University of Wisconsin-Whitewater head baseball coach John Vodenlich has been announced as a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Vodenlich will be inducted in January of 2024 during a banquet at the 80th Annual ABCA Convention. 

Coach Vodenlich has accumulated over 700 wins in 20 seasons at the helm of the UW-Whitewater baseball program. A 10-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Vodenlich has led the Warhawks to 14 conference titles and 6 WIAC Tournament championships. 

Since taking over the program in 2004, Vodenlich has taken UWW to the NCAA Division III Tournament 16 times advancing to the DIII World Series 6 times including national titles for the Warhawks in 2005 and 2015. 

Vodenlich was named the Regional Coach of the Year six times, garnered ABCA National Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and 2014 and was named the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Man of the Year in 2005. 

A two-time All-American and four-year standout for the Warhawks as an athlete, Vodenlich was inducted into the UW-Whitewater Hall of Fame in 2007 as a student-athlete. A native of Racine, Wisconsin, he was inducted into the Racine County Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Following his collegiate career, he went on to play professionally in Europe, helping his team claim the Slovenian National Championship in 1994. Vodenlich was inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015 becoming the youngest inductee into the association’s Hall of Fame.

Vodenlich has continues to help grow the sport across the globe conducting and participating in clinics in Germany, England, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary over the years. 

The ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2024 also includes Cal Bailey (West Virginia State), Danny Hall (Georgia Tech), Pat McQuaid (Nova High School, Fla.), Jim Morris (University of Miami), Brian O’Connor (University of Virginia), Tim Pettorini (The College of Wooster), Jim Wells (University of Alabama), Wayne Welton (Chelsea High School, Mich.) and Jeff Willis (Louisiana State University Eunice). The ten coaches will be inducted at the ABCA Convention on January 5, 2024 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.