Mantooth’s No. 15 to be retired from Apollo baseball

April 24, 2019 | 8:43 pm

Updated April 24, 2019 | 9:44 pm

Bob Mantooth's No. 15 is going to be retired from the Apollo baseball program on Friday. | Photo courtesy of Owensboro Parent

No baseball player at Apollo will ever don the No. 15 jersey again, as the number of the legendary Bob Mantooth will be retired Friday night. The ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the baseball field prior to the game against Daviess County.

Mantooth himself stepped down from his head coaching position after last season, finishing his career ranked fifth all-time in wins (977) in KHSAA. He got his start at Webster County but spent most of his years at the helm for Apollo.

Starting with his first region title in 1994 and finishing with his last in 2015, Mantooth led 11 different teams to a region championship. Four of those squads (1994, 2003, 2007, 2008) advanced to the Final Four of the state tournament.

Current Apollo head coach Mason Head, who took the reins in August, said the idea of retiring Mantooth’s number had been on many people’s minds already.

“I think as soon as I got hired, it was already a conversation,” he said. “Even last year before he retired, it was something we all knew was going to happen eventually. It was just something we didn’t talk about because he was still around.”

Head said he got nothing but support from principal Rick Lasley and athletic director Dan Crume, and the plans began to take shape.

The game against Daviess County was purposefully chosen for a couple of reasons. Head said it’s one of the biggest rivalry games of the year so it will already draw a big crowd, but many people in the community will want to come show support for Mantooth.

Add to that the fact that Head and Daviess County coach Brandon Dennis both played for Mantooth at Apollo, and it was a no-brainer to pick Friday night.

“I knew he would want to be a part of that,” Head said of Dennis. “I thought that was a pretty neat way to get to do it. To have two guys that both used to play for coach Mantooth coaching against each other, that’s pretty neat.”

Mantooth’s number is only the second to ever be retired — behind Brad Wilkerson’s No. 12, also before a game against the Panthers — from the Eagles’ baseball program, currently in its 50th season.

“It’s not something we do lightly,” he said. “It’s a pretty big deal. It’s one of the highest honors that our sport has, to say that you were so impactful that we don’t think anybody should get to wear your number any more.”

April 24, 2019 | 8:43 pm

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