Nickoloff, Thomas

Thomas Nickoloff – (1989)

 

THOMAS NICKOLOFF

Tom Nickoloff pitched on championship teams from the Lorain Little League to the Cleveland sandlots to the NAIA College World Series. He sometimes wonders what his life might have been had he signed the Cleveland Indians contract he was offered out of Admiral King, but he has no regrets.

Tom began his baseball career with Vlad Nickoloff Contractors in Little League. Vlad was his dad and as fathers are want to do, he set up a pitching program with a strike zoned tarpaulin on the back of the garage. As Tom grew in size and strength and the tarp aged the “thwump” of the ball against the tarp changed to the “thwack” of ball against siding, and so, Vlad taught Tom how to apply siding and may have started his contracting career. But the continual practice improved Tom’s hitting, fielding and pitching and he was a large factor in capturing league crowns in 1955 and 1956.

Later his pitching aided the Youth Center Indians in capturing the state Class D title. His season included several no-hitters and a memorable 17 inning shutout to move the team to the final game. He was voted the tournament MVP award. In 1962 he led King with a 1.71 ERA and a .365 batting average. In the Lakewood “A” loop he led in innings pitched and was second in season strikeouts. Tom pitched for the All-Star nine that played the champion J. Schrader team in front of 50,000 fans in Cleveland Stadium before an Indian game.

Tom received a full baseball grant to Arizona U. After one year he transferred to New Mexico Highlands where he hooked up with Joe Niekro and Ken Reynolds to form a solid mound corp. It led the Highlands to a record of 104-29 during Tom’s stay at New Mexico. In the NAIA world series, Tom started and won the opener and came in to save the fourth and final game. He posted a 7-2 record and a 2.04 ERA for that season.

Tom had an excellent basketball career at King. As of 1987, he was listed 17th in all-time scoring for King with 554 points in 35 games. In 1962 he finished as runner-up for the Class AA Sectional MVP and garnered 4th place in season scoring in Lorain county.

Tom has continued to be active with our youth in a coaching status. He is still President of the Lorain Cleveland Browns Booster Club.