By STEVE KRAH
Baseball tradition means something at Wapahani High School in the Delaware County town of Selma, Ind. (2020 population: 747).
That’s in no small part to the success enjoyed by the Raiders with Brian Dudley as head coach.
The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer retired in the summer of 2023 after leading the program for 40 seasons (39 plus the COVID-19 year of 2020) and posted a record of 828-320 and also earned 13 Delaware County crowns, eight regionals, three semistates and one state championship (2014).
“For anybody who’s played at Wapahani the past 40 years it’s almost like a fraternity,” says 1992 Wapahani graduate Heath Dudley, a cousin of Brian and the man chosen as the next Raiders head coach. “We’ve all experienced the same type of scenario. We’re a small rural school and community. It’s a big deal to play here.
“I want to mention that tradition while at the same time making it new. It’s kind of building a bridge between the old and the new.”
Dudley has already enjoyed outreach from alumni.
“That’s what makes it a neat job — how much everyone cares,” says Dudley. “We want to take pride in it and take care of what has been established and built and continue the tradition.”
Not only did Heath play baseball for Brian Dudley, he was a basketball player led by Paul Keller.
“I had a lot of good mentors that rubbed off on me a lot,” says Heath Dudley. “This is another way for me to give back to some more guys that are the same kid as me 30 years ago.”
Dudley, 50, has helped coach over the years and sent two sons — Nolan Dudley (Class of 2021) and Daxton Dudley (Class of 2023) — through the program. Nolan briefly played at Franklin (Ind.) College.
The 2021 team went 29-2 with a 25-game win streak before losing to Delphi in the IHSAA Class 2A Lafayette Central Catholic Regional championship game. The ’23 Raiders won 19 games and lost to host Lapel in the sectional semifinals.
Prior to becoming principal at Selma Middle School — part of the Liberty-Perry School District — in 2022-23, Dudley was Dudley was principal at Yorktown (Ind.) Middle School in Delaware County for 18 years.
Heath and wife Jessica also have a daughter — Tatum Dudley (Wapahani Class of 2026) — who plays volleyball and softball.
A few years ago, Dudley coached a 16U team in the Indiana Longhorns travel organization.
He was an assistant at Wapahani in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. A 1998 graduate of Ball State University, he led the junior high team while in college.
Besides Brian Dudley, who has been maintaining Wapahani athletic fields since retiring from the classroom a few years ago, Heath Dudley’s coaching staff features returning volunteer assistants in Josh Shatto and Jonathan Riddle. Gary Lipscomb — father of Tysen Lipscomb (Wapahani Class of 2019) — will also coach. A search is on for a head junior varsity coach.
Tyson Lipscomb is on the baseball team at Franklin College along with Luke Willmann (Wapahani Class of 2022). Gavin Noble (Class of 2021) is at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne. Others who moved on to college diamonds include 2023’s Gavin Lash (Purdue Northwest) and Ian McClellan (Ottawa, Kan., University).
There are no college commitments in the current group.
Feeder systems for Wapahani include Selma Athletic League and its off-shoot Tri-County League plus Selma Middle School. Recent past middle school coaches include Gavin Noble and his father Tom and Nolan Dudley.
Middle schoolers play in the spring in the East Central Indiana league organized by SMS athletic director and long-time former Wapahani baseball assistant Jason Dudley (cousin to Heath and Brian).
Wapahani (enrollment around 340) is a member of the Mid-Eastern Conference (with Blue River Valley, Cowan, Daleville, Eastern Hancock, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Shenandoah, Union of Modoc and Wes-Del).
The Raiders are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2024 with Frankton, Lapel, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris and Winchester Community. Wapahani has won 18 sectional titles — the last in 2022.
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