FHHS Baseball Hall of Fame

Original Group

Front row left to right: Roger Hodapp, Brock Schaefer, Steve Eberhardt, Darin Cissell, Ryan Edwards, Dale Stevener, Terry Kasper, Grant Scharnhorst jr., Jerry Burbes, Kent Keiser, and Todd Joerling

Back row left to right: Josh Kohrs, Nick Wilfong, Ben Walker, Kevin Sahrmann, Andy Walker, Paul James, Mike Stevener, and Chad Thorpe

Preston Aldridge 2008

Preston Aldridge graduated from Francis Howell in 2008. He spent part of his freshmen year on the varsity and 3 full seasons on the varsity. The 2008 team finished 2nd in the State. In the Semi final game Preston homered and doubled and then early in the championship game he had to be carried off the field as he tore his hamstring going back on a ball in centerfield at Drury University in Springfield. He had to be carried off the field and was a major blow to the Vikings hopes of winning the State Championship.

In 2006 Preston was 1st Team All conference, and 2nd Team All State and All Metro. In 2007 he was 1st Team All Conference as well as being Co-Player of they year with Tim Melville. He was also 1st Team All Metro and All State. Preston was also an Honorable Mention All American that year. In 2008 he was on the All Tournament team for the Midwest Classic, 1st Team All Conference, All Metro, and All State. Preston Aldridge was a High School All American 1st Teamer in 2008.

Preston has left his name in numerous places in our school records and also in the state record books. As of 2013 he is 1st in Saves in a career with 7, 2nd in saves in a season with 4, intentional walks with 3, 3rd in Walks in a career with 37, Home runs in a career with 16, Home runs in a season with 6 and Batting average in a season with a .495 average. He is 4th in Batting averave for a career at .442, triples in a season with 3, triples in a career with 7, and sacrifices with 8. Preston is 5th in hits for a career at 121, RBI's in a career at 91, and runs scored career with 80. Preston is 6th in on base percentage at .513, and home runs in a season at 6. He is also 11th in hits for a season with 42.

James Allen 2008

James Allen graduated from Francis Howell in 2008. He was a 3 year starter for the varsity, spending most of the time at shortstop until his senior year when he concentrated on pitching. He was the ace of the staff that earned a 2nd place finish in state in 2008. He earned the win in the semi final against SLUH in relief.

After graduating James accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Kansas State. He had a phenomenal career there and was an All American there. He left the school with the career saves record for them. After his Junior year he was drafted by the Cinncinati Reds and is still pitching in thier minor leagues at this time.

In 2007 James was 1st team All Conference, 2nd Team All Metro, and 2nd Team All State. His senior year he was the MVP of the Midwest Classic, 1st Team All Conference, 1st Team All metro, 1st Team All State and was named a 2nd Team All American. As of 2013 in our school records he ranks 5th in Batting Average for a career at .436, 5th in Assists for a season at 60, and 9th in At Bats in a season with 107.

Tim Avants 2005

Tim Avants graduated from high school in 2005 from Francis Howell. Tim was a part of a very talented 2005 class, many of his teammates have already been inducted into the hall of fame. Early on as a sophomore on the varsity team, he saw most of his action as a pinch runner. Later in his sophomore season, he had the opportunity to play and start in games. His best action came late in the season when he had a bunt base hit to win the Sectional playoff game bringing home his brother, Dan Avants, to win the game.

The 2003 team later went on to win the state championship where Tim hit a ball off the plate and was athletic enough to beat it out with his lightning speed. Tim was selected 1st team All State, All Conference, and All Metro throughout his career. Tim was a tri-sport athlete playing football and basketball along with baseball. Tim was awarded the U.S. Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award in 2005.

After high school, Tim accepted a scholarship to play for Northwest Missouri State, a division II baseball school. Tim now resides in Chicago, IL where he teaches high school and is currently enrolled in graduate school to finish his MBA

Roger Banze 1964

Roger Banze graduated from Francis Howell in 1965. He was probably one of the hardest throwers to ever come out of our school and the St. Louis area. He was a mid 90's guy that was drafted out of High School. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and spent 5 years in their minor league organization. There is a story of Roger and Nolan Ryan hooking up in the minors. Later in Roger's career he suffered an arm injury that ended his playing days.

After his playing days were over, like most quality baseball people, he turned to coaching where his grass roots were. He coached for 4 years for the C&H legion team. During his tenure as a coach, C&H won 2 state championships. During this time he also coached in the Metro Collegiate League for 2 years. Players of this era can only imagine the blazing fastball of Roger Banze.

Gary Barklage 1977

Gary Barklage graduated from Francis Howell in 1977. Gary was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2005. He was a 3 year varsity starter for head coach Jerry Burbes. During his illusturous career he accomplished many feats.

In 1976 he was an All Conference, as well as All District shortstop. During his summers of he played with Post 313 American Legion team ,where he was named the MVP of the league in 1976. He had a great '77 year as he was named All Conference shortstop and was an All District pitcher. That year he was 4-0 and had a 1.06 era. He was also a career .400 hitter.

After his High School days he played with C&H's EMBA team for 10 years. He spent his last 12 years of playing in the fast pitch league where he played for St. Charles Lanes.

Tony Bishop 1983

Tony Bishop graduated from Francis Howell in 1983. He was pitcher that dominated in the summer especially. After graduating from Howell he threw for Merramec for a a bit. He was undefeated in the summer and during his Legion days he won 24 games in a row which broke a Legion record that was held by Rollie Fingers.

He became a policeman in St. Charles and now is retiirted and lives at the lake where he makes wooden fishing lures that he sells throughout the country.

Austin Buenemann 2008

Austin Buenemann graduated in 2008 from Francis Howell. Most of his games were played pitching or playing in the outfield. He pitched a complete game shutout in the district finals and hit a home run in both that game and in the sectionals. He pitched another shutout 3 days later to advance to the final four. He pitched in 5 of the 6 shutouts that spring.

Austin is in the record books as #4 with an ERA of 0.93 in 2008 and #1 for 17 consecutive innings pitched without allowing a run. He was the starting pitcher of the State Championship game in 2008 where the Vikings took second after losing 3-2 to Ozark.

Austin was a member of the All Academic Team, 1st Team All State, and 2nd team All GAC. He graduated from Mizzou with a degree in finance and is currently living in Trenton, MO. Austin and his wife Molly are expecting their first child in September. Austin was not able to attend the ceremony due to their expected child but both his parents were there to represent him. On a side note, his mom should go into the Hall of Fame as the best pacer in Howell history.

Jerry Burbes 1964

Jerry Burbes graduated from Francis Howell in 1964. Jerry was a four year starter on the Viking baseball team from 1961-1964. He played second base and shortstop. Their team record was 34-7. In 1963 their team advanced to the Final Four. This was the first Francis Howell team in any sport to advance to a State Championship. Jerry was the leadoff batter, averaging .300 plus all four years. He stole 40 bases in his career and was never thrown out. Jerry was also a three year starter in basketball at Francis Howell.

Jerry graduated from the University of Missouri, where he played third base his freshman year. He returned to Francis Howell in the fall of 1968 where he was a volunteer coach for the Vikings under Ken Dyson in the spring of 1969. He became the head baseball coach in 1970, coaching the Vikings to a Conference Title in 1971.

Jerry went into the Army from June 1971 to May 1973. He then coached Viking baseball teams from 1973 to 1981. His ten year coaching record was 126-76 with six Conference Titles, three District Championships, and two Sectional Finals appearances.

Jerry became Francis Howell High School's Athletic Director in 1976. He retired from coaching in 1981 due to the demands of the activities position. In 1987 he was appointed as the District Activities Director. Jerry retired in 1998 as Associate Superintendent of Student Services.

Jerry managed the first two Daniel Boone Legion teams in 1990 and 1991. He later assisted the program in 1993-1995.

Jerry has been married for 31 years to Connie Rauch Burbes. They have four children, Brian (30), Craig (26), Carrie (23), and Matt (22). Brian was the winning pitcher in the semi final game of the 1991 Final Four team. Craig was a pitcher for the 1993 Final Four team.

Brian Burbess 1991

Brian Burbes entered the Francis Howell Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. He becomes the 2nd father son duo to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He graduated from Francis Howell High School in 1991.

Brian was a 3 year varsity starter for the Vikings being a left handed pitcher. During his 3 years on the Varsity, 1989, 1990, and 1991 the Vikings were Gateway Athletic Champions all 3 years. The 1991 team were also District Champions and that team made it to the final four where they finished second in the Class 4A Championship series. The 1991 trip to the final four was only the second trip for the Vikings there. Ironically they last time the Vikings were there was 1963 which his dad, Jerry, was a player on. The sectional game in 1991 Brian started the game and then was lifted and then the rains came, a couple of days later play was resumed and Brian earned not only the win but was reentered and earned the save as well. Don't see that one happen too often. He was also the winning pitchers verse CBC in the State Semi-Final game.

Brian was know for his sweet pick off move. Through his junior and senior year of High School ball and legion ball with Daniel Boone his father shared that he picked off 45 base runners. He played for the Daniel Boone Legion team for 4 years. Brian was also a football and a wrestler at Howell for the 4 years that he was there. After High School he attended and played baseball at Rend Lake for one season.Danny Johnson was at the event to help welcome Brian into the Hall of Fame as he was the other lefty that got us to that final four. Chris Daley the catcher for both of them also showed up for the event. A lot of memories were rehashed. Brian has been married to his wife DeeDee for nine years.

Darin Cissell 1993

Darin Cissell graduated from Howell in 1993. He and Chad Thorpe are the only 2 players that we are aware of that played in 2 final fours, in 1991 and 1993. During his prep career he was a 1st Team All Conference player as well as a 1st Team All metro player. He proceeded his playing days with Howell at Meramec Juco where he played in 2 Junior College World Series. From there accepted a scholarship to St. Louis University where he starred. He had a nasty ankle break his last game at SLU, but it did not turn the professional leagues away.

The San Francisco Giants drafted him in the 18th round and he spent a couple of years in their organization. After 13 surgeries his playing days are over. He recently accepted a teaching position in the Howell district and teaches PE and Health at Bryan Middle School. Darin is an assistant coach in our program and the experience that he brings to our program is invaluable. Coach Cissell is married to Amy.

Cleat Davis 1997

Cleat Davis graduated from Francis Howell in 1997. Cleat was one of the smoothest lefties to ever come through the program. He holds several pitching records for the program. He was a guy that you could pretty much count on getting 5 plus innings and striking out 10. He holds the season strike out record at 105, as well as the career K's with 161. He hogs the complete game records as well. In '97 he threw 7 complete games and had 12 in his career.

In 1997 Cleat was the ace of the staff that made it to the state championship game. He got the nod in the semi-final game and pitched one of the best games in Howell history. It was against SLUH and he matched up against a tough rightie by the name of Parker. The Vikings won the game in 9 innings, 2-1. Cleat pitched the complete game victory. He was named first team all conference, first team, all metro, and first team all state. He was also selected to throw in the Senior All Star game.

Cleat attempted to continue his career at St. Charles Community College but things did not work out for him.

Steven Diel 2011

Steven was primarily a starter but also threw in relief when needed. He still holds many records in the Howell baseball program including 3rd in pitching wins in a season with 8, 3rd in pitching wins over his career with 16, 5th in appearances with 15 and 2nd in appearances over his career with 38. He was dominant in 5 relief appearances in the 2011 State Championship game in Springfield, MO. He is the 5th member of our State championship 2011 class to enter into our Francis Howell Baseball Hall of Fame.

Upon graduating from Francis Howell, Steven attended Jefferson College for two years. During his first year at Jeff Co, Steven helped his team to the Junior College World Series where they finished 4th in the nation. After completing his career at Jeff Co, Steven transferred and joined his Howell teammates Brett Graves, Case Munson, Jake Ivory & Brett Peel on the Mizzou Baseball team. Steven redshirted his first season at Mizzou and then ultimately decided to end his baseball career to pursue his degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences.

Steven currently lives in O’Fallon, MO with his wife Claudia and two dogs, Remi & Hank. They are expecting their first child in September. Some of Steven’s best memories and friends were those he made during his time as a member of the Francis Howell baseball program.

Eli Dilday 2014

Eli Dilday transferred to Howell his Junior year where he helped the Vikings win a 2013 State Championship. Eli was first team all-state and honorable mention all-American his junior year and broke the Howell double record. In 2014, as a Senior, Eli played for another State Title but came in as the runner up. He made first team all-state, first team all-american and broke his own double record in 2014. He also homered in both the 2013 and 2014 state final games. Eli is one of the few players who had the honor of playing alongside all four of the Perkins brothers in his time at Howell.

Here is where Eli ranks on our schools record lists. Remember that he put these number in only 2 years of participation. 10th in for Batting average in a season at .450, 6th place in Career with a .441 average. 10th place in On Bae in a season and 8th place in career. Eli is tied for 2nd place in Hits in season wth fellow inductee Nic Perkins with 58. He is also 7th and tied with Case Munson, career he is 10th. RBI's in a season he is 6th tied with Justin Perkins and Daltaon Grantham. Runs scored in a season he tied for 1st with Justin Perkins with 54, career he is 7th. Home runs in a season he is 4th tied with Josh Golliver and career he is 4th with 14. Triples in a season he is 5th tied with 7 guys. Doubles he is 1st and 2nd with with 19 and 17, career he is 2nd with 36. Stolen bases in a season he 9th tied with Kyle Grantham and Dwayne Daggs.

After high School, Eli went on a baseball scholarship to the University of Nebraska where he played for two years before transferring to Central Missouri where he finished his athletic and academic career. Eli received a degree in Marketing from UCM in 2018. He still goes over to the Perkins household whenever he is in town to talk about the good ole days of Howell Baseball.