THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411240202
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Memorial
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Ray Spaugh came within a single game of coaching the first Portsmouth team into the Little League World Series.
No teams before and no teams since from this city have advanced as far as the 1975 Olive Branch Senior League all-stars.
Spaugh's team won nine tournament games, capturing the district, state and division crowns and losing the Southern Region title in the championship game.
Last week many of those players were among the mourners as Spaugh, 67, lost a battle with cancer. Just a few years earlier he had undergone by-pass surgery and was looking forward to a 1995 reunion of former players, coaches and officials at Olive Branch.
It was in this league that Spaugh first began coaching locally in 1957. He devoted nearly 30 years to sharing his baseball expertise with the youngsters there.
More importantly, he was there as a friend.
He came up with baseball gloves and shoes for those who needed them. He paid registration fees for many who did not have the money.
And he taught all of them how baseball is supposed to be played.
He piloted numerous all-star teams. He won three district titles. One Major League team finished in third place in the state tournament.
The '75 Senior League team was the champion of an 11-state area.
Spaugh himself was an outstanding athlete in his hometown of Charlotte, N. C. He was regarded among the best high school pitchers in that state and earned a football scholarship to Appalachian State.
For three years he pursued a professional baseball career.
In 1954 he moved to Portsmouth. Ray and wife Mamie became the parents of three girls and two boys.
The Portsmouth Sports Club honored him as the city's Sportsman of the Year in 1976.
The words of the late Ben Foster as he presented that award rang true throughout Ray Spaugh's life.
Said Foster: ``Assisting youngsters find a place is second nature with this man. He has an outstanding coaching record but even more important is his personal interest in the boys.'' by CNB