1980's
A diamond history
The fourth in a series of Jackson's prep baseball annals

The Eighties
The 1980's were very productive baseball years at JHS as the Jays complied a 100-88 overall record.

Led by pitchers Steve Schultz and Kevin Nordquist, the 1984 team finished with a 13-6 overall record. With Schultz leading the way on the mound and in the hitting stats, JHS finished runner-up to Windom in the District tourney. Jackson beat Sioux Valley in the first round of districts with Schultz striking out 19 batters. Other outstanding players on the '84 team were first baseman Mike Swanson and freshman shortstop Wade Wacker.

The Steve Weflen coached teams would also finish runner-up in the district in 1983 and 1987. In 1989 the Blue Jays won their first district championship since 1965 as they beat SVRLB 8-5, MLBO 5-4 and Windom in the finals 13-6. In the first round of the region held at Windom, Jackson lost to Luverne 9-4. Some of the outstanding players on the '89 team were center fielder Scott Holm, pitcher/outfielder Tony Sadunky, catcher Steve VantHul, third baseman/pitcher Greg Wicskus, pitcher Brian Bell, second baseman Corey Christopher and pitcher Scott Anderson. Two freshmen played important roles in the championship run in 1989 in pitcher Eric Johnson and shortstop Lincoln Wacker. Johnson was the winning pitcher in the district final game against Windom.

In the summer of 1983, Jackson High School hired a new football coach (it's fourth in four years), Tyrone Wacker. Along with the new coach came his son, a freshman athlete who would go on to a storybook career at JHS. Wade Wacker played all the sports at JHS very well but professional scouts said baseball was the sport he should play. In early June of 1987, the Minnesota Twins selected Wacker in the third round of the amateur draft. He signed his first professional contract with the Twins later that June.

Earlier in May, Wade had signed a tender to play baseball at Bradley University in Illinois. "It was a hectic spring," Wade said. "Just about every game we played there were two or three scouts there. In the first round of the district tournament at Windom, just about every professional team was there.

"I thought I would be taken in the fourth for fifth round by the Dodgers. Dad was told I would be taken in the first or second round by the Angels."

Said Tyrone: "Baseball-wise things got very serious in the summer after his junior year as I would take him to tryout camps around the Midwest. Wherever we went, scouts were always very interested, asking whether I would let him sign right out of high school."

Wacker's high school athletic career was highlighted by making the all-conference baseball team four years, basketball three years and football three years. He also anchored the 4 x 100 meter relay team to a second place finish in the Region his junior and senior years. Wade was also the first athlete in Minnesota history to be selected to the Minnesota Metro-Outstate all-star games in three sports (football, basketball and baseball). Wade was voted the MVP of the basketball all-star game held at Williams Arena.

What started out as a dream career at JHS ended with a series of back injuries that plagued Wade's minor league career. Medical treatment taking him across the country, countless hours of therapy and constant pain limited his playing time and made his experience as a professional baseball player a long and tedious grind. But as Wade said "W wanted to be a professional baseball player. I wouldn't do a thing different."

Other Notes From the 1980's
*In the summer of 1982, two new light towers were erected on the baseball field as wind storms blew two of the eight down along with the dugouts.
*In the fall of 1983, the vocational school put up the new cyclone fence around the entire athletic complex. Centerfield was no longer 500 feet. Also in 1985 a new track was constructed. A track backers group in the community raised the money and supplied most of the work to complete the project.
*In the summer of 1984, football coach Tyrone Wacker was hired as athletic director at JHS. With the help of janitors Dave Ward and Don Holmen, the entire complex at Swearingen Field received a facelift as the grounds received the attention needed to keep up with other Southwest Conference schools. Wacker stated, "Ward and I started about the same time. The first thing we did was find the old plans of the complex to find where the water lines were."

The early plans had grandstand for the baseball field and a grandstand for the softball field. The softball field field would have been located were the B-squad baseball field now rests. The water lines were laid out perfectly to accommodate the two fields.

"One time during football practice, I got upset and stomped my foot. It made a "thump" sound, said Wacker. "Ward came over with a shovel and dug up a never used sprinkling faucet. It was amazing to me that such perfect plans were made in the mid 1950s and were never kept up."



1990's
The 90's started out on a high note as the Bluejays went 13-8 in 1990 and then won their 3rd District championship in 1991. 1991 marked the last year of Coach Steve Weflen's 16 year tenure as baseball coach at JHS. Coach Weflen finished with 162 wins and 143 losses.

Todd Card took over the coaching duties in the spring of 1991 and proceeded with back to back district championships. Card coached until 1997 and finished with a 76 and 50 record.

In the history of JHS baseball, the best winning stretch of winning baseball came during the late 80's and early 90's as they won 4 district championships in 89, 9l, 92, and 93. Two important factors of those championship were pitcher, Eric Johnson and SS Lincoln Wacker. Both were 4 year starters in baseball and went on to have outstanding athletic careers at JHS. Johnson won a record-setting 21 games in his career, and Wacker played SS 91 games in his career. The Wacker-Johnson combination dominated SWC statistics for several years, but probably the most unique situation developed during their senior year in basketball. Both players scored over a thousand points in their basketball career, but what was very unusual, is they scored their 1000th point 50 seconds apart. Wacker scored his first on a driving lay-up, then 50 second later, Johnson hit a jump shot to score his 1000th point. Both players went on to have good college baseball careers. Johnson at Morningside College, and Wacker at Morningside College and University of Wyoming.

Two other players that contributed a great deal in those years were catcher Jason DeWall and 3B-P Kip Wachal. DeWall was an outstanding defensive catcher, and Wachal was one of the premier, all-time hitters in JHS history. It was said by many that Wachal "could get up Christmas morning and hit line drives." The passing combination of Wachal and DeWall in football also set many passing records in the SWC. Other outstanding players on those teams were 1B Mike Ruskel, 2B Dan Sauter, LF Mark More and pitcher Jared Spaeth.

The 90's also brought more changes in the baseball facilities. Money raised by the Jackson Baseball Association, donations from the American Legion, and the many hours of donated time by volunteers finished many projects. Swearingen field was the site of many summer-time tournaments in levels of baseball. Never-the-less, in the mid-90's, there were some difficulties with field maintenance where Jackson lost all of the tournaments. As Scott Bahr stated, "at one point, the fields got so bad that the Legion team and the Bulls cancelled their July home games and played them all on the road. Water was turned off, washrooms were locked, and the fields were taken over by thistles, weeds, and gophers." Many of the problems started when
a new administrator was hired at the high school and did not allow access to the field. The current situation got back to normal in the late 90's.

After the merger of Lakefield and Jackson in the fall of 1997, former athletic director and football coach, Tyrone Wacker was hired as the new baseball coach. Jackson County Central went on to win the Sub-Section in the spring of 98 and finish second in the SWC. Ryan Dunlavey and Andy Traetow were two of the outstanding players at JCC in the late 90's. Dunlavey was a outstanding infielder and relief pitcher, while Traetow was a catcher. Both players were outstanding all-around athletes at JCC. Dunlavey went on the play baseball at Augstana College and was a two time NCC all conference 3rd baseman, while Traetow became a All-American football player at Gustavus. Tratetow was selected to play in the 2000 All-Star baseball game in Chaska.

Other notes from the 90's:

**Jackson/JCC finished the 90's with a 131 and 85 record.
**Todd Card finished his 6th year career with a 76 and 50 record.
**Steve Weflen finished his 16 year career with a 162 and 143 record.
**There were several outstanding baseball players that played on outstanding teams for JHS/JCC in the 90's. New heights were reached during this era. Many of the records that were broken during that time still stand. Players such as Eric Johnson, Lincoln Wacker, Kip Wachal, Jason Dewall, Matt Foster, Ryan Dunalvey and Andy Traetow had outstanding baseball careers and were some of the best all-round athletes in JHS/JCC history.
**Probably the best brother combination ever to play athletics in Jackson were the Wacker brothers. Wade (87) and Lincoln (92) had outstanding careers at JHS. The two of them made the All-SWC select teams a total of 13 times. Both athletes were shortstops, quarterbacks and point guards. Both Wade and Lincoln set records in their sports during their time. During the spring they were sprinters on the track team. At one time, Lincoln held the record in the 100 meter dash. Wade is one of two athletes in Minnesota to make the All-Star teams in Football, Basketball and Baseball. Lincoln went on to be one of the best amatuer baseball players in Minnesota.
**Lincoln Wacker was killed by drunk drivers in a car crash near Glencoe, Minnesota in September of 1999. He was in his first year of coaching and teaching at Central High School in Norwood, Minnesota.
**The baseball record for the first century of baseball ended at 361 victories and 383 losses.