BAYTOWN – The Goose Creek school trustees honored a long time winning baseball coach, Ronnie Kluch, at their board meeting of Feb. 21, by naming the baseball field at Sterling High School for him.
Kluch is a native of Highlands, and his family still lives here. His father is Kluch, and his sister is Betty Michalsky.
Kluch was known for his 10 winning seasons, with a record of 200 wins, 74 losses. But he was also remembered for the inspiration he taught to his teams. Speaking at the ceremony, Deacon Winters said that Kluch taught his players how to win, but also how important to strive for excellence.
Kluch coached the team to 4 district championships, and tied for the title three times. The most memorable game was in 1979, when the Rangers played Springwood, a 30-1 team that had as a pitcher a young man named Roger Clemens. Sterling won the three game series.
Kluch played for Sterling before he became a coach there, and his baseball coach was Don Truhardt, who was on hand to speak about the qualities of Ron Kluch that had made him a winner through life and his playing and coaching career.
Kluch gave credit for his winning ways and his work ethic to his father, Henry Kluch. And also in his remarks he reminded the audience that he did not win the games, but his players did.