Time for Wick Warren to ‘be a grand dad’

Wick Warren brought a love for baseball and a southern accent when he arrived to join the Princeton High School baseball staff in 2015.

Ten years later he leaves grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Tigers head coach the past nine seasons.

“I’ve had a great time here. It’s time. Time to be a dad and grand dad to my grandchildren and stuff. I look forward to that,” Warren said.

Recent health issues, including cancer, has kept the Tiger coach largely in the dugout during games the past three seasons. He has turned most of the on-field coaching over to assistant Patrick Smith, who mans the third-base box and makes mound visits.

Warren, 76, said while “I had three tough years the last three years,” his health did not factor into his decision to retire.

“The last three years Laura (his wife) has been my rock keeping me going through all the health issues and always using baseball as the carrot for me to keep chasing,” he said.

“It’s time for an old man to give it up and let a young guy take it over. Patrick has done one heckuva job.”

PHS senior Jordan Reinhardt said Warren was very passionate about the game and team.

“It’s sad to see a coach like that go. He pours his soul into this baseball program,” he said.

Warren compiled a 97-73-1 record over eight seasons on the field as head coach (there were no games played in 2020 due to COVID) with five winning seasons.

He ended up second for most wins by a PHS baseball coach behind Jim Beltramini, who went 124-97 from 1990-97, and second in winning percentage behind John Cruz, who was 46-15 in 2009 and 2010 (75%).

His teams played in three regional championship games.

The memory that stands out the most for Warren is the Tigers’ 2018 regional championship game with Hall in which they played the eventual state champions to a 2-1 game at Prather Field.

“We played Hall on this field (Prather) and lost 2-1 to a team that ended up winning state. Probably one of the toughest games they had,” Warren said. “The crowd was just enormous out here and everybody was in to it. Josh (Reinhardt) pitched his heart out. That was a real good ball game.”

Warren was a three-year letterman at Auburn University, a pitcher for the Tigers from 1968-70. He started his coaching career for Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga., where his two sons played from 1992-95 and again in 2000.

The Warrens moved to Laura’s hometown of Princeton in 2014 after retiring from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga. She has been a steady partner running the Prather Field concession stand during Tiger games.

“Laura was a great GM and concessionaire,” Warren said. “She must have made 1,000 bags of popcorn and 100s of hotdogs. Not to mention alot of candy.

“Laura and I enjoyed every minute of our coaching experience.”

He became a volunteer coach for PHS in 2015 under former head coach Tim Taylor and established the PHS Baseball Camp which he plans to still run this summer.

The Tiger coach is leaving a legacy for years to come with the building of the “Tiger Pen,” at Prather Field for indoor training that he spearheaded and largely funded. It was finished during the 2023 season and the PHS baseball and softball teams have utilized it to hone their games.

Many Tigers refer to it as the “Wick Dome.”

“That’s a nice little legacy to leave,” Warren said. “Laura and I made a commitment to the school to see that through and the school picked up and supported it. It’s a great thing for all the kids in Princeton, softball and baseball.”

He also researched and penned a history of the Tiger program, dating back to its inception in 1975 playing summer baseball. He plans to add to the published product from 2022.

Warren won’t go far. He lives just down the street from Prather Field and his Tiger golf cart has an automatic pilot to head to the ball diamond.

“Yep, right around the corner. I’ll sneak over and see some games,” he said. “Don’t worry about ex-coach Warren. I am already thinking of new projects and visits South.”

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com