Don Schaly, a native of Ellwood City, Pa., retired following the 2003 season after 40 years at the helm of the Marietta baseball program. During his four decades, he built the Etta Express into one of the best NCAA Div. III baseball programs in the nation.
The 1959 graduate of Marietta College played baseball and football for the Pioneers. He returned to his alma mater in 1964 and never left, guiding his teams to three NCAA Div. III National Championships and seven National Runner-up finishes. Schaly won 18 Mideast Regional championships and 27 Ohio Athletic Conference championships.
Schaly has humbly accepted an impressive collection of coaching awards during his career. He was named the National Coach of the Year four times (1975, 1981, 1983 and 1986) and in 2000 Collegiate Baseball named him the Division III Coach of the Century. Schaly was also awarded the OAC's Coach of the Year 17 times and the Mideast Regional Coach of the Year 21 times.
Schaly's final record at Marietta is 1,442-329 (.814), but Schaly's role in the MC Athletics Department extended far beyond the duties of head baseball coach. He was an assistant football coach for 17 years and served as an assistant athletics director for more than 20 years. Schaly also played a primary role in the formation of the MC Athletic Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2004.
