The public is invited to the ceremony and the ball game to follow
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Merrill’s Baseball Hall of Fame is celebrating its 11th year in 2021 and will induct four new members and recognize a team at this year’s ceremony.
“The Hall of Fame hasn’t inducted any new members since 2019 due to COVID issues,” said Brian Artac, Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame Board member. He hopes a large crowd will come out for this year’s ceremony and the ball game to follow.
The ceremony will be held on Friday, July 9, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. at Merrill’s historic Athletic Park, Immediately afterward, the Merrill American Legion Team will host the American Legion Post 46 Invitational and Merrill will play ball against the American Legion Team from Holmen.
Three inductees will be recognized at the ceremony: Ryan Leavitt (Player), Kevin Golisch (Coach/Major Contributor), and Mark Hassel (Player). A fourth local legend, Adelbert “Debs” V. Loud (Coach/Major Contributor), will be recognized and inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously. His granddaughter, Joy Annis, will accept on behalf of the family, and another grandson will come from the Lake Geneva area for the honor. Annis’s sons, the great grandsons of Debs, will also be there as their great grandfather is inducted into the Merrill Baseball Hall of Fame. “He goes back to the old Rangers and the old days in the Little League,” Artac said of Debs.
The team being recognized this year is the “1985 Wisconsin Valley American Legion Conference Champions.”