Legendary Santa Barbara High Baseball Coach Fred Warrecker Dies at Age 84

Longtime Santa Barbara High baseball coach Fred Warrecker died earlier this week at the age of 84. 

Warrercker coached the Dons for 43 years before retiring following the 2015 season. During his time at Santa Barbara High he coached his six sons (Wes, Willy, Jonathan, Tony, Teddy, and Donny). The Warrecker family has contributed many chapters to Santa Barbara baseball lore. 

Fred’s grandson Bryce is also a Santa Barbara High alum who starred in baseball and basketball. He has pitched at Cal Poly the last three seasons and will likely be selected in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft, which begins on July 9.

Five of Fred Warrecker’s players reached the major leagues, including Jesse Orosco, Ryan Spilborghs, Virgil “Matt” Vasquez, Dylan Axelrod, and Cord Phelps. Many of Warrecker’s players also moved on to college/professional baseball. His son Donny took over the Santa Barbara High program for three years after his retirement.

Warrecker played at UCSB in the mid 1950s and is an original member of the Santa Barbara Foresters. He was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame in 2016.