Michael Shade-2024

Gahanna Lincoln High School

Michael Shade - Gahanna Lincoln High School

Michael Shade is a 1975 graduate of Whitehall Yearling High School where he played football and baseball for the Rams. After graduation he attended Capital University and played baseball for four years, earning All American honors his senior year. Michael began as a volunteer coach in 1981 at Capital University under Head Coach Roger Welsh. In 1983 he joined the

Gahanna Lincoln High School Coaching Staff. In 1992 he was named the Head Varsity Baseball Coach for the Gahanna Lincoln Golden Lions.

During his 31-year tenure as head coach, the Lions accumulated a record of 520-326. Under Coach Shade, Gahanna has won 4 OCC titles, 8 District Championships and made back-to-back trips to the State Final Four in 2013 and 2014. Twelve of Coach Shade’s players have been selected to play in the All-Ohio Series. Fifteen have earned Division I Coaches All Ohio Baseball Team honors, including 3 who earned Division I State Player of the Year awards. State Players of the Year include Evan White in 2014, Cael Baker in both 2016 and 2017 and Adam Buerger in 2023. White and Buerger were also named to the ABCA All American Baseball Team their senior year. Three of Coach Shade’s players have gone on to play Major League Baseball; Phillip Kline, Evan White and Jackson Wolf.

Other honors earned by Coach Shade include being inducted into the Capital University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 and the CDBCA Hall of Fame in 2013. Coach Shade was also inducted into the Whitehall Yearling Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Gahanna Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021. He has been named OCC Ohio Division Coach of the year 4 times as well as a State Poll voter for Division I since 2010.

Coach Shade acknowledges that none of these successes would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the outstanding coaches and players he has had the privilege of working with during his tenure. Coach Shade is grateful to Gahanna Baseball Coach Steve Hanners, who asked him to join his staff in 1983. Coach Shade would also like to thank the Gahanna community, parents and the administration for their continued support for his baseball program and their confidence in him as a coach. Mike also acknowledges his family for roles that they have had in his baseball career. None of this would have been possible without the support of his parents and his wife of 37 years, Catherine. It has been Coach Mike Shade’s honor to have been a part of Gahanna Baseball for 41 years.