Leukemia claims former ACC standout

Rich Weisensee, 54, one of the earliest stars on the baseball diamond in Allen Community College history and still the school’s single-season record holder for batting average, died Tuesday, following a year-long battle with cancer.
Weisensee starred for the Red Devils in the 1977 and 1978 seasons and was to be inducted into the Red Devil Diamond Club Hall of Fame in April.
“I’ll never forget my years at ACC,” he was quoted as saying in a Facebook post published by the Diamond Club. “Academically, my professors prepared me not only for the rest of my educational career, but also for my business career and my personal life. Playing baseball at ACC were the ‘best’ years in my entire athletic career starting out in Little League. I will cherish the times I spent with my teammates and coaches always!”
Weisensee was one of five Shawnee Mission West High classmates who enrolled at Allen for the 1976-77 season.
He started at shortstop and batted .406 his freshman year and .491 his sophomore season, which still ranks first in ACC history.
“I just remember the camaraderie with everybody on the team,” he told the Register in a recent telephone interview.
Weisensee was part of a 1978 squad that went 33-6, which also ranks first in school history.
After earning an associate degree at ACC, Weisensee played at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, where he again started at shortstop for the Lions. He was voted team MVP at MSSC in 1980 and led the team in batting with a .444 average.
He was inducted into the Missouri Southern Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
Weisensee worked for Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods) for more than 24 years and was a national sales manager for Sam’s Club in Bentonville, Ark.
He leaves behind his wife of 32 years, Terri, and two married daughters and four grandchildren.

WEISENSEE was to be one of six inductees into the 2013 Diamond Club Hall of Fame class along with ACC head coach Val McLean, Joe Haynes, the first ever coach in ACC history, Duane Wales and Rod Rush, stars of the 1983 World Series team, and Richard Thomas, an All-American from the Red Devils’ 1990 squad.
The 2013 banquet is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 20 at the ACC Student Center.