BV Alumni Among Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Honorees
Four Beavers from three decades receive honors for their contributions to baseball in Iowa.
Four Buena Vista University alumni were among those honored at the recent clinic and awards ceremony held by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Larry Frakes ’76, of Audubon, was inducted into the organization’s hall of fame for his accomplishments as a player at Goldfield High School and Buena Vista. Jim Molitor ’82 was selected as Iowa’s Umpire of the Year. The organization lauded Michael Barta ’08 as Class 4A Coach of the Year, and feted Randy Chamberlin ’78 as Iowa’s Newcomer Umpire of the Year.
“Any success I’ve ever had goes back to the eight guys playing behind me. I had one catcher in my entire time at BV, Jeff Trost ’76, (a BVU Athletics Hall-of-Famer). We had a great working relationship. We also had great hitters who got me the run support I needed.”
Larry Frakes, 1976 BV graduate
“Any success I’ve ever had goes back to the eight guys playing behind me,” said Frakes. “I had one catcher in my entire time at BV, Jeff Trost ’76, (a BVU Athletics Hall-of-Famer). We had a great working relationship. We also had great hitters who got me the run support I needed.”
Frakes, a BVU Athletics Hall-of-Famer, praised the late great Coach Jay Beekmann ’42 for recruiting quality students and baseball players, then letting them perform on the diamond. “Jay was laid back, but he had the respect of everyone because of his program’s success,” he said.
Frakes, who earned all-conference laurels as a sophomore, junior, and senior at BV, and was a part of two league titles, went on to play in the Cincinnati Reds organization for two years before serving as a teacher, coach, and administrator at eight school districts across Iowa. He retired as Principal at Coon Rapids-Bayard High School and Middle School.
Jim Molitor, of Carroll, who retired from teaching in the Coon Rapids-Bayard Community School District, was selected by the IHSBCA as the Northwest District Umpire of the Year and earned the statewide honor among umpires as well. Molitor, a third-generation Beaver (his father, Alvin Molitor, was a BVU Athletics Hall-of-Famer), has umpired baseball for 45 years, dating back to 1979, the summer following his freshman year. He has worked 17 Iowa High School State Baseball Tournaments and serves as a track starter and football official. He has also officiated girls’ and boys’ basketball, soccer, and softball.
“I like working with kids and being part of the game,” said Molitor, who was a three-time all-conference punter for the Beaver football team.
Randy Chamberlin, of Center Point, spent the bulk of his 43-year career as a math teacher and coach at Center Point-Urbana, where he directed a girls’ state champion basketball team in 1995. Chamberlin, who coached baseball for 39 years and won more than 500 games, retired in 2021, then began umpiring to help prevent the cancellation of games due to a growing scarcity of umpires.
“There were some junior high and junior varsity games begin canceled, so I talked to our Director of Athletics, and he said we were losing games due to the lack of umpires,” said Chamberlin, who coached his sons in state tournament plays and is part of a two-generation Beaver family.
Chamberlin became certified as an umpire and began working games in 2021. He worked a full slate of games in 2022 and picked up collegiate contests as well.
“This is a great way to give back to the game and to the kids who play it,” he said. “I enjoy the game and I enjoy helping students. What better way for me to give back than in this way? That’s why I’m umpiring.”
In July, Michael Barta won his fourth state championship as Head Coach of the Johnston Dragons, the program’s sixth title. The former Beaver infielder and relief pitcher directed a Dragons team that outscored its state-tournament foes, 28-7, in three contests, including an 11-1 triumph in the championship game.
The Dragons, who now have 28 alumni playing collegiate baseball, were ranked No. 1 from start to finish in 2022.
Barta’s program has been assisted by no fewer than three former Beaver baseball players in the past few years. Barta also served as a volunteer assistant for the BV program in 2008, learning under the tutelage of Coaches Steve Eddie MSE ’07, Dr. Steve Sonka and Ryan Dupic ’08 MSE ’11, who coaches at Concordia University.
“I got to see the behind-the-scenes look at how coaches run a successful program,” he said of the experience. “I learned about the influence that culture plays in a program moving forward.”