In a coaching career that has spanned 46 years and four continents, Don Freeman continues to leave his mark on the game of baseball around the world. In 2017, Freeman returned to Prairie High School in Vancouver, Washington, where he had previously coached from 1979 to 2004. During his initial stint at Prairie, Freeman, who also coached football and gymnastics, led his baseball teams to state championships in 1986 and 1989.
While Freeman has coached in the United States for the majority of his career, he spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as an assistant coach for the Mainz Athletics, who compete in Germany’s top professional baseball league. In 2017, Freeman returned to the league as manager for the Munich-Haar Disciples.
He also served as pitching coach for the German National Team in 2014 and worked as an Envoy for Major League Baseball in Germany for several years.
After his initial departure from Prairie in 2004, Freeman took over as the head coach at Hillsboro High School in Oregon for three seasons before returning to Washington as the baseball coach at Heritage High School in 2008. In 2010, he left Heritage and began the process of rebuilding the program at Clark College in Vancouver that had been dormant since the 1992 season.
In just four seasons under Freeman, Clark College became a top contender in the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC). His 2014 team finished atop their division and competed in the NWAC playoffs, ending the season with a 31-15 record.
Freeman was named an NFHSCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1995 and is a three-time ABCA/Diamond Sports Regional Coach of the Year (2000, 2003 and 2008).
He coached USA Baseball under-16 national teams at two Pan American Games and two world Championships. In 2010, Freeman was the head coach for the USA Baseball Women’s National Team that finished third at the World Championship.
For 10 years, Freeman served as the president of the Washington High School Baseball Coaches Association. During that time, he was instrumental in the formation of the Washington/Oregon All-Star Classic, now known as the Cascade Classic, which includes the state of Idaho as well.
Freeman is a well-respected clinician who speaks at baseball clinics around the world. He has spoken at multiple national conventions including the 2008 ABCA Convention in Philadelphia.
He has remained heavily involved with ABCA, currently serving on the association’s Ethics in Coaching Award Committee. He previously spent nine years on its All-America and Coach of the Year Committee.
In 1996, Freeman was inducted into the Washington Baseball Hall of Fame and was inducted to the T.O.D.A.Y Foundation Southwest Washington Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
