Don Sneddon returns to the Gatemen in 2021 after two summers enjoying retirement with his wife Marta.
Sneddon spent 32 years as the head coach at Santa Ana College where he became the all-time winningest coach in California community college baseball history. Sneddon’s tenure ended at Santa Ana with a career record of 1,072-383-3 (.735).
Among those 1,072 victories are three state championships (1993, 1995, 1996) and 16 conference championships. Sneddon also led the Dons to the second round of postseason competition for 25 consecutive seasons from 1988-2012. Sneddon’s teams never finished with a losing record and 22 of his 32 seasons had a winning percentage of .700 or higher. He was named conference coach of the year 16 times, including five-straight seasons from 2007-2011.
After breaking the career wins record in 2006 with his 832nd victory, Sneddon went on to become the first coach to record 900 and 1,000 wins.
Following his retirement from Santa Ana in 2014, Sneddon was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 2016, Sneddon joined the coaching staff of the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod Baseball League as a third base coach and hitting instructor for, then manager, Jerry Weinstein. Following Weinstein’s departure, Sneddon’s first season as Wareham’s manager came in 2017 where he led the Gatemen to the West Division Finals.
The following season, Sneddon led the Gatemen to their eighth Cape Cod Baseball League championship in team history. Sneddon became just the fifth manager in Wareham history to win a title. In addition, Sneddon’s 2018 group became the first Wareham team to win a regular season division title since 2001. With a record of 25-17-2, the Gatemen tied their highest win total in the previous 18 seasons.
The 2018 Wareham Gatemen became the first team since the Cape Cod Baseball League changed their playoff format in 2010 to completely sweep through the playoffs and win six-straight games. They also became the first club to win as a No. 1 seed under this new format.
Sneddon stepped down following the 2018 summer after three seasons with Wareham, two of which coming as the team’s manager. His teams combined to go 43-42-3 in his two summers as Wareham’s skipper, boasting an 8-2 record in the playoffs.
Sneddon’s baseball career began under ABCA Hall of Fame coach Wally Kincaid at Cerritos College (Calif.), where he was an All-Southern California shortstop. After two years at Cerritos, he was recruited to play at then NCAA Div. II Cal State Fullerton by eventual ABCA Hall of Fame coach Augie Garrido. While at Cal State Fullerton, Sneddon led the Titans to a California Collegiate Athletics Association championship in 1974 and was the first NCAA Div. II All-American in school history.
Following his graduation, Sneddon joined Garrido’s coaching staff at Fullerton as an assistant in 1975. After two seasons with the Titans, Sneddon became an assistant for then head coach Jim Reach at Santa Ana College, before taking over the program in 1981.
Sneddon will serve as Associate Manager and work with the hitters. 2021 will be Sneddon’s fourth with the Gatemen and second working under Gatemen Manager Jerry Weinstein.
