Parkway baseball field to be named after coach Ronnie Coker
Jimmy Watson
The baseball field at Parkway will forever be known as Ronnie Coker Field following Thursday night’s vote of the Bossier Parish School Board.
The board voted unanimously to name the field after Coker, who directed the Panthers to an LHSAA Class 4A state runner-up finish in 1997 and the 4A state title in 1998. Coker’s Parkway teams were 196-75 during his nine seasons from 1991 to 1999, finishing 27-6 in 1997 and 31-3 in 1998.
Coker, 57, is battling Stage 4 colon cancer and recently retired after serving as athletics director at Airline High for 11 years. He served as a coach and educator in Northwest Louisiana for 33 years.
Also winning a Class 4A state title while coaching at Captain Shreve in 2006, Coker captured nine district titles and was named Shreveport Times and LHSAA Coach of the Year multiple times. He was inducted into the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2019.
Overall, his teams were 357-145-1 for a 71% winning percentage, according to Times statistician Lee Hiller.
Twitter: @JimmyWatson6 (Lee Hiller assisted with this story)
Ronne Coker records
1991 Parkway 15-14 .517
1992 Parkway 19-11 .633
1993 Parkway 19-10 .655
1994 Parkway 19-9 .679
1995 Parkway 18-8 .692
1996 Parkway 25-7 .781
1997 Parkway 27-6 .818 State runner-up
1998 Parkway 31-3 .912 State Champ
1999 Parkway 23-7 .767
2002 Byrd 12-21 .363
2003 Captain Shreve 24-15 .615
2004 Captain Shreve 20-17-1 .539
2005 Captain Shreve 31-10 .756
2006 Captain Shreve 37-3 .925 State Champ
2007 Captain Shreve 37-4 .902 State runner-up
Total 357-145-1 .711
Record by school
School Yrs. Record
Captain Shreve (5) 149-49-1
Parkway (9) 196-75
Byrd (1) 12-21