Baseball 8/30/2014 3:34:00 PM

Services for late OCU baseball coach set

Lodes guided Chiefs from 1984-88

Charley Lodes directed OCU to an NCAA Tournament and two NAIA World Series berths.

BETHANY, Okla. – Services for former Oklahoma City University baseball coach Charley Lodes have been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Lutheran Church of Our Savior, 6501 NW 23rd Street.
Visitation will be at Mercer-Adams Funeral Service, 3925 N. Asbury Ave., from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Lodes died Wednesday night at the age of 73.
In lieu of flowers, the Lodes family asks that donations be made to Oklahoma City University baseball in memory of Charles Lodes.
Lodes guided Oklahoma City baseball from 1984-88. The Chiefs went 203-133 during that time. Lodes hired current OCU coach Denney Crabaugh as his pitching coach. Crabaugh has been OCU coach for 26 years.
"I will be forever grateful and indebted to Charley for giving me the opportunity to coach at OCU," Crabaugh said. "Much of the success of our program today is built upon the principles Charley taught me all those years ago."
In Lodes' first year as OCU coach, the Chiefs captured the 1984 Midwestern City Conference Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional. Lodes was named Region 5 coach of the year.
Lodes led Oklahoma City to two trips to the NAIA World Series, finishing fourth each time in 1986 and '88. Both those teams won the Area III and District 9 titles. OCU's 1988 squad went 54-23 to set a single-season school record for wins.
"Oklahoma City is one of the most marketable areas for baseball in the United States," Lodes told The Oklahoman upon his hiring. "We're surrounded by really great Division I clubs. Behind California, Texas and Florida, Oklahoma is the most productive state for professional talent, and on a per capita basis, it leads the nation."
Lodes came to OCU after directing East Tennessee State to a 195-104-1 record with three NCAA Tournament bids in six years. Lodes also coached at Temple (Texas), going 163-89. Lodes compiled a 193-80 record on the high school level at Garber and Midwest City in Oklahoma.

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