Cypress Baseball Legend, Scott Pickler, Inducted into ABCA Hall of Fame

DALLAS, TX - The American Baseball Coaches Association inducted seven new members into the ABCA Hall of Fame at the 2019 ABCA Convention, including legendary Cypress College baseball coach Scott Pickler. The Hall of Fame Class of 2019 was honored in front of their families, friends and coaching peers at the ABCA/Diamond Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, January 4 in Dallas.

Induction to the ABCA Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. The ABCA was founded in 1945 and the Hall of Fame began in 1966.

Scott Pickler won nearly 1,000 games and collected five state championships as head coach at Cypress College, won six Cape Cod League championships as coach of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and has coached more than 100 players who went on to play in Major League Baseball.

One of the most respected community college coaches in the nation, Pickler completed his 35th season with Cypress College baseball in 2018, in the second year of his role as Head Coach Emeritus. He led the Chargers to state championships in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2003 and 2013, four runner-up finishes and 11 semifinal appearances. He has been selected California Community Colleges Coach of the Year four times. Pickler's student-athletes have received scholarships at four-year schools 340 times, and more than 126 players have been selected in the Major League Draft. Twenty of Pickler's former Chargers have played in the Majors.

Pickler has spent 21 seasons as a coach in the Cape Cod Summer League, where 96 of his former players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball. He led the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to league championships in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He also served as a coach for the 1995 USA Baseball National Trials.

Prior to Cypress, Pickler coached for six seasons at Savanna and Loara High Schools. He posted a combined record of 123-36 (.774) and won the CIF championship with his 1983 Loara squad.

Pickler is a 1968 graduate of Savanna High School and was inducted to the school's Hall of Fame in 2016. He was then inducted into the Cypress College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, before joining the 2019 ABCA Hall of Fame Class.

The ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2019 included:

Joe Carbone, Ohio University

Gary "Bo" Collins, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Ron Davini, Corona del Sol High School (Ariz.)

Pat Doyle, San Joaquin Delta College (Calif.)

Dave Grant, Glendale Community College (Ariz.)

Steve Kittrell, University of South Alabama

Scott Pickler, Cypress College (Calif.)

Stay connected with the Orange Empire Conference through social media. Follow the OEC on Twitter @SportsOEC. Check in with the Orange Empire on Facebook/SportsOEC.