You could say that Clair Rierson has deep Cyclone roots.
A native of Radcliffe, Iowa, Rierson played baseball for Iowa State in the early 1960s and then came back to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1965.
Working alongside the legendary L.C. “Cap” Timm, an Iowa State Hall-of-Famer, who is considered one of the most influential collegiate baseball coaches of all-time, was a highlight of his career. When Timm retired after the 1974 season, Rierson was tabbed as his successor.
“Everybody says the same thing about Cap,” said Rierson, who was back in Ames for the ISU Letterwinners Club baseball reunion on Sept. 2. “He was my mentor. He was my best friend. There have been a few people in my life, besides my family, that have influenced me, and Cap was one of them.”
Rierson redshirted at Iowa State in the spring of 1960. The 1960 Iowa State baseball team was among the many outstanding Timm squads and was playing for a Big Eight title and a district playoff berth in the final weekend of the season.
Hosting national power Oklahoma State, the Cyclones needed three wins to secure the NCAA postseason spot. Pitcher Ken Green hurled a two-hit shutout to propel the Cyclones to a 4-0 victory in the first game.
In game two, the Cyclones were inches away from another victory. With the game tied at 5-5 in extra innings, ISU loaded the bases with nobody out. Gary Meyers then hit a line-drive bullet that was caught by the Cowboy shortstop, who promptly threw to third base to get the double play when Bob Locker slipped and couldn’t recover in time.
The Cowboys eventually clinched the game and league title in the next extra frame.
“Cap said it was one of the saddest days of his life,” Rierson remembered. “There was nobody out at the time. He didn’t want to squeeze, not with the bases loaded. Gary Meyers hit a shot and it was just one of those plays.”
Rierson had a key role in forming the nucleus of one of Iowa State’s greatest periods in baseball when he joined Timm as his assistant.
It was the late 1960s and Timm was busy working with USA Baseball in the summers, handing over more recruiting responsibility to his assistant.
“Cap was an assistant for our Pan American Games team,” Rierson said. “He gave me a manila envelope full of letters of kids who we wanted and said, ‘Take care of this.’ I went to Chicago with a list of 11 names and we got seven of them. Those were the kids who helped us win championships.”
Windy City natives Larry Corrigan (Mendota, Ill.), Larry Dietrich (Naperville, Ill.), Mike Ellens (Argo, Ill.), Jerry Lundin (Rockford, Ill.) and Ed Tadelman (Skokie, Ill.) saw action early in their careers.
By the time they were upperclassmen, the Cyclones won back-to-back Big Eight titles (1970, 1971) and qualified for the school’s second College World Series (1970).
The 1970 Cyclone baseball team is one of ISU’s best with Corrigan as its ringleader. The All-American pitcher and catcher was 8-1 with six complete games on the mound and led the team in batting at .353.
Like most Iowa springs, the weather got the team off to a slow start. However, in their second Big Eight series at perennial power Oklahoma the Cyclones became “dangerous in the clutch.”
Come-from-behind wins were the norm for the 1970 Cyclones and the trend began in their first game against the Sooners. Trailing 2-0 in the final inning, Iowa State produced eight runs to win 8-2. In the second game of the doubleheader, ISU was down 5-2 in the final inning, tied the game, and won 6-5 in extra innings.
“After that series, whenever the kids were down, we said, ‘Remember Oklahoma,’” Rierson said.
Iowa State proceeded to finish first in the Big Eight Conference standings at 13-5, a 2 ½ game cushion over second-place Kansas, to claim its first league championship since 1957.
The Cyclones earned the right to play Tulsa in the NCAA District playoff for a College World Series berth. Tulsa had an outstanding pitcher in Steve Rogers, who later became a five-time All-Star for the Montreal Expos.
But the Cyclones had Don Powers, a crafty left-hander who had pinpoint control. Powers, who led the Big Eight in ERA at 0.72 in 50 innings, faced Rogers twice and swept the twinbill (7-6, 4-0) to lead ISU back to Omaha for the second time in school history.
“Donnie Powers pitched both games,” Rierson said. “He could keep it in the park, and we caught pretty much every fly ball.”
Iowa State would go on to place fifth in the 1970 College World Series in that memorable season, defeating Arizona before bowing out in a 9-6 loss to Ohio, a team led by future Hall-of-Famer Mike Schmidt.
Rierson assisted Timm for four more years before taking over the reins of the program from 1975-80. He led the Cyclones to second- and third-place league finishes in his first two seasons and recorded 128 wins in his six-year tenure as their head skipper.
Rierson retired from coaching to become a Major League scout, enjoying a successful career scouring the nation for the next prospect, primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Now retired at the age of 84, Rierson was thrilled to be back in Ames to reconnect with his teammates and players he coached. More than 60 former Cyclone baseball alumni returned, including three Big-Leaguers in Jerry McNertney, Curt Kaufman and Don Wengert.
“This is great. We need to start seeing each other and this reunion was a great way to catch up,” Rierson said.
The ISU Letterwinners Club serves all Cyclone athletic alumni in providing opportunities in fostering and maintaining relationships. Click here to join the ISU Letterwinners Club.
Click here to view photos from the reunion.
Forever True, ISU 
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