2009 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

CLARK BARNES
Highland native who coached basketball at all levels in Springfield, from grade school to Junior high, from freshman to junior varsity to varsity. In 18 seasons as the head coach at Springfield High, he was 287-188 and won a record eight City Tournament titles, six regionals, two sectionals, four conference championships, three Central State Eight titles and three CS8 runner-up finishes in six seasons. He had five 20-win seasons, 12 'winning seasons out of 18 and won three Central State Eight Conference title and one Big 12 Conference title. He finished his career in 2003 at Decatur MacArthur and was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006. His career coaching record was 346-235.

BOB CLIFFORD
Feitshans High School graduate (1963) with these accomplishments who also was a member of the 1962 Standard Concrete Connie Mack baseball team that is being honored, and he pitched a two-hit shutout against Copiague, N.Y., in the 1962 Connie Mack World Series. He played on the 1960 Feitshans baseball team that began the season 23-0, and in 1962 he pitched a no-hitter against Lanphier and was a first-team all-city pick. He also was a second-team all-city in football in 1962. He attended Eastern Illinois University and competed in both track and baseball. He pitched a no-hitter against Quincy College for Eastern Illinois in 1964 and was part of a combined no hitter against Indiana State in 1964, the same year he played in the NAIA national championship World Series. He was a Teacher and coach at Lanphier High School, and he coached the only undefeated freshman football team in Lanphier history in 1968. He coached the 1978 Lanphier baseball team to a state tournament berth and was selected to coach the East-West All-Star Baseball Game in 1978.

JEFF FASSERO
Griffin High School graduate (1981) spent two seasons at Lincoln Land Community College and
then the University of Mississippi before he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 1984 amateur draft. He bounced around in the minors for several years until he caught on with the Montreal Expos in 1991. He recorded a 2.29 ERA for the Expos in 1993. In addition to the Expos, he also played for Seattle (in 1997 he had his best big league season with the Mariners, going 16-9 with a 3.61 ERA in 35 starts), Texas, Boston, the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis,
Colorado, Arizona and San Francisco. He finished 121-124 with a 4.11 ERA and 25 saves in 242 starts and 478 relief appearances.

 

DAVE FIGUEIRA
Griffin High School graduate (1973) who played football, 1 basketball, baseball and golf, receiving
10 varsity letters along the way. As a senior, he was an all-city and all-conference quarterback who passed for 988 yards. He was a first-team all-city basketball player who led Griffin to its first City Tournament title in a long time. He also was a pitcher on the baseball team and a top golfer and earned Athlete of the Year. He accepted a scholarship to Southern Illinois to play football. He is a highly regarded football and basketball official - he has officiated the state finals in football
- and remains a top golfer on the local amateur scene.

MIKE HEALEY
Griffin High School graduate (1982) who was a high school standout in both football and baseball. He was a two time all-city selection in baseball and captain of the 1982 state championship team. He was an all-city football player in 1981 when he led the city in receiving. But he seemed to get better in college at Valparaiso. As a college senior he led the nation in NCAA Division II with 101 receptions and was a Kodak College Division All-American as selected by the American Football Coaches Association. He was a four-year starter at wide receiver and wound up with 228 career receptions. He once caught 16 passes in a game and had 15 games during his collegiate career when he topped the 100-yard mark in receptions. In baseball, he was a four-year regular and set school records for at-bats, runs, hits and stolen bases. He's a member of the Valparaiso Sports Hall of Fame.

SHATONIA LEVY
Springfield High School graduate (1995) and basketball standout. She scored 2,043 points and
had 865 rebounds, 532 assists and 308 steals. Her teams never lost a City Tournament game - SHS was 81-10 while Levy was a member of the team - and she was an all-state selection by the Champaign News Gazette, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. She signed a national letter of intent with Drake University but never attended.

RON THUNMAN
Springfield High School graduate (1949) who played football for four years, basketball for
three years and ran track for two years. He was named the center on the Chicago Daily News All-State, All-City and All- Big 12 Conference teams in 1948, when the Senators were unbeaten (7-0-2). In basketball, Thunman was first-team All-City at center in 1949 and an honorable mention all-state center. He received a football scholarship to the University of Illinois in 1949, but a summer construction accident sidelined him for his freshman year. Meanwhile, he received a congressional
appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He hurt his knee playing freshman football and was never able to play collegiately. After graduating in 1954 from Annapolis, he served in the
U.S. Navy for 35 years, retiring in 1989. Along the way he won two Distinguished Service Medals, four Legion of Merit awards, two Navy Commendation Medals, two Navy Unit Commendation awards and many more. He currently lives in Springfield.

 

TEAM

1962 STANDARD CONCRETE BASEBALL
Team managed by Clyde Oliver and coached by Lawrence Irving and Deke Suits finished second in the Connie Mack (17-I8-year-olds) World Series in 1962 at Lanphier Park, the last Springfield-area team to make it to the title game of the Connie Mack World Series. Fort Worth (Texas) beat Standard Concrete and Joe Hamende 5-0 in the title game. Team members on the World Series team were the late Joe Ham.ende, Lance Davsko, John Pyle, Jim Heitzman, Lamont "Monte"
Irving, Rich Hayes, Bob Clifford, the late John Jones, Rick Grant, Bob Sagle, Bert Gerger, Lany Ackerman, Robert Smith, Tom De Frates, Dennis Yoggerst and Mike Rodgerson. Harnende, Hayes, Clifford and Rodgerson were not on the league team, but they were picked up for the World Series. Hamende, who pitched a no-hitter against Danville (Va.) in a 1-0 victory, Hayes and Davsko all were named to the World Series All-Tournament team.

FRIENDS OF SPORT

JACK HOWARD
Long-time chairman of the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors who recently retired
as president of House of Brews, a Hall of Fame sponsor since the very beginning. He has served as a Southwest Youth Baseball Association coach, a YMCA youth basketball coach, on the Rail Charity Board of Directors and as chairman of the Springfield 2020 Committee on Recreation. He also has been involved in the following sports sponsorships: St. Louis Cardinals Caravan, LPGA State Farm Classic, Springfield Junior Blues, Springfield Cardinals, Springfield Capitals,
Sultans of Springfield, Illinois Express and University of Illinois at Springfield soccer.

 

DON YUTZY
Arthur native, United States Air Force veteran and Eastern Illinois graduate who spent the better
part of 30 years as a teacher and coach in District 186. When he came to town in 1959 he was hired as a traveling physical education teacher and served in that capacity for five years. He also worked for the Springfield Recreation Commission and was involved in Khoury League baseball. In the fall of 1964 he went to Springfield High and taught there for 24 years, serving as an assistant coach in baseball, football and basketball under such storied coaches as John Staats, Verdie
Altizer and Norm Keefner. In that capacity he touched the lives of many young people in a positive way.