Randy Wolken is a softball legend in Illinois, but that's not exactly how he planned it when he was younger.
Courtesy of St. Joseph-Ogden Yearbook
For a person who was forced to coach softball, Randy Wolken has been a pretty successful guy.
After coaching at two schools during his first six years out of Eastern Illinois University, Wolken returned to his alma mater,
St. Joseph-Ogden (St. Joseph, Ill.), where he earned 11 letters in three sports during his playing days.
Having decided to coach as an eighth-grader, Woken applied for his dream job — head boys basketball coach. However, there was one catch.
"They tied girls softball with that job," Wolken told MaxPreps. "I really was not interested. I finally said I guess I'd do it, but I didn't want to do it."
Thirty-three years later, the 62-year-old Wolken has won 82 percent of his games and holds the Illinois record with 859 softball victories against 208 losses.
Wolken holds the Illinois record with 859coaching victories.
Courtesy of St. Joseph-Ogden Yearbook
Though just a Class 2A school (494 students in grades 9-12), St. Joseph-Ogden has established many state records during Wolken's tenure. For example, the Spartans hold single-season state records for most runs scored (507), runs batted in (424), hits (540), doubles (121), stolen bases (243) and are tied for most wins (41).
Outfielder Stephanie Canfield, now at the University of Arkansas, established career state records with 277 hits and 233 runs.
Veteran
Champaign News-Gazette sportswriter Fred Kroner hasn't been surprised by Wolken's success.
"He was a former softball player himself," said Kroner. "Basketball was his passion and I think today he would say it's the other way around. He went to camps and clinics. He built a program and tradition. He has a good feeder program and teaches strong fundamentals. He's also very good at developing pitchers. They don't really rebuild, just kind of reload."
Longtime assistants Bob Biehl and Leonard Winchester have also made major contributions to the team's success. Both came from opposing schools and both say they are in their current positions because of Wolken's influence, even though they don't always agree with their head coach.
"If people didn't know us, they'd think we hated each other, because we argue a lot," said Winchester. "We hash it out and then we're on the same page. He's a great person to work for and delegates responsibility.
"I coached against Randy before. A lot of times I thought we had a better team, but he beat us anyway. He was a better coach. I started with him in 2000 and never have regretted it."
Biehl added, "I play a lot of the devil's advocate role off the field. On the field, we're on the same page. We're just human. We agree to disagree. He never quits learning about changes in the game. He constantly goes to clinics and talks to coaches. If there's a change, he wants to try it out. We try to face the toughest teams and pitchers each year. We're like David and Goliath — we don't back down from anybody."
Coming from a program that had never won a regional, Biehl said, "The first year I was with him, I probably was just as giddy (as the players)."
