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| Class of 2007 poses for a photo during the festivities. The inductees pictured from left to right: Greg and Dave Duncan the sons of Dottie Duncan, Frank Sanzhez, Dewey "Yogi" Luster and Mike Gillespie. |
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Mike Gillespie
Mike Gillespie started from scratch and developed the baseball program into a dynasty at College of the Canyons
• In his 16 years (1971-86) at Canyons, Gillespie compiled an impressive 418-165 record, a .717 winning percentage
• He won 11 Mountain Valley Conference championships, including six in a row (1981-86). In his last six years, he won three state championships and finished as the California runner-up twice. No other California community college coach has made it to five finals in a six-year span.
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•Gillespie's teams also finished with 20 or more wins in 13 of his 16 years at Canyons and he had six 30-plus win seasons. His final squad picked up 41 wins in 1986, the most ever by a California community college at that time
• Gillespie, who also served as Canyon's athletic director from 1977-86 and taught English, physical education and health education, was named California Community College Co-Coach of the Year three times (1981-83-86)
• And he was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1993
Following his time at College of the Canyons Gillespie went on to create a new dynasty, as head coach at the University of Southern California. ?Gillespie posted a 763-471-2 (.618) record at the helm of the Trojans. His emphasis on education and conduct on and off the field have produced a number of quality baseball players as attested by 25 former Trojans who have played in the major leagues.
In 2005, 13 former players coached by Gillespie were playing in the major leagues while five of his former players (Mark Prior, Barry Zito, Aaron Boone, Bret Boone and Geoff Jenkins) were named to the 2003 All-Star Game.
His teams have won five Pacific-10 titles (three Southern Division titles in 1991, 1995 and 1996 and two outright titles in 2001 and 2002 after the conference went to its current nine-team alignment in 1999). The 1995 team made USC's first trip to the College World Series in 17 years (where the Trojans finished as the nation's runner-up).
Gillespie retired from the Tojans in 2006 and joined the NY Yankees organization, managing the NY-Penn League Staten Island Yankees, but left the following the season to return to college baseball - this time as the Heac Coach at UC Irvine.
Gillespie is married (Barbara, his wife, is also a USC alumnus) and has four children -- Kelly Kreuter (whose husband, Chad, is now the current USC head coach after a 16-year major league career), Mitch, Matt and Tiffany -- and two grandchildren (Cade and Cole).
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Frank Sanchez
Born in 1952, Frank played at Hart High School when he was in the 10th grade, but moved on to Canyon High School in 1969 for his junior and seniors years. Coached by Bud Murray, Sanchez was an integral part of the Cowboy teams that went 19-1 in 1969, and 18-6 in 1970. In his senior year, the team captured the Frontier League Crown while Sanchez led the team in hitting and received Most Inspirational and First Team All League honorss
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From 1971-1972, Sanchez played as both second and third basemen for Mike Gillespie at College of the Canyons. In 1972, Sanchez was elected Team Captain, received the Most Inspirational Award and was selected Second Team All-League.
After receiving his Associates degree from College of the Canyons, Sanchez transferred to the University of California, Riverside on a baseball scholarship, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a PE minor.
In 1975, Sanchez earned a Secondary Teaching Credential from California State University, Northridge, and became an assistant coach at Hart High School, beginning a long and illustrious coaching career.
Sanchez took over as head coach in 1982 and ran the Hart High program through 1986. From 1983-85 he also acted as assistant coach for the North Pole Nicks, and was head coach of the Nicks in 1986.
In 1986, Sanchez’s former coach at College of the Canyons and then-head coach at USC, Mike Gillespie, came calling and Sanchez became assistant coach for the Trojans in 1986. Sanchez spent a decade with Gillespie, before he became the head coach at Pepperdine University in 1996 and created his own dynasty.
At Pepperdine, Sanchez compiled the ninth highest win total (257) in WCC history during his seven years with the Waves. His .615 win percentage (257-161) ranks seventh on the WCC career list. Under Sanchez, the Waves were an amazing 150-58 (.721) against WCC opponents.
Sanchez coached 28 First Team All Conference players, including three WCC Players of the Year (Dane Sardinha, Dan Haren, Kevin Estrada), four WCC Pitchers of the Year (Randy Wolf, Jay Adams, Noah Lowry, Greg Ramirez) and two Freshmen of the Year (Steve Schenewerk, Dan Haren). Sanchez coached 29 players that were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including seven players that were selected in the first or second rounds.
In 1999, Pepperdine finished ranked as high as No. 19 in the national polls and finished ranked as high as No. 16 in 2001. The Waves won the West Coast Conference title in 2001, posting a 25-5 league record and defeating Gonzaga in the WCC Championship Series.
Sanchez coached Pepperdine to five straight WCC divisional titles and five straight Championship Series appearances from 1999-2003. He led the Waves to three NCAA Regional appearances in seven seasons.
Sanchez retired following the 2003 season. Under Sanchez, Pepperdine never finished below second place in the WCC standings.
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Dewey "Yogi"
Luster
A longtime fixture in the College of the Canyons athletic scene, Dewey “Yogi” Luster served in the dual capacity as both trainer and athletic equipment manager for the Cougar athletic programs. In his 27 years of service, Luster quickly became one of the College’s most popular and respected employees.
“He’s a father, doctor, confessor and friend to all athletes, and loyal and helpful to our baseball program,” said baseball head coach Mike Gillespie in 1979. “We lean on him for all kinds of help and he never fails us.”
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The constantt fixture of Luster moving from job to job, assignment to assignment, athlete to athlete with nothing but joy and enthusiasm remains a permanent memory in the hearts of many current coaches and staff.
“Yogi was the guy you went to for everything,” said football head coach Chuck Lyon. Every season, the football program hands out an award to the Special Teams Player of the Year called the “Yogi” Award, in honor of Luster. “That award goes to the player that does everything for you, does everything you ask of him,”said Lyon. “And if you know Yogi, you know how much that defines him.”
Luster was born in Texas and attended the University of Georgia and UCLA and is a certified trainer. Luster and his wife Mae have four sons: Jim, Gary, Billy and Ed
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Dottie Duncan
Working with the admissions and records department on the academic side of athletics can be daunting to any coach. Dottie Duncan made it a priority to ease that burden.
“If you had a problem with eligibility or classes, you could go to her and she would research the problem endlessly. She was more than willing to help a kid out,” said former men’s basketball head coach Lee Smelser when asked about Duncan. |
Duncan, a true advocate for all COC students, joined the Cougar staff in 1976 and worked her way up to Manager of Admission and Records. She quickly became known for her dry wit and as someone who could be called upon to do whatever she could to help a staff member or student out. The mother of two, Greg and Dave, and grandmother of two girls, Jana and Deyana, Duncan was a friendly face in the Admission and Records office and had the ability to solve issues that others would have given up on. She was with the staff for 20 years, until her retirement in 1996.
Duncan fought off a bout with lung cancer in the early 90s, but the avid camper and knitter would later have a relapse and succumb in June of 2006.
Duncan will always be remembered not only by the COC athletic staff, but the whole college staff as a loyal Cougar that truly loved College of the Canyons. |
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