The 19th annual Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame banquet on Sunday (Feb. 14, at 6 p.m., Salem Civic Center) will include the induction of four new members. The Hall now has a permanent home near Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium; the annual banquet helps raise money for the facility, which houses plaques and memorabilia from 70+ people that had impact on the game of baseball locally. Keynote speaker Paul Blair was a longtime fixture in the outfield for the Baltimore Orioles. Here’s a snapshot of the Hall’s newest members, as voted on by a selection committee.
Gary Gilmore: “Gilley” as he is known, came into the 2010 season with a record of 807-396 as the head coach at Coastal Carolina University – also his alma mater. The Rocky Mount, Va. native has taken Coastal to the NCAA Division I Regional finals in 8 of the past 9 years, when his teams also captured seven Big South titles. The Chanticleers advanced to the Super Regionals under Gilmore in 2008. On the diamond he was the Roanoke Metro Player of the Year and first team all-state in 1976, for Franklin County High School.
Gilmore was an NAIA All-American in 1979 for the Chanticleers and following a brief professional stint with the Phillies organization began his coaching career. He led South Carolina-Aiken to two NCAA Division II World Series in six years before moving on to Coastal Carolina, where he has been named the Big South Coach of the year six times.
Dick Williams: A fixture at many local sporting events as a spectator, Williams, the former CEO of Member One Credit Union, has long been a booster of baseball and other games. During his long tenure with Member One the financial institution was a sponsor of high school and Little League sports. At Jefferson High School he lettered in baseball and basketball, before attending the University of Houston.
Williams later coached Little League baseball in Lynchburg and for the Cave Spring American League, and played adult league ball for a half dozen seasons. He currently serves as a volunteer for the Coventry Commonwealth Games baseball all-star competition. A past president of the Roanoke Valley Sports Club, Williams is also a board member for the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame and is involved with the Roy Stanley Memorial golf tournament. He is now a contributor to the sports monthly “Play By Play.”
Rick Carr: Well known in Vinton area baseball circles, Rick Carr is a Jefferson High School graduate who has gone on to coach recreation league baseball for many years. As a player he competed for Williamson Road recreation league squads and the Roanoke Valley Kiwanis Club. Carr first coached rec-league ball in 1986 and is now in his 13th season with the Vinton Cardinals. He has won championships at the T-Ball, minor, major and junior league levels.
Carr’s post-season all-star clubs have won a number of district and sub-district titles, finishing as high as second statewide. He was also an AAU head coach for two different stints (2001-2003 and 2005-2006), when his teams were ranked #1 in the state and #7 in the country (2006). Carr has few simple rules for his players, besides stressing the fundamentals: be on time, work hard, be a good sport – and always have your hat on straight, with shirttail in.
Billy Wells: The Salem resident, now official scorer for the hometown Red Sox, played on district championship teams for both Glenvar and Salem High Schools. Wells was named All-State and All-Metro in 1978, when the Salem Spartans claimed Group AAA Roanoke Valley District and Metro titles. That same year he set a record, earning 11 wins as a pitcher for the Roanoke Post 3 West team, which won the ’78 American Legion district title.
Wells earned a scholarship to Longwood College, pitching for the nationally ranked team. Later a head coach at Shawsville/Eastern Montgomery and Glenvar high schools for 24 seasons, Wells (a 309-163 career record as of 2009) was a six-time Coach of the Year. His teams qualified for ten regional tournaments and two state tourneys; he won four district championships and two regional titles. Wells coached 19 all-state players, sent 40 on to college ball and saw four turn professional. He also won two district titles with American Legion teams and authored a teaching reference called “The Baseball Handbook.”
(Tickets are available at the door for Sunday’s dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour.)
By Gene Marrano [email protected]