Wes Sanford had plenty to celebrate earlier this month, even if he tried to keep it a secret.

The longtime Warren East baseball coach was part of the class of 2025 Hall of Fame for the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association during a ceremony in Louisville on Jan. 17.

It was an honor that is still sinking in for Sanford.

“I’m 43 years old so to think about being inducted to a Hall of Fame and still be coaching, it’s kind of weird,” Sanford said. “It is definitely a pretty great honor for me. It’s not necessarily my award. It’s everybody who helped me along the way have the success that Warren East has had.

“It’s a great honor. To be able to look through the booklet and you look at the names and to be compared to those guys, it’s kind of cool obviously. I don’t feel like I’m worthy. (Logan County Ethan Meguiar) is already in. (Bowling Green coach Nathan Isenberg) got in a couple years ago. Those guys are way better coaches than me, but it still felt like a great honor. You know all the hard work that we put in over there, to have that kind of recognition for me and the program was pretty cool.”

While Sanford was notified of the honor in December, only a few people in his immediate circle even knew he was being inducted until after the ceremony had already taken place.

“I don’t like that kind of stuff,” Sanford said. “I don’t like the spotlight, so I was trying to keep it quiet. My wife told some people, so we had a few more people that I hadn’t told that showed up. It was mainly my assistant coaches, our athletic director. That was kind of my fault. I didn’t tell anybody until my wife posted it on Facebook when we were driving home.”

Sanford is about to enter his 20th season as Warren East’s head coach. He enters the season with 352 wins. He was 22 when he was hired in 2006, something that Sanford said he still thinks about.

“When I run into players, I apologize to them all the time,” Sanford said. “Not that I’m a great coach now, but I know so much more about how to handle people, how to deal with things. I was a young kid and I thought I knew a lot. I just feel like we’ve grown, my assistant coaches and myself. We’ve all been together for a long time now and I feel like we’ve grown so much as coaches. I’d love to go back and coach those great players we had before.”

Warren East’s best season under Sanford came in 2011 when the Raiders won 29 games and claimed the only region title under the coach to date. Warren East has come close in the last four years, making the region final three times.

The 2011 group included future MLB draft picks Mark Biggs and Hunter Green.

“It was a really special group, but you know I tell the guys all the time that it was fun watching them hold each other accountable,” Sanford said. “That group taught me a lot about coaching that year because the year before I kind of robbed them. I feel like I made a decision in the district tournament that cost us. We end up getting walked off on by Bowling Green and that group of guys, they wanted it. We had some bad losses that year, but it was amazing seeing those guys grow and their determination that year.”

In addition to the on-field success, Sanford has guided the Raiders through tragedy as well.

“We’ve lost three players overall since I’ve been coaching,” Sanford said. “Every one of them has been just as hard. It’s not like any one of them was any harder than the other. It brought us a lot closer. I think it has taught our community how to love each other better and to appreciate what you have and now. Don’t expect you are always going to have something because you never know when your time may be.”

Sanford’s love for baseball and Warren East goes beyond the season. Even in the offseason, Sanford can often be found doing on-field maintenance – mowing the grass and keeping the field in top condition. His wedding took place on the field.

“We’ve poured our life into Warren East and Warren East has given us a lot back,” Sanford said. “People say, ‘You’ve done so much,’ but the community and the school it’s given just as much back to me and my wife and my family. That’s truly why I think I work as hard as I do out there because I love where I work at.

“The school is great and the community is great. They all support everything that we do. I said in my induction speech if it wasn’t for the administrators allowing us to go coach … they allowed us to have so much freedom to coach the kids and hold the kids accountable and push the kids and love the kids. I’ve been truly blessed.”

As for how much longer Sanford plans on coaching, he said he will know when the time is right to step away.

“There have been summers where I have really thought hard on it,” Sanford said. “Right now is not a moment where I feel like it. I’m not looking to quit at this moment. I’m very happy. If I can still reach the kids and make an impact on them, I don’t know that I might get out any time soon. If I feel like I am losing them, if they don’t respect me and they can’t listen to me or need a different voice, then I will get out of the way.

“I’ve always said if I felt like I was holding Warren East back, I would get out of the way. Nobody would have to fire me. I would just get out of the way.”