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Diefenthaler to join BGSU greats Thurmond, Sink
By J. Patrick Eaken
Press Sports
Editor
sports@presspublications.com
Former Lake and Bowling Green baseball standout Wade Diefenthaler will join legends like NBA basketball standout Nate Thurmond and distance runner Sid Sink when he is inducted into BGSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame on September 21.
Ceremonies will be at a Hall of Fame banquet in the college’s student union. The following day, Diefenthaler and his fellow inductees will be introduced at the Bowling Green-Temple football game.
A Lake Township resident, Diefenthaler is also a charter member of the Lake High School Hall of Fame, inducted on September 16, 1983.
On May 8, 2004, Lake pitcher Wes Blank won his 23 rd career game to topple a 50-year record held by Diefenthaler, who won 22 games and graduated in 1955.
At BG, Diefenthaler started every Friday game in every Mid-American Conference series during his three years of eligibility. In 18 games, he completed 16 games on the mound, and BG won 11 of those games.
He pitched BG’s first no-hitter in MAC competition against Ohio University, which happened to be the Bobcat’s only conference loss in 1958. OU came into town with a team batting average close to .400. The Falcons defeated the Bobcats 5-0 as Diefenthaler also drove in the fifth run.
Diefenthaler was selected BG’s Most Valuable Player in 1958 and 1959, was First Team All MAC in 1959, Third Team All-American District IV in 1958, and Third Team All-MAC in 1958. He was BG’s co-captain in 1959.
His senior season, Diefenthaler won six MAC games on the mound and batted an even .400. In his final pitching victory over Miami, he hit two home runs. He says his only regret as a pitcher was that he wasn’t offered the chance to bat as much as he wanted.
“I knew I could hit as well as anyone there, and with power. It was hard sitting the bench two out of every three games. That’s why I began playing outfield after college in the summer league in Toledo,” he told The Press.
Diefenthaler also had offers to play baseball at Western Michigan, Toledo, and Bowling Green, choosing BG because his Lake high school coach, Jerry Omari, played there.
Even as a freshman on the mound for the Falcons, Diefenthaler won three Mid American Conference games, but he says he worked hard athletically to stay in shape as well as keeping high academic standards by maintaining a 3.2 grade average throughout his four years. Diefenthaler’s freshman year was highlighted when he twice struck out future pro basketball star Hal Greer, who also played college baseball.
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