AHS Athletic
     Hall of Fame
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  BILL KOCH     GRADUATED 1967     INDUCTED 2002

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BILL KOCH          AHS Class of 1967
        William ‘Bill’ Koch ‘67 earned varsity letters as a center and guard on the football team and as a second baseman and outfielder on the baseball diamond while at AHS. He earned three varsity letters in baseball at Mount Union College. While at Mount Union he was a member of the 1970 Ohio Athletic Conference championship team. He graduated from Mount Union in 1971.
            Coach Koch was the first head coach for the Marlington High School softball program which began in 1986, and he is still on the job. Their softball record is 205 wins and 88 losses. He led the Dukes to a state softball championship in 1996. This was the first OHSAA softball championship to be earned by a Stark County team and the first team to earn a state title at Marlington.
          Bill’s teams have earned four Northeast Buckeye Conference titles, five sectional titles and three district titles. He was inducted into the Marlington Hall of Excellence with the 1991 regional title team and is a six time NBC Coach of the Year. He was nominated from the Northeast Inland District for the prestigious OHSAA Ethics in Coaching Award in 2001.
           Bill has been a middle school basketball coach for twenty-five seasons, an OHSAA class I registered baseball umpire for twenty-five years, an Ohio Hot Stove League umpire for even longer and served as an assistant varsity football coach during his thirty plus year teaching career.
 
2018 Update:
            Bill retired from teaching in 2011, after a forty year teaching career (four years at Fairless and thirty-six years at Marlington). He was Marlington’s Head Softball Coach for 26 years, retiring in 2013. His teams compiled a record of 367 wins and 189 losses. During his tenure, the Dukes were 11 time sectional champions, 7 times Northeast Buckeye Conference champions, 4 times Stark County champions and 3 times District champions. Coach Koch was named NBC Coach of the Year 8 times.
           In 2005 he was selected as the OHSAA Softball State Ethics Award Winner. This award is based on the individual’s exemplary commitment to sportsmanship, ethics and integrity. One recipient in each sport sanctioned by the OHSAA is selected annually. In 2018 Bill was honored by the by OHSAA for 40 years of service as a class I baseball umpire.