Bill Berry
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Induction Category:
Year Inducted
Athlete
2024
Bill Berry was named the 1980 Oklahoma High School Coaches Association American Legion Baseball Coach of the Year and 2003 Assistant All-State Baseball Coach, 2000 Oklahoma High School Softball Coaches Association All-State Fast Pitch Coach and 2012 All-State Slow Pitch Coach, 2014 Arizona Diamondbacks National Native American Softball Coach of the Year, and 2017 and 2018 Oklahoma Native American All-State Fast Pitch Coach.
Berry was an assistant coach with the ASA 18U Gold Tulsa Eagles reaching the National Tournament five times placing ninth in 2003. He coached 23 All-State players and assisted in sending 27 players to NCAA Division I and 67 to various colleges on softball scholarships.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma High School Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016 and selected as a 2017 Oklahoma AARP Indian Elder Honoree.
Berry was the winning coach of the 2001 All-Indian Women’s National Softball Tournament in Oklahoma City, OK, 2013 Jim Thorpe Native American Games 18U Softball Championship in Oklahoma City, OK, and the 2016 Native American Basketball Tournament (NABI) 18U Softball National Tournament Championship in Phoenix, AZ. In 2020, he was named head softball coach of an 18U All-USA girls’ fast pitch team that was to play in Spain but cancelled due to COVID-19.
He played 28 years of professional men’s fast pitch and was named the 1978 National Indian Athletic Association National Tournament MVP in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1979 in Albuquerque, NM, 1980 in Norman, OK, 1979 and 1983 ASA National Tournament MVP in Oklahoma City, OK, and Sioux City, IA, and played in the International Softball Congress (ISC) 1994 World Tournament at Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was a member of the 1991, 1992, and 1993 All-Indian Fast Pitch National Champions (North Americans) in Oklahoma City, OK.
Berry was a three-time All-Conference pitcher at Cameron University and made the Oklahoma All-State baseball team and winning the Oklahoma American Legion State Baseball Championship in 1971.
He served as assistant softball coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University and head softball coach at Bacone College and was an invited clinician for the University of Oklahoma, Baylor, and Louisiana Monroe softball camps.