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                      E Wayne Oliver ("WayneO")

Oliver honored with baseball coaches merit award
By Ian Forrest

For decades, Wayne Oliver has been a cornerstone of baseball in Canby.

Last month, at the Oregon High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame banquet, Oliver was honored for his lifelong support of the sport.

Oregon high school coaches and hall of fame members voted Oliver to receive a merit award at this year’s hall of fame induction banquet.

The merit award was created last year for those who have made extraordinary contributions to high school baseball, but not necessarily in a coaching capacity. Wade Williams, of Lincoln High School, and Dick McLain, of Richey’s Market American Legion team, received the first merit awards last year.

This year, Oliver was honored along with the hall-of-fame induction class of Mike Bubalo (coach at Jesuit and Beaverton), Bill Baumgartner (coach at North Salem, Henley and Sprague) and Dave Gasser (coach at Canby, Lakeridge and Madison).

In addition to many other positions in the community, Oliver has been a board member of Canby Kids since 1965.

“In Wayne’s case, it’s a combination of lots of things he’s done,” said Ross Peterson, president of the Oregon High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. “I don’t know if there’s anything in Canby that he hasn’t done. He’s been an assistant, run the legion program, sponsored teams — and he’s done it ever since I started coaching in 1983.”

Oliver’s reputation doesn’t just precede itself in Canby, but throughout the state, according to Peterson.

“In terms of people who are supportive of programs, I don’t think anyone is better known or thought of among Oregon baseball coaches than Wayne Oliver,” Peterson said. “Everyone who plays Canby knows what he has meant to the community. He’s kind of been Mr. Baseball in Canby.”

Oliver’s involvement in baseball over the years is a mere fraction of the organizations he has lent his support to over the past 30 years. Canby Utility Board, Canby Lions and Canby Area Chamber of Commerce are just a few of the organizations in which he has been involved.

He is also a Canby city councilman.

Oliver has lived in Canby since he was a one-year-old. He graduated from Canby High School in 1961 and then moved on to the University of Portland, where he graduated with a degree in business in 1965.

He then worked in insurance until he started his own agency in Canby in 1972.

 

 

 

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About 40 years ago, Hiaso (Junior) Sato saw an opening for a head coaching job at North Marion High School.

However, it wasn’t baseball that he applied for. Rather, Sato wanted to be the head basketball coach for the Huskies, despite the head baseball coaching job being open as well.

“I told them that I was really in love with coaching basketball because that was what I was applying for,” Sato said. “But if the head baseball job is open, I wouldn’t mind being the head baseball coach.”

Never did he realize that four decades later he would be honored as one of the state’s best coaches for a sport that wasn’t his first choice when he entered the profession. On Saturday, Nov. 10, Sato was inducted into the Oregon High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas.

“It’s something that you don’t think about and looking back I know that 28 years of coaching varsity baseball at North Marion and Canby were awful good times for me,” Sato said. “There were a lot of highs and lows in coaching and I think it consumed a lot of my thoughts for 28 years just as a head coach and I really enjoyed it.”

Sato coached at North Marion from 1967 to 1978 before moving on to coach baseball at Canby High School from 1979 to 1994.

He compiled a record of 368-261 during his tenure at both schools, winning five league championships and making eight state playoff appearances.

One of his biggest accomplishments was leading North Marion to the 1971 AA state championship – the school’s only baseball state title – with a 3-0 victory over Sherwood at the old Civic Stadium in Portland.

While the victories piled up during his career, Sato said what was more important to him was seeing his players enjoy the game.

“I just enjoyed coaching,” he said. “Even going to practice, I really enjoyed it and I looked forward to practice sessions.

“Like any other coach, you play to win and that’s what you try to do and also emphasize your sportsmanship and also the players having fun.”

Wayne Oliver, who was Canby’s first-base coach under Sato from 1980 to 1988, said there was no one more deserving for the hall of fame honor.

“Everybody who played under Junior knew they had to be on their ‘A’ game because to me, he was very instinctive in reading the other coaches, picking out their signs and anticipating what they were going to do,” Oliver said. “He was very, very good at that.”

Oliver said one of Sato’s most impressive accomplishments was the eight state-tournament appearances. Back then, about two teams from each league advanced to the postseason, unlike today where four and possibly five teams from each league make state.

“It wasn’t like what it is today where you have four shots at going to state,” Oliver said. “But we were always a competitive program. We were looked at as our kids always conducted themselves good, sportsmanship was good.”

While Sato had success on the field, it was his contributions off the field as well that made him a special asset to the Canby community. Oliver said it was Sato’s vision to improve Canby High School’s baseball facilities to echo those of down south in the Eugene area.

“We came back and started making improvements here and it was kind of interesting,” Oliver said. “Schools would come to see what we were doing and we would go there and they would be doing the same thing. I think it kind of rejuvenated the whole baseball facility area in the metro area.”

Under Sato’s tenure, Canby installed its fences, a batting cage and the dugout areas. Sato said he’s proud to see how the program has evolved even more with the addition of the bleachers and clubhouse.

“They have very, very nice facilities,” Sato said. “And I think the people in the community there have really pitched in and had some fundraisers to have the type of facility that we have there. We probably have just as good as most schools around or better.”

Following his coaching career in Oregon, Sato moved back home to Laupahoehoe High School in Laupahoehoe, Hawaii, where he became the athletic director before retiring in June of this year.

Sato still makes a home in Oregon in the Woodburn area, where he returns about two times per year.

While Sato admits he was surprised when he received his hall-of-fame induction letter nearly a year ago, he said it is a privilege and a testament to the players he had over the years.

“It is an honor,” he said. “It’s something that I do appreciate and I think it has a lot to do with the ballplayers that I coached. I really had an awful good time.”

 

• Coached baseball at North Marion High School from 1967 to 1978

• Coached baseball at Canby High School from 1979 to 1994

• Has career record of 368 wins, 261 losses

• Won AA state championship in 1971 with

   North Marion

• Won five league championships, and made eight state playoff appearances