General | September 20, 2016
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan Division of Intercollegiate Athletics will induct the 2016 Hall of Fame class on Friday, Sept. 23, at the Fetzer Center and this week www.wmubroncos.com will take a look at each of our inductees: Kenny Cunningham (men's basketball), Pat Locanto (baseball), Jeff Kraft (men's gymnastics), Shannon Pickell (women's basketball/track & field) and Zakiya Pope (volleyball).
PAT LOCANTO
A native of Dearborn Heights, Mich., Locanto is a highly decorated Western Michigan baseball player who played for the Broncos from 1966-68. He finished his career with a .337 batting average and led the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with a .410 batting average in 1967. Locanto was a two-time First Team All-MAC selection, First Team All-District IV in 1968 and named Second Team All-District in 1967. Locanto moved on to play professionally for both the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals organizations. Currently, Locanto is retired and resides in Orange County, Calif.
Q & A with Pat Locanto
Q: How did you learn you were going into the Hall of Fame and what was your reaction?
I got a message from Western Michigan that said they have some exciting news about the Hall of Fame. When I called back, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm very humbled and very honored for this.
Q: What is your favorite memory from your time at WMU?
My best memory was the walkoff home run in the championship game in 1967, it was Coach Maher's last conference series in his coaching career. Ohio came in undefeated and we had one loss. Back then it was only two games per weekend instead of three. We had to win both games to win the conference. Going into the top of the ninth inning in the second game, we tied it at 4-4. Ohio went up 6-4 in the top of the ninth. I came up and had runners on the corners with two outs and we were tied at 6-6.
(Locanto preceded to hit a walkoff home run off of Stadium Drive to win the game.)
Q: Who made your time at WMU memorable?
Coach Maher certainly did. I loved him he was really good to me. I had a lot of good friends that played on the team and they were all great players as well.
Q: Do you think WMU was a big part of getting you to the major leagues?
Absolutely, because of all the recognition the program had from of us winning. We were always winning the MAC and always in the NCAA Regional. We always played against the best competition. When you have good teams and good players, it is a positive all the way around.
Locanto also offered some advice for current WMU baseball players:
By graduating from college, WMU gave me a second chance after my days in the minor leagues were up. My degree allowed me to have success in my life with family and jobs. The importance of getting a degree is outmatched. If you had to get one thing out of this story, this is it. The importance of school.
