Two men will be honored with the prestigious ABCA/Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award in 2021: Kimberly (Wisc.) High School head coach Ryan McGinnis and University of Arkansas Rich Mountain head coach Lance Spigner. The pair will be presented the award during the 2021 ABCA Convention, which is scheduled for January 7-10 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The American Baseball Coaches Association believes that the highest calling of a baseball coach is to teach life’s lessons and model the character traits of honesty, integrity, respect and personal responsibility. The ABCA Ethics in Coaching Award honors individuals who embody the ABCA Code of Ethics. In 2017, the award was named in honor of ABCA Board Member, Hall of Fame inductee and former Executive Director Dave Keilitz.
Ryan McGinnis currently serves as head baseball coach and Athletic Director at Kimberly (Wisc.) High School, where his teams have won 10 Fox Valley Association Conference championships, nine sectional championships and two state titles (2007, 2017). Under McGinnis, over 30 players have garnered Academic All-State honors, and the Papermakers have made nine trips to the state tournament (2007-10, 2014-2018), finishing state finals runner-up three times (2008, 2014, 2015).
Prior to taking over at Kimberly, McGinnis served as an assistant coach at Xavier University and was the head coach at Oshkosh North (Wisc.) High School, where he led the program to its first-ever conference title in 2005.
Through the 2021 season, McGinnis’ career coaching record stands at 361-143 (.716).
In addition to being named the 2007 and 2017 Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) State Coach of the Year, McGinnis has twice been recognized as an ABCA/Diamond Sports Regional Coach of the Year (2007, 2012) and District Coach of the Year.
McGinnis served on the WBCA Executive Board from 2009-2015 and was the President the past two years. He also serves on the ABCA’s Ethics Committee and has been a member of the WIAA Baseball Advisory Board three different times.
He has spoken at the ABCA Convention, the Georgia Baseball Coaches Association Clinic and the WBCA Clinic several times.
McGinnis has also run local area youth camps for over 20 years and has helped organize a special needs baseball camp the past several years.
Lance Spigner, head coach at the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, was one of the most successful high school baseball coaches in the state of Arkansas for 28 years. From 1992-2019, Spigner collected over 500 wins and guided the Horatio (Ark.) High School program to 18 district championships and five state titles. In addition, his teams captured 10 regional tournament titles and made 14 state tournament Final Four appearances.
While at Horatio, Spigner was a three-time ABCA/Diamond Sports Regional Coach of the Year and a five-time Texarkana Gazette Southwest Arkansas/Northeast Texas High School Baseball Coach of the Year. He received numerous Conference Coach of the Year honors during his tenure and was named the 2002-03 Horatio High School Teacher of the Year.
Spigner also served as an envoy for Major League Baseball to Great Britain during the summer of 2002.
Following the 2019 season, Spigner accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas-Rich Mountain and was tasked with starting the junior college program from scratch. After the cancellation of what would have been the program's first season in 2020, Spigner and the Bucks capped off the 2021 season by advancing to the NJCAA Div. II Plains District Championship game and finishing their inaugural season one win shy of advancing to the NJCAA Div. II World Series.
The Ashdown, Arkansas, native play his college baseball at the University of Central Arkansas where he was a four-year starter and all-conference outfielder for the Bears.