RICHMOND, Ky. — Former Madison Central head baseball and basketball coach Don Richardson has passed away at the age of 88.
Richardson led the 1982 Madison Central baseball team to a perfect 40-0 which won the Kentucky state championship and was crowned National Champions by USA Today. He led the Indians baseball team for 35 years before he retirith 952 wins. His career mark would end at 952-157. That’s an amazing 85.8 winning percentage. In 1986,
Richardson was honored as the National Coach of the Year by the national Baseball Coaches Association. He was inducted into the National Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1998, was inducted into the Dawahare’s Kentucky High School Athletics Association Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Kentucky Baseball Hall of Fame.
Richardson also coached the Madison Central basketball team where he led the Indians to their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 in 1987. Madison Central would make it to the state semifinals before bowing out to eventual State Champion, Clay Co., who was led by Richie Farmer. Richardson finished with 350 wins in basketball before he retired in 1993.
Richardson played four years on the Eastern baseball team for longtime coach Turkey Hughes. Richardson played from 1952 through 1954 before entering the United States Army following his junior season. During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Eastern he was 5-1 and 4-1 on the mound. In the 1954 season, he helped lead the team to its third Ohio Valley Conference championship in a five-year span, going 8-3 on the mound.
During his time in the U.S. Army, he made a stellar contribution pitching for the U.S. Armed Forces team, pitching for the Camp Losey baseball team that captured the 1955 Caribbean Command Championship.
Funeral arrangements are still pending for Coach Richardson.
