The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) indicated former West Lauderdale baseball coach Jerry Boatner into the National High School Hall of Fame Sunday evening.

Boatner was one of 12 inductees at the NFHS’s 37th Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Boatner coached 50 years at the high school level, his first five at Clarkdale and his remaining 45 at West Lauderdale. In his time coaching the Knights, West Lauderdale won 14 state championships, and Boatner amassed a 1,202-359 record as a head coach, making him the winningest high school baseball coach in Mississippi history and fifth all-time winningest coach nationally. He also won eight state championships as West Lauderdale’s slow-pitch softball coach from 1990-2009.

Following the Knights’ 2018 season, Boatner retired as head coach. He currently lives in Jefferson, Georgia, where he coaches middle school baseball on a volunteer basis.