Brush coach inducted into Colo. baseball coaches Hall of Fame
Don Dillehay graduated from Sterling High School in 1963
A Sterling High School graduate and long-time teacher and coach in Brush has been inducted into the Colorado Dugout Club Coaches Hall of Fame.
Don Dillehay’s name became synonymous with coaching, and especially with baseball, starting in the late 1960s. Eventually he would coach the Brush High School Beetdiggers to their first state baseball championship in 1991.
Dillehay came to Sterling with his family in 1955, graduating from Sterling High School in 1963. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Western State College, Dillehay started teaching and coaching at what was then Sterling Junior High 1968. He coached almost every sport the school had to offer including basketball, track, wrestling, and football. In the summer, he also coached A Legion baseball.
After teaching and coaching in Sterling for two years, he went back to Western State to earn his master’s degree in social studies. In the fall of 1971, Dillehay moved to Brush, where he began teaching social studies at Brush Middle School and coaching middle school football, as well as basketball at the high school.
After his four years at the middle school, he started teaching history at Brush High School. He coached the Beetdigger junior varsity basketball team for 29 years, posting winning records 27 times. He later served two years as varsity basketball coach.
Along with coaching basketball at Brush High School, he coached baseball. For 17 years, Brush did not have varsity baseball, however, as soon as it came back, Dillehay signed on as head coach.
In 1988 and 1990, he coached the Beetdigger baseball team to the Final Four in the playoffs. Then, in 1991, he coached his team to the state championship, beating the Eaton Reds 13-2 for the school’s lone state championship in baseball.
Among the awards Dillehay accumulated over the years are Coach of the Year for Patriot League baseball (four times); coaching the All-state basketball team twice as assistant to Coach Leroy Needens; coaching the state baseball All-stars against the Denver All-stars in 1992 at Mile High Stadium to victory; and Coach of the Year in baseball in 1991 in all classifications in Colorado.
The last six years he taught at BHS, Dillehay did not coach at the high school, but coached his grandson’s Little League baseball team in Wiggins.
Dillehay retired from coaching and teaching altogether in 2005, after 37 years teaching, and 31 years coaching.
Dillehay passed away in 2018 at the age of 73 and was posthumously named to the CDCC Hall of Fame in 2021. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no induction ceremony was held at that time; Dillehay and his fellow inductees were honored along with the 2022 inductees in January.
Inducted along with Dillehay in 2021 were Mark Goldsberry of Cherry Creek Mountain Visti, Carl Lindauer of Las Animas High School, Joe May of Denver, Keith Mcelreach of Aurora, Joe Robison of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Joe White of Highlands Ranch and Thunder Ridge high schools.
The CDCCA was formerly known as the Colorado Baseball Coaches Association but re-formed in 2010 and established its hall of fame that year.