Having built one of the top high school baseball programs in central Ohio, Mike Shade did a lot of winning at Gahanna Lincoln.
His legacy, however, goes beyond 560 career victories. He also coached future major leaguers and earned the respect of his peers.
Shade, 68, submitted his resignation to athletic director Matthew Welsh on July 21 after 34 seasons, ending an era that included eight district titles, four OCC championships and Division I state tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014.
“I have some great memories,” Shade said. “I had some great players, great people. Being able to do this was so rewarding. I’m very fortunate to have known so many wonderful people over the years, and people we’ve played against and coaches we’ve played against.
All these guys love the game, and we were just trying to promote baseball and make it better. Hopefully, I was a little part of that.”
Rival coaches knew they were in for a tough game whenever they took on Shade’s Lions.
“Coach Shade and Gahanna teams, you always knew what you were going to get,” said former Grove City coach Ryan Alexander, who stepped down in 2025 after 17 seasons. “There were always going to be great pitchers. They were going to compete. We had some of our of greatest matchups with Gahanna over the last 10 years of my coaching career. ... He’s as selfless of a person as I’ve ever seen.”
Shade played high school baseball and football in central Ohio, graduating from Whitehall-Yearling in 1975, before playing baseball at Capital University for four years. He was an All-American at Capital as a senior.
He started coaching as a volunteer at Capital in 1981 and joined the Gahanna staff in 1983. He took over the program in 1992, going 2-22 that season but capturing a district title two years later.
“Mike Shade is Gahanna baseball,” Welsh said. “He took the baseball freshman coaching job in 1983 and worked his way up to head coach. The number of lives that Mike has touched and influenced and mentored is unreal, both on the boys and the girls side because we’ve had girls successfully play in our baseball program.”
Shade had 15 players earn all-state honors, including Division I Players of the Year Evan White (2014), Cael Baker (2016 and 2017) and Adam Buerger (2023).
White (Seattle), Phil Klein (Texas and Philadelphia) and Jackson Wolf (San Diego) went on to play in MLB.
Shade was inducted into the Capital University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999, the Central District Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013, the Whitehall-Yearling Hall of Fame in 2016, the Gahanna Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2024.
Welsh also credits Shade for Gahanna having one of the top baseball facilities in central Ohio. It is part of the athletic complex at Blacklick Elementary School.
“All of the aspects of our stadium at Blacklick are directly tied to coach Shade in everything that he has done,” Welsh said. “His passion is contagious. ... That’s a gentleman who loves baseball.”
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mike Shade ends 34-season run as Gahanna Lincoln baseball coach
