Bethany Baseball Honors

Four Bethany Baseball alumni were recently honored for their years of service to the sport.

Luther Dorr (’62) played baseball at Bethany Lutheran High School and College before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022. According to his biography, Dorr’s love of baseball began at age seven while listening to the 1949 World Series on the radio at home in Tracy, Minnesota. After his family moved to rural Princeton (Minnesota) a few years later, he began hanging around the town (baseball) team at nearby Santiago. At age 13, he played his first organized baseball for Santiago. That was the beginning of a 48-year career in amateur baseball where her played in six different decades.

In 1970, after 14 seasons with Santiago, Dorr joined the Princeton Panthers and played another 34 seasons, retiring at age 60 in 2003. Dorr was fortunate to play with his son for 21 years and they homered in the same inning twice, once when Luther was 50.

Dorr began his career as a writer and later editor of the Princeton (Minnesota) newspaper in 1965, covering sports in the area for over fifty years.

Pete Meyer (’87) played baseball for two years at Bethany and finished his career at the University of Wisconsin Stout. Meyer was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball of Fame in January 2023. Meyer has been teaching and coaching in the Lisle (Illinois) School District since 1991. He teaches technology education, has coached Lisle Junior High baseball, and is also athletic director at Lisle Junior High. He has been the head coach at Lisle Senior High since 2008. Since taking the helm, the Lions have captured five regional titles and the first two Interstate-8 North Conference

Championships in school history. In 2013, the Lions captured the Illinois 2A State Championship. In the classroom, Meyer’s Tech. Ed. program has been nationally recognized. In 2000, Meyer was named the Illinois Technology Education Association Teacher of the Year.

Joe Grose (’88) was inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame in 2021. He played collegiate baseball for two years at Bethany and two years at St. Cloud State University.

His amateur baseball career began at age 13 and extended over 33 seasons. A very versatile player, Grose could play any position but was primarily an infielder, pitcher, and catcher. Well known as a powerful hitter, he hit .350 for his career with 165 home runs. He played in 10 state amateur tournaments—three times as a draftee. Later in his career, he became the team’s manager and served in that capacity for 12 years before retiring in 2016.

Perhaps one of Grose's largest contributions to the game of baseball is his maintenance of Waterville’s William J. Grose Park, named after his father who is also a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association (MSHSBCA) named 1992 Bethany alumnus

Paul Schumm to its Hall of Fame Class of 2022, alongside six other coaches. Schumm, and the others, were honored at the annual MSHSBCA coaches clinic in January 2023.

Schumm has served as the head coach of St. Michael-Albertville High School (Minnesota) varsity baseball team for more than a quarter-century. He took the job in 1995 after spending two years as an assistant coach at Bethany.

BY EMELINE GULLIXSON ’21 • CONTRIBUTING WRITER