Warren Zweigle made no shortage of great memories in 31 years as Whitehall baseball coach, though for him, it was hard to top coaching both of his sons, Zach and Ian - and not just coaching them, but winning a lot of games with them. Both were part of a string of five district championships in a row from 2011-15.
"I think Ian was part of all four, and Zach was part of three of them," Zweigle said. "As a coach, it's a dream to be able to coach both your kids.
"The interesting thing about Zach is, and Ian too, but since Zach went into coaching with me, he is going to be 31 in August. I remember the day he was born, and he was going to games at age 1 in the stroller. He went from that to being a batboy, to playing, to coaching with me. He was really involved for all 31 years of his life, and that's kind of cool."
He'll take memories like that with him into retirement now, having informed the school of his decision to step down this summer. He also retired from teaching this year.
Zweigle coached some great players in his time. Certainly no such list can start without former Major League All-Star Nate McLouth, a charter member of the Whitehall Sports Hall of Fame. McLouth was the leadoff hitter and shortstop on the Vikings' 1998 team that played in the Division 2 state championship game, falling 8-6 to Orchard Lake St. Mary's. Zweigle also stuck around long enough to see McLouth's state record for stolen bases be broken by another of his players - Kyle Stratton.
Plenty of all-conference and all-region type stars came in between, as well as a lot of wins - Zweigle surpassed the 600-victory mark for his career during the 2025 season - on two different fields; the Vikings opened their current baseball and softball facilities in 2013.
Of course, there was also a lot of quality time spent with players. The Vikings took a slew of team-building trips during Zweigle's tenure, from in-state gatherings to spring break trips to Florida.
Those are the kinds of things that really stick with a coach, and Zweigle said he's fortunate to remain close with many of his former players.
"One of the biggest measures of success for me is seeing how many kids I'm still connected with and still friends with, who still sit down and visit when they come to town," Zweigle said. "I can't count the number of kids that do that. That really solidifies to me the impact our program had on kids."
It wasn't just Zweigle in the dugout over that time, of course, as he was able to enjoy time with close friends who coached along with him. Kurt Huizenga spent nearly two decades coaching with Zweigle, and he counts Huizenga as one of his closest friends. Son Zach has spent the past couple of seasons as an assistant coach as well, as has fellow former Viking Daniel DuBois.
"I learned a ton about baseball from (Huizenga), and not just the game, but about how to take care of the fields," Zweigle said.
Athletic director Christian Subdon said it speaks to Zweigle's success that he is already a member of the state coaches association hall of fame; he was inducted in 2013. Another of Zweigle's career highlights was serving as a head coach for the East-West All-Star Game at Comerica Park, which he did in 2019.
What's next for Zweigle? He recently built a home in Grand Haven, and it's likely he'll travel more; his love for travel is well-known at the school. It will certainly be an adjustment to have spring days free - he's been occupied with coaching baseball at some level, he said, every spring since graduating college - but it's a change the longtime coach seems ready to greet.
"It'll be a new experience not having some place to be every day," Zweigle said. "I was in the perfect profession being able to travel every summer, but I'll be able to travel a little more in the spring and fall and not be as busy, enjoy those things and not be as rushed."
