Former sports information director Jeff Schwartz, former baseball players Mike Patch, Travis Gray, and Marty McLeary, and current baseball coach Keith Veale were all honored for their contributions to MVNU as part of the evening’s festivities that also included honoring the entire 1997 baseball team on the tenth anniversary of its NAIA World Series appearance and retiring the uniform number of former Cougar baseball player Matt Rice.

Schwartz, who graduated from MVNU in 1981, served as the school’s sports information director from 1981-1988 while also serving as the coordinator of information services at MVNU and working part-time as a writer and photographer at the Mount Vernon News.

During Schwartz’s time at MVNU, he also served as the information director for the Mid-Ohio Conference and NAIA District 22. In 1984, he won third place for Best Sports Photo from the UPI, and in 1986, he won another contest sponsored by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. He won three publication awards for his media guides during his time at MVNU and the 1986 MVNU baseball media guide won first place in a contest sponsored by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Among the many highlights for Schwartz during his time at MVNU, he covered two softball conference titles, one baseball conference title, and one men’s soccer conference title. He also coordinated all the media coverage when former Cougar standout Tim Belcher was selected as the No. 1 draft pick overall in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft.

In 1988, Schwartz moved to North Dakota State University where he served as the women’s sports information director for 15 years before being named the director of athletic media relations in 2004 - a role in which he still serves today. He has gone on to win 44 publication contests including 11 "Best in the Nation” honors and six national writing contests. He was also the inaugural recipient of the Grant Burger Media Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 1997. He has worked numerous NCAA championship events and also worked the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Patch was a four-year member of the MVNU baseball team from 1994-1997. As a pitcher for the Cougars, he compiled a 37-3 record with a 2.52 earned run average and nine shutouts during his stellar career. He also registered 204 strikeouts in 289 innings of work with only 49 walks. He was a part of three straight MOC championships and three consecutive National Christian College Athletic Association national titles from 1995-1997.

Ten years later, Patch is still tied for first in school history with 37 victories. He also ranks second in career shutouts, third in career ERA, and fourth in career innings pitched. In addition, he still ranks as the all-time winningest pitcher in NAIA baseball history with a .925 winning percentage as he went 37-3 on the mound.

Patch had many highlights throughout his career. He won his final 23 starts as he went 11-0 as a junior and 12-0 as a senior with 17 complete games during that span. He posted 26 straight victories without a loss to close his career with just one no-decision during that stretch coming in a game that went 12 innings and was decided by the bullpen. He posted a 5-0 record against conference rival Ohio Dominican University. He also went 2-0 against NCAA Division I University of Dayton including a 6-2 win at Dayton in 1996 after the Flyers had defeated eventual NCAA national champion Louisiana State University a few weeks earlier. He combined with Jeremiah Armstrong and John Boker to throw a no-hitter versus Cedarville University in 1996, and he needed just 63 pitches in one seven-inning win over Tiffin University in 1995. He also threw a 10-0 shutout against Dominican (N.Y.) College in the NAIA World Series in his final career appearance in 1997 for the Cougars’ first-ever win at the NAIA World Series.

Among his many honors, Patch was a three-time MOC Team selection and a two-time NCCAA All-American. He was also selected as the NCCAA National Player of the Year as a junior in 1996.

Gray was also a four-year member of the MVNU baseball team from 1994-1997. As a second baseman for the Cougars, he put together one of the best offensive careers in the program’s history. He was also part of three straight MOC championships and three consecutive NCCAA national titles from 1995-1997.

Despite graduating a decade ago, Gray still holds six MVNU career records: most hits (263), most triples (19), most home runs (43), most runs scored (225), most runs batted in (236), and most walks (104). He also ranks second in career at bats (683), career doubles (58), and career assists (491), third in career games played (201), and fourth in highest career batting average (.385).

In addition to all his career records, Gray holds the MVNU single-season marks for triples (8), home runs (18), runs batted in (86), and assists (164). He also teamed up with former Cougar standout Scott Dapprich to turn most of the school-record 56 double plays during the 1995 season. Gray also holds several single-game records including most hits (6), most triples (2), and most home runs with three against Trinity Christian (Ill.) College in the NCCAA National Tournament in 1997.

Among his many honors, Gray was a four-time MOC Team selection and a three-time NCCAA All-American. In 1997, he was named the NCCAA National Tournament Most Valuable Player, the MOC and NAIA Great Lakes Region Player of the Year, and an NAIA First Team All-American. He was also featured that year in Sports Illustrated’s "Faces in the Crowd”.

Following the completion of the 1997 season, Gray signed a free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox and played for the Lowell Spinners in the Boston minor league system. He also later played for the Evansville Otters in the Frontier League.

McLeary was a three-year member of the MVNU baseball team from 1995-1997 after red-shirting in 1994. As a pitcher for the Cougars, he posted a 26-2 overall record with a 2.36 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 206.2 innings of work. During each of the three seasons that he pitched for MVNU, the Cougars won the MOC title and the NCCAA national championship.

McLeary still holds the MVNU career record for lowest ERA. He also ranks sixth in school history with 26 victories and five career shutouts. In addition, he once struck out 11 straight batters in a game against Walsh University during the 1996 season.

Among his many honors, McLeary was a two-time MOC Team selection and a two-time NCCAA All-American. He was named to the NAIA All-American Second Team in 1997 and was also the NCCAA District Player of the Year that season.

Following the completion of the 1997 campaign, McLeary was drafted in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Boston Red Sox. After pitching in the Boston minor league system for six years and playing in the Double-A All-Star Game and the Arizona Fall League, he signed with the Florida Marlins in 2003 and pitched primarily with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. He was traded to the San Diego Padres just prior to Opening Day 2004 and joined the Triple-A Portland Beavers. He appeared in the 2004 Triple-A All-Star Game and was the Rolaids Relief Man award winner in July 2004. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2005 off-season and was with that organization through 2007.

McLeary has been called up to the Major League level three different times as he became the second former Cougar player to reach that level joining former MVNU standout Tim Belcher. McLeary made his Major League debut on August 22, 2004, with the San Diego Padres. He has also had stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. In 12 career appearances at the Major League level, he has posted a 2-0 record with a 5.28 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 29 innings of work.

Veale came to MVNU after graduating from John Wesley (Mich.) College in 1979. In addition to coaching baseball, he has served as the women’s volleyball coach (1983), the men’s soccer coach (1988), the women’s softball coach (1987-1989), and the intramural director (1979-1988). After eight years as an assistant coach with the baseball program and three years as the softball team’s head coach, Veale took over as the seventh coach of the MVNU baseball program in 1990.

Over the past 18 years, Veale has led the Cougars to a 602-289 overall record (.676 winning percentage) with seven conference titles, four NCCAA national championships, and the school’s only two berths in the NAIA World Series in 1997 and 2004. MVNU has also won 30 or more games 12 times under his leadership and topped the 40-win mark during five of those years. Most recently in 2007, Veale guided the Cougars to a 38-16 overall record as the team advanced to the NAIA Region IX championship game for the eighth straight year.

Veale has been selected as the NCCAA National Coach of the Year five times and the conference Coach of the Year seven times, and he has three times been tabbed as the NAIA Region Coach of the Year (1996, 1997, and 2007). He has seen his teams qualify for postseason play in the NAIA in 17 of his 18 seasons at the helm, and he has also had eleven players sign professional baseball contracts during his tenure at MVNU.

Sam Riggleman, who was Veale’s coach at John Wesley and later the head coach at MVNU from 1980-1988, had this to say about Veale: "There is no one in the coaching profession that I respect more than Keith. I have followed his career closely since my departure from MVNU. I am impressed with not only what he has accomplished but more importantly how he has carefully invested in the lives of the young men that he coaches. We have discussed often the need to make an eternal investment into the lives of players, and clearly he is doing that.”

"MVNU is recognizing Keith for his coaching accomplishments,” Riggleman continued. "That will only be a small portion of his legacy, however. His personal character, integrity, and commitment to excellence will stand out as the most important accomplishments during his career. He has modeled what it means to be a spiritual father and husband to his players. The lessons learned from him have more to do with life than baseball. For that, he is to be commended.”

With the addition of the five new inductees, the Cougar Wall of Fame has now grown to include 43 members. Of the 42 living members of the Wall of Fame, 23 of them were at the banquet and were each introduced.

In addition to the annual Wall of Fame induction ceremony, the 1997 baseball team was honored with a 16-minute video tribute. That team posted a school-record 47-8 overall record, won the MOC title and NCCAA national championship, and advanced to the NAIA World Series for the first time in the program’s history. The team was comprised of Jeff Lavin, Dave Byard, Heath Engle, Scott Schlabach, Andy Heimbach, Mike Waddell, Brian Sheets, Drue Gray, Kevin Stafford, Jeremiah Armstrong, Keith Kohler, Chris Iceman, Matt Triplett, Chris Stanifer, Marty McLeary, Andy Newcomb, J.K. Waers, Sean Barrett, Mike Patch, Brad Nelson, Scott Dapprich, Travis Gray, Gary Klingel, Bob Hartless, and Mike Sorbin. Of the 25 players, 21 returned for the banquet along with Veale and assistant coach Mel Severns.

The late Matt Rice also had his No. 25 retired as part of the evening’s ceremonies. Rice was killed in a car accident on November 3, 1995, and would have been a senior on the 1997 team. Matt’s mother, Mardella, and sister, Amber, were both in attendance. A sign with Rice’s number and name will be permanently displayed in the outfield at Cougar Field along with the previously retired No. 21 of Tim Belcher.