Seven added to Greater Dayton Baseball Hall of Fame

The Greater Dayton Baseball Hall of Fame Class, from left: Rich Overman, Charlie Domagalski, Terry Eldridge, John Wallace (Dayton Dragons), Scott Balent, Jim Leopold and Scott Siegfried. Not pictured:  Bill Skelton. CONTRIBUTED

The Greater Dayton Baseball Hall of Fame Class, from left: Rich Overman, Charlie Domagalski, Terry Eldridge, John Wallace (Dayton Dragons), Scott Balent, Jim Leopold and Scott Siegfried. Not pictured: Bill Skelton. CONTRIBUTED

Seven individual players and the Dayton Dragons franchise have been inducted into the third class of the Greater Dayton Baseball Hall of Fame.

Among the players honored were three-time All-City outfielder and pitcher Jim Leopold of Wilbur Wright High School, four-time letterman at Dunbar and Belmont Rich Overman, All-Area All-Star Scott Siegfried from Centerville, four-year Fairborn Park Hills letterman Terry Eldridge, North Riverdale manager Bill Skelton, third baseman and catcher Scott Balent of Carroll High School and umpire Charlie Domagalski.

* Leopold helped Wilbur Wright earn a City championship as a senior and Class B championship in the summer. Following a stellar career at the University of Kentucky, where he was an academic All-America, Leopold was drafted in the 27th round of the 1981 free agent draft by San Diego, and over a period of eight seasons, made it to Class AAA with three major league teams – San Diego, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

* Overman was such a dominate pitcher, he threw a no-hitter at each of his two high schools and in the DABC Class A and AA leagues. When he wasn’t pitching, he was a catcher.

* Following an outstanding career at Centerville, Siegfried played at Sinclair in 1984-85 and received All-America honors in 1985 before going on to the University of Toledo. He then played five years in Canada, winning a batting title in 1987 and the triple crown in 1989.

* Eldridge followed his four years at Park Hills with two years at Wright State University, but turned to business after he married and gave up playing to concentrate on coaching. His coaching career ranged from Little League to Class AA in the DABC, and he was the pitching coach for the 17-under Rawlings Nationals NABF Cass B World Series champions in 2001.

* Skelton won three Class B Division championships with his CJ summer team from 1992-98 and also coached CJ’s high school team and several summer age-group teams.

* Balent became Alter High School’s varsity baseball coach in 1994 and over a 20-year period, won the GCL seven times and was coach of the year seven times after playing football at Benedictine College.

* Domagalski took an umpiring class in college, then worked his way to several top amateur assignments over many years, from Chicago to Boston and finally Dayton. He was considered one of the best ball-and-strike umpires in the area.

* Because of the pandemic, the Dragons were unable to field a team this year, but in their previous 20 years as a farm club of the Reds, the Dragons drew more fans than any team at their level and have been a top-10 draw for all the minor leagues every season, selling out every game they’ve played.

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