentage as a senior before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 25th round of the 1989 Draft and playing four minor league seasons with a .270 average and 17 home runs; “Big” Ed Hughes, a legendary left-handed power hitter for the Ashland Redlegs who hit some of the longest home runs in Central Park history, including one that rolled to the ice plant about 550 feet from home plate, and who still hit home runs to the street at age 50; Bobby Lynch, an Ashland Tomcat pitcher on state championship teams from 1966-68 who went 27-2 overall and 5-0 in state tournament games, never lost in Central Park at any level, and as a 16-year-old pitched the Tomcats to their first state title against Shelby County in 1966; Bill Workman, a key member of the 1966 Ashland Tomcat state champions who anchored the infield at shortstop, hit .310 as a senior, excelled in clutch situations, and later played at the University of Kentucky, where he was a captain his last two years; Clyde Chinn, a beloved umpire who spent hundreds of hours officiating on the Central Park fields and was remembered by players, fans, and coaches for his personality, knowledge of the game, and love of the players and CP-1; Juan Thomas, an all-around athlete with power and speed for the Ashland Tomcats and Connie Mack Ashland Athletics who once hit five home runs in a game, was the 1910 Gatorade High School Kentucky Player of Year, was drafted in the 10th round by the White Sox in 1991, and played 14 minor league seasons with 303 home runs and 300 doubles; Marvin Hall, who played for Ashland Pure Mile, batted .425, led the league in stolen bases, helped organize the Ashland Babe Ruth and American Legion Post 76 leagues, and was considered one of the greatest baseball and pitching coaches of the 1950s and 1960s; and Wayne Workman, who started at first base on the 1966 and 1976 Ashland Tomcat state championship teams, was one of the leading hitters both years, batted cleanup as a senior, hit better than .400 for three consecutive seasons, and later played for the University of Kentucky.

Ashland, Kentucky · United States