First and foremost, coaching baseball at Lake High School was always about the players and their individual growth for former Flyers coach Greg Wilker. 

In every facet of coaching, whether it was practice or games, Wilker’s main drive was the development of his players. 

“There was always some life lesson to be taught. So it went on throughout practices and games,” longtime friend of Wilker and Lake athletic director Dave Shaffer said. “It was just, there was always a teachable moment that he used toward some life building skills.”

Wilker’s 37-year career as Lake’s baseball coach came to an end Aug. 18 when he announced his retirement. The youngest of seven siblings, Wilker stepped down to spend more time to with his family. 

He will continue his assistant coaching position with the Flyers football team, which allowed more flexibility in his schedule. 

“It just felt like it was the right time,” Wilker said in a phone interview. “My wife and I, we just like to make it home as much as possible to see [his siblings].” 

Wilker’s record speaks for itself. He finished with a 644-351 lifetime record, and he led the Flyers to 11 league championships, 22 sectional championships, and six district championships. 

That’s why it was difficult for Shaffer, who has worked with Wilker for 34 years, to see his friend and colleague hang up the uniform.

“I'll miss my buddy,” Shaffer said. “He was my best friend here.”

Wilker was inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014. A retired business teacher, Wilker’s Flyers won a regional championship and were a state semifinalist in 2001. 

“I remember the Hall of Fame inductees present a session the day before their induction and, just to me, how humble he was about the whole thing and deflecting all the praise to players, to coaches, to school administrators,” Central Catholic baseball coach Jeff Mielcarek said. “There was very little in his acceptance speech about coach Wilker. It was about everybody else. And not everybody, again, does that. That's him. I just feel like that's him, that's who he is as not just a coach, but a genuine person.”

For Wilker, it was about the friendships in baseball. Shaffer and Wilker met in the 1980s and coached alongside each other for more than 15 years.

The relationships he built with opposing coaches, his players, umpires, and those in the sport have lasted throughout his career. 

“That's a big reason I got into teaching and coaching. I just wanted to be a positive influence on kids,” Wilker said. “Along the way, I was just able to develop some really good friendships. And not just with coaches, but the umpires, the administrators. It was a good run. It's a lot of fun.”

He made sure to instill the love of baseball into his players, with former Flyers still working in the sport. Lake baseball alum Brian Makowski coaches Tiffin Columbian, and Wilker’s assistant coach, Mike Kohlhofer, was a sophomore on his first team.

“I remember sending [Makowski] a text once, when they won the district, just how proud I am of him — he coached at [the University of Findlay] for a couple of years — so obviously an outstanding coach himself,” Wilker said. “That part makes me very proud that they've gone on to a lot of success.”

He has had former athletes become umpires, and watched as some become professional baseball players. 

Jayce Vancena, a former University of Michigan Wolverine now pitching for the Boise Hawks of the independent Pioneer League, knew Wilker before he played a game for the Lake baseball program. His brother and cousins played for the program. 

As Vancena has traveled through his baseball career — through Michigan, the Detroit Tigers’ minor-league system, and now Boise — Wilker has always shown his support. 

“His care and love for his players come much deeper than just at the playing level,” Vancena said. “He cares more about how you're doing and having fun. ‘Are you enjoying it?’”

Mielcarek didn’t face Wilker’s Flyers frequently, but he remembers the first time the Irish visited Lake for a game. The first thing Mielcarek noticed was the level of maintenance Wilker had for Lake’s baseball diamond and facility. 

“To me, in baseball, that speaks a lot about the coach. When you spend more time probably taking care of your diamond than you do your own lawn — and I can’t tell you that's the truth about coach Wilker — but based on the way the facility looked to me that day as a newer coach, I was ultra-impressed,” Mielcarek said. “To me that spoke volumes of who he was.”

That was something Vancena learned to appreciate when he coached alongside Wilker. When he was a player, Vancena didn’t understand why the Flyers did field work an hour after the game or helped with the tarp, but now those lessons have stuck with him. 

“It was cool for me to see as a coach with him was like, 'Hey, we're going to go do this.' I'm like, 'Awesome, perfect,'” the former Lake pitcher said. “I know exactly what this is going to mean to these guys 5, 6, 7, 8 years down the road. And they don't even know it yet. It was just really awesome.”

When Wilker looks back at his time with Lake, he’ll cherish the friendships and relationships the most.

“Some of my best friends are people that I've coached with over the years, whether it's football or baseball,” Wilker said. “The camaraderie that you develop, when you're spending that much time with them, they're like your second family. So, I'm really gonna miss that part of it.”

Said Shaffer, “The man was a legend here. It was more about teaching kids life lessons that could send them out into the world and lead successful careers. That was more important to him than the wins. He is loved by many, and we'll really miss him. He'll be a tough act to follow.”

First Published August 21, 2021, 11:58 p.m.