David DiDonato - 2010

Indian Valley High School

     David DiDonato was a 1969 graduate of Dennison St. Mary High School where he played football and basketball.  (Unfortunately for Dave, there was no high school baseball team.)  he graduated from Akron University in 1974 and was hired by Indian Valley School District, and he parried the former Jeanne Vaughan in the same year.  The couple had their first son in 1975 Mike.  Two daughters, Heather and Lara, followed succeeded by another son, Armand, in 1985.  Both Mike and Armand were middle infielders for Indian Valley.

     Coach DiDonato began his professional career in 1974 when Indian Valley hired him to teach 6th grade and coach junior high football and basketball.  After three years, he was moved to eighth grade English where he taught for a number of years before moving to the high school as an English teacher in 1997.  DiDonato retired from Indian Valley in 2005 and took a position as a high school principal at Tuscarawas Central Catholic in New Philadelphia a position he still holds today.

     the first coaching experence for Coach DiDonato came in 1974 where he served as a junior football/basketball coach at Indian Valley North.  In the spring of 1975, the head baseball coach unexpectedly resigned and Coach DiDonato was named to the position.  During his three years as baseball coach, his teams won no league or sectional titles.  Later he served as assistant basketball coach at Indian Valley North for three years.  In 1988, Indian Vallley North and South consolidated to form Indian Valley (Braves) where he was named head baseball coach, a position he held until his retirement in 2005.  His teams won 12 sectional titles in 14 years under his helm.  They also won six district titles during theat span along with two regional titles.  In 1990, the Braves reached the state finals in Class AA losing the title to Urbanan and reched it again in 20003 where they lost in the semifinals to Columbus Academy.  He recorded 340 career wins in his 19 years while his Braves squads averaged 20 wins per year since the 1988 consolidation until he retired in 2005.