The University of Akron Athletics
Hall of Fame
Donald E. Lombardi
- Induction:
- 2011
- Class:
- 1962
1957-60
Catcher
Bachelor's 1962 | Master's 1968
A letterwinner from 1957-60, Don Lombardi played under Hall of Fame head coach Russ Beichly his first two seasons and one season each with Kenneth “Red” Cochrane and Harold Sloop when the Zips played in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
A catcher by choice, he excelled on area sandlots, breaking into Greater Akron AA Baseball League as a 16-year old, before going on to start four years for UA.
His freshman season he led the Zips with a batting average of .410 and was voted Most Valuable Player as UA compiled an 8-3 record. That season in a 13-11 victory of Wooster, Lombardi hit a home run, a triple, and a single to drive in a school record of eight runs that lasted until 1990.
In 1958, as UA compiled a 12-4 overall record, including a 10-2 mark that earned the Zips an OAC co-championship, Lombardi earned first-team All Ohio Athletic Conference honors after hitting a career-high batting average of .428.
Lombardi went onto become a 12-year AA All-Star who helped the Tramonte Black Label team capture three Ohio American Amateur Baseball Congress championships. He was inducted into the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, and into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Catcher
Bachelor's 1962 | Master's 1968
A letterwinner from 1957-60, Don Lombardi played under Hall of Fame head coach Russ Beichly his first two seasons and one season each with Kenneth “Red” Cochrane and Harold Sloop when the Zips played in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
A catcher by choice, he excelled on area sandlots, breaking into Greater Akron AA Baseball League as a 16-year old, before going on to start four years for UA.
His freshman season he led the Zips with a batting average of .410 and was voted Most Valuable Player as UA compiled an 8-3 record. That season in a 13-11 victory of Wooster, Lombardi hit a home run, a triple, and a single to drive in a school record of eight runs that lasted until 1990.
In 1958, as UA compiled a 12-4 overall record, including a 10-2 mark that earned the Zips an OAC co-championship, Lombardi earned first-team All Ohio Athletic Conference honors after hitting a career-high batting average of .428.
Lombardi went onto become a 12-year AA All-Star who helped the Tramonte Black Label team capture three Ohio American Amateur Baseball Congress championships. He was inducted into the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, and into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
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