66th Annual
Enshrinement Dinner

white separator

2025 Enshrinement Inductees

2025 ENSHRINEMENT DINNER

A near full house celebrated the enshrinement of five new individual members and four record setting teams into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame.

The organization’s class of 2025 included former major league pitcher Matt Garza, stellar Fresno State softball pitcher Melanie Parrent, pioneering Fresno State softball coach Donna Pickel, hard hitting 1950s and 60s fastball softball standout Ray Unruh, and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Wood. In a break with tradition, the 2025 team inductee was actually four teams. Honored were the 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968 Selma High School Bears who won an unprecedented four consecutive valley baseball titles.

A large crowd numbering almost 600 guests gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Fresno to celebrate the induction of the area greats.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, and representatives of California Assemblyman David Tangipa and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig joined to recognize the new inductees.

A medium shot shows two men with shaved heads smiling on either side of an upright poster on a clear easel in front of a thin pine tree. On the right, the older Willie Wood wears a pinstripe black three-button blazer and matching pants. On the left, a younger man, likely Willie Wood's son, wears a dark blue two-button suit jacket with black trim over an unbuttoned white shirt and black waistcoat, holding a white rectangular panel with a yellow outline in his right hand. The top of the blue poster has the word Fresno in white script on a blue shield. Below that, Class of 2025 is in yellow over white text, and under that is a color picture of a Black man in an old black jersey with a yellow collar and two white stripes on the chest over a large number 24. Large block yellow letters below that read Willie Wood, and just below that and off-panel are yellow letters that seem to read Son. Partially cut off on the right of the photo is another poster with what seems to be similar text and imagery, and the left poster reads HIGH on the bottom with a graphic that might be a mascot. In the blurred background, there is a gray brick wall with an LCD display of a floor plan in the top left.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

If you have questions related to tickets or ads, please contact

Suzi Huettmann (559)448-0677  suzi@fresnoahof.org