North County's first A.D. named to Hall of Fame
By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor
Daily Journal Sports Editor
Apr 29, 2009 - 07:13:44 CDT
ST. LOUIS — Mike Pratte was inducted into the Greater St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame at its 36th annual awards induction ceremony held in March.
Pratte’s high school playing was at Bonne Terre High School as a very good catcher and was also named to the All-State team in Class M basketball with a scoring average of 28.4. Pratte graduated from Bonne Terre in 1960, and he advanced on to Southern Illinois University where he started at catcher and lettered all four years in baseball. Pratte was selected All-Conference his junior and senior years.
He also lettered on the 1961-62 basketball team at SIU, which placed third in the nation that year for small colleges.
Pratte also played amateur ball for the Twin Cities team in the Ban Johnson League and for Ste. Genevieve teams in the Missouri-Illinois League.
Pratte returned to the Bonne Terre school district in 1965 where he coached high school baseball, basketball, tennis and track for two years until the school was consolidated with Desloge to become the North County School District in 1967.
Pratte became the new school’s first athletic director, continuing to coach baseball and basketball in the high school’s first year. From North County, Pratte took the head basketball coaching job at Parkway West where he coached basketball for 20 years with only three losing seasons.
Five of Pratte’s teams at Parkway West won their conference, and three of his teams went to State with a third place finish in 1986. Pratte was elected to the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 1989, Pratte took a position as assistant Athletic Director until 2001, when he retired after serving 36 years in the field of education.
Pratte currently resides in Hermann, Missouri with his wife Dee (Aubuchon), where he also serves on the Gasconade County R-1 School District’s Board of Education.
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Pratte’s high school playing was at Bonne Terre High School as a very good catcher and was also named to the All-State team in Class M basketball with a scoring average of 28.4. Pratte graduated from Bonne Terre in 1960, and he advanced on to Southern Illinois University where he started at catcher and lettered all four years in baseball. Pratte was selected All-Conference his junior and senior years.
He also lettered on the 1961-62 basketball team at SIU, which placed third in the nation that year for small colleges.
Pratte also played amateur ball for the Twin Cities team in the Ban Johnson League and for Ste. Genevieve teams in the Missouri-Illinois League.
Pratte returned to the Bonne Terre school district in 1965 where he coached high school baseball, basketball, tennis and track for two years until the school was consolidated with Desloge to become the North County School District in 1967.
Pratte became the new school’s first athletic director, continuing to coach baseball and basketball in the high school’s first year. From North County, Pratte took the head basketball coaching job at Parkway West where he coached basketball for 20 years with only three losing seasons.
Five of Pratte’s teams at Parkway West won their conference, and three of his teams went to State with a third place finish in 1986. Pratte was elected to the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 1989, Pratte took a position as assistant Athletic Director until 2001, when he retired after serving 36 years in the field of education.
Pratte currently resides in Hermann, Missouri with his wife Dee (Aubuchon), where he also serves on the Gasconade County R-1 School District’s Board of Education.