The Early Years

Born in El Dorado, Kansas, Warren moved to Winfield in the eighth grade where his father Dave later began the Winfield baseball program.  In only the school’s second year of competition, the Warrens helped guide the class 3A Vikings to the 1972 Class 5A-4A-3A State Championship.  Selected as an All-Conference second baseman, Warren also earned all- conference honors one year at pitcher.

Taking it to the Next Level

Leaving Winfield for the collegiate ranks in Emporia, Kansas, Warren became a four-year letterman at second base while earning his degree in business administration at Emporia State University.   In his junior season the Hornets finished third at the NAIA World Series and finished ranked No. 2 in the nation his senior season.  Warren was awarded All-America Second Team, All-America Honorable Mention, and All-Area III honors through his final two seasons, as well as, an All-District 10 player for three years.

Coaching Becomes the Passion

Warren spent two years at Pratt Community College and three years at Dodge City Community College where his teams went 97-110.  Moving on to take over the Barton program in 1984, Warren led the Cougars to a share of the Jayhawk Western Division crown in only his second season at the helm.  The following year the Cougars won the Western Division Sub-Regional before ending the season in the Region VI Championships.

Through 29 seasons at Barton, Warren has accumulated an overall record of 872-605 with a career mark of 969-715. His teams have won five Jayhawk Conference Western Division championships, two Western Sub-Regional championships, and earned him Western Conference Coach of the Year four times.

Under Warren’s direction, the Cougars have racked up 20 or more wins in all but two of his 29 seasons, surpassing the 30-win mark on 16 occasions. Leading Barton to a school record 44 wins in 2002, Warren’s Cougars have averaged 30 per season.

Having played all home games in the city of Great Bend prior to 1990, Warren was instrumental in Barton’s building and placement of a new facility on the college campus which is now named Lawson-Biggs Field.

In 1993, Warren served as the NJCAA All-Star pitching coach in Mexico, helping guide the U.S.A. All-Stars to third place in the Tournament of the Americas.  At the time, it was the U.S.A.’s best finish ever in the international tourney.   The NJCAA All-Stars were victorious over El Salvador, Antilles, Argentina, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic while giving 1992 Olympic-champion Cuba all it could handle before losing 5-3, and losing an 8-6 contest against second-place Mexico.

In 2006 Warren helped lead the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods wood-bat summer League to the championship title, serving as both the hitting and third base coach.

A Leader for Kansas Community College Baseball

An active leader among Region VI coaches, Warren believed coaches could and should have a voice in communicating with the conference’s presidents and athletic directors.  Under his leadership as its first president, in 1986 the Jayhawk Conference Baseball Coaches Association was formed.  One of the first initiatives was to unify the coaches and colleges in restructuring the conference schedule to keep student-athletes in class more often instead of missing due to game schedules.

Warren also initiated the development of a two-day annual all-star game to provide additional exposure for community college sophomores in front of four-year schools and professional scouts.  The Region VI East/West All-Star Game was born and has taken place each fall since 1994 and has been held at venues such as Kaufman Stadium and now currently at Wichita’s Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The Coaching Tree

Encouraging and developing young men, the Warren impact is spread far and wide throughout the baseball industry.   One has to look no further than the Jayhawk Conference to find four active head coaches who played under Warren.  A former player for Warren at Pratt Community College, the legendary Kent Shelley now enters his 26th season at Johnson County Community College.  Shelley is not only a NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame member but is also a recent inductee to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame.

Three other former players are now head coaches in the Jayhawk:  BJ McVay at Butler Community College, Ryan Schmidt at Hutchinson Community College, and Eric Thompson at Pratt Community College.  Another former player, Steve Johnson coached at Butler Community College for seven years before becoming the head coach at Fort Hays State University where he currently enters his fourth season.To date, thirty former players and fifteen former assistant coaches have entered the coaching ranks including NCAA Division I schools Nicholls State University, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Nebraska.  Another former player and coach at Barton, Curtis Hammeke coached at Fort Hays State University before moving into his current position of Director of Athletics for the past ten years.

Impact in the Pros

Thirty-six players under Warren were offered professional contracts to continue their baseball playing career.   Four of those players reached the pinnacle level of major league baseball:  Nate Field (Kansas City Royals) is now a scout for the Boston Red Sox;  David Sanders (Chicago White Sox);  Jason Stanford (Cleveland Indians) is now running his own Stanford Baseball Academy in Ohio in addition to TV Analyst duties with the Indians;  and Steve Edlefsen (San Francisco Giants).  

More than Just a Coach

A strong supporter and instructor of education, Warren reaches out to his community encouraging not only education but the participating of mentors in child’s lives.  From reading programs to father/son mentoring programs, Warren and his players live the life he teaches.

As witnessed by over sixty-five former players at the recent Barton Alumni game, Warren’s impact reaches beyond the field and lies within the approximate 900 student-athletes lives he has touched.  

“Coach Warren went to bat for us my entire career at Barton and still is a go-to for help and advice 20 years later.   We all are privileged to have had and have Coach Warren as a head coach and mentor.  I definitely attribute my signing at the Division I level because of him.” – ’93 Alum/former player - Trent Gash, Broomfield, CO

“I have known Coach Warren since before he coached at Barton.  Having played against him when I was at Barton and then having had the pleasure of umpiring at Barton during his tenure here, I can say Coach Warren brings an automatic degree of integrity and respect to those whom come in contact with him. As an umpire for 30+ years, I have seen many of his players go onto greatness at the next level.  Coach Warren's influence upon them was indeed a factor in their continued success.” – Doug Bender, Great Bend, KS

“Attending this year’s alumni weekend and hearing all the stories on how Coach Warren has impacted the lives of former players, reaffirmed to me his impact beyond my personal experience.” – ’93 Alum/former player

“The only reason why I even considered playing for Barton was 100% because of Coach Warren. I look at my time at BCCC as a stepping stone to my everyday life now. Coach Warren didn't only teach me about baseball but life in general and how to treat people.”  - ’08 Alum/former player