Don Wix

This is the third in a series of seven articles profiling the 2011 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Setting a record is one thing.Obliterating it is something else.Don Wix, a 1955 Mars graduate, blew away the single-season basketball scoring record at the school in successive years. His mark of 486 points scored during the 1954-55 season stood until 2008 and easily bested his previous record of 389 points a year earlier.Wix shattered the original record of 301 points in a season, set by Bill Iman in 1944.Those achievements, coupled with his baseball expertise, have earned Wix, 73, now of Daytona Beach, induction into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.Nominated by his wife, Georga Ferguson Wix, also a 1955 Mars graduate, Wix will be inducted at the Hall’s annual banquet April 30 at the Butler Days Inn.“It’s a real privilege and an honor,” Wix said of his induction. “I’ll have a few things to say that night.”Wix averaged 17.6 points per game his junior year as the Planets finished 3-19. He netted 18.8 points per game his senior season as the team improved to 14-12.Despite ending his prep career 56 years ago, Wix’s 964 career points still rank among the top ten on Mars’ all-time basketball scoring list.“My biggest thrill was being part of the team that turned around the program,” he said. “We won only six total games my freshman through junior years and Mars was moved into a tough section with powers like Rochester and Midland.“Our team my senior year got things going in the right direction.”While Mars High School only had football and basketball teams while Wix was there, he played baseball for the Mars American Legion team under Chester Marburger, the Mars town team under Charlie Barrett, and the Butler Athletics of the Tri-County League.Primarily a first baseman and left fielder, Wix played in the Sun Telegraph All-Star Games in successive years at Forbes Field.“Those were probably my proudest moments in baseball,” he said.He went on to play two years of junior varsity basketball and four years of baseball at Westminster College. Wix had the distinction of playing against Jerry West in basketball and Mike Ditka in baseball.“Ditka was an excellent baseball player and was in that Tri-County League,” he said. “Our Westminster freshman team played West Virginia’s freshman team when West was there.”Wix gave up basketball midway through his collegiate career to concentrate on baseball. He helped the Butler Athletics win consecutive league championships in 1956 and 1957 as the youngest player in the league.He hit .358 with 28 RBI in 1955 and .313 with 25 RBI in 1957 for the Athletics.“I banged up my knee my senior year in college and that pretty much ended my baseball career,” Wix said.He went on to serve 20 years in the Navy. Wix, his son and son-in-law have combined for 72 years of military service.An avid golfer today, Wix plays five or six times a week in Florida.Wix has received an International Award for Community Service from the Pennsylvania Jaycees and helped form the Lionville Youth Association, near Downingtown, in 1975. That organization currently has 17 athletic complexes on which 2,500 kids enjoy sports.“We started with one Little League field and one softball field ... I’ve always been involved in the community wherever we’ve lived,” he said. “I remember how much I benefited from youth organizations when I was a kid.”Tickets for the 6:30 p.m. April 30 banquet are $20 and are available at Bill’s Beer Barn and Snack ‘n Pack in Butler, Parker Appliance in Chicora or Saxonburg Drug.