Clarendon celebrates Hall of Fame Class of 2016

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The 2016 Hall of Fame build-up came to a climax Saturday night as the 10 new inductees received the honor of being called a Hall of Famer at Manning Junior High School. The event conducted by Bill Brewer, A.C. English. W.J. Frierson, Joey Henry and Gene Phillips began with the induction of the late Ed Gibbons. His wife, Lisa Gibbons, accepted the honor on behalf of the Gibbons family.

“I’m very proud and very nervous to be here to accept this award for him. It means so much to me. And even though Ed was a highly respected and award-winning driver, he knew that the backbone of his racing was his crew. He held them in the highest regard,” Lisa said. "They were not only his friends, but his brothers and family. He was quite the practical joker. If we could go around tonight, there would be so many stories about Ed. The man that Ed would want to thank the most would be his father, Slick. There is no one that he admired more, and he would want to thank him for all the opportunities that he had.”

Gibbons won more than 400 races across the United States, including the $20,000 J.W. Hunt 150 and a Hava-Tampa (now Lucas Oil Series) race at Sumter Speedway. Other accomplishments include a Carolina Clash Championship.

Miriam Taylor Johnson was the second inductee of the night. Johnson, famous for a 51-point game in 28 minutes, was appreciative of the honor bestowed upon her.

“I appreciate being nominated for this by Bill and the committee,” Johnson said. “It was very unexpected. All of this was so long ago. What can I say? I’m old. The way played basketball back then was very unique compared to how they play now.”

"But I appreciate my family and the way I was brought up, my brothers, the neighbors and I would play ball all the time,” Johnson continued. “They taught me how to fight, be competitive. You had to do that or you would get killed. This is just such a great honor.”

Eric Blackwell was the next to be honored. The longtime minor league baseball player in the Dodgers organization got his start at Manning High before playing with and against MLB Hall of Famers like Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez.

“My first baseball team, I don’t know what the coaches saw in me,” Blackwell said. “In my first year of baseball, if I went to the plate 40 times, then I struck out forty times. I was crying and crying, and I couldn’t understand why. That year my brother stepped in. He gave me a baseball bat that had to be 38 inches long. I was this little kid that couldn’t swing the bat. He would throw me tennis balls. I would miss them, and I would cry.”

"We kept hitting and hitting,” Blackwell continued. “By the end of the first summer, I went from striking out 40 times to hitting every single tennis ball into the woods. My brother said I was ready.”

Blackwell said Brewer, then a coach, told them it was OK to be “cocky.”

“He told us that it was okay to be cocky, because if you were good, then you could say you were good,” Blackwell said. “It was cool to be cocky. If you watched us in ’84 to ’87, it was showtime. We were good and we knew we were good. It was a party on the bus, but once we got on the field it was all business. I went to college and I took all of that that I had learned from my coaches.”

The southpaw from Summerton High, Billy Frierson, was the next inductee of the night. Frierson pitched for the University of South Carolina before deciding to join the Army during the Korean War. Frierson’s son, Hervie Frierson, accepted the award on his family’s behalf.

“I want to share congratulations with all the other inductees on their selection into the Hall of Fame,” Hervie said. “There are so many coaches, teachers, and other individuals I could thank, but in fear of leaving someone out and due to time constraints, I need to move on. In trying to decide what my comments should be this evening, I have up with a number of ideas and different ways to approach this. I will instead follow the advice I learned so long ago about speeches – ‘be sincere, be brief and be seated.’ My interest in sports came alive in a rural setting.”

Hervie said the Friersons did not “have a lot of devices to entertain ourselves, so we invented activities to keep us busy.”

“ And we played sports – a lot of sports,” he said. “Our parents were amazingly understanding and supportive of all the activities we had going on. We had a field for football, a baseball field, and a basketball court. I often think back as to why my dad got out of farming, and I realize now that we had probably taken all of his fields and he probably didn’t have anywhere to farm. By the way, this was a time before our schools were integrated, but the community center at our house was integrated.”

Acclaimed South Florence softball coach Allyson Sprott received her honors after Frierson. Sprott had three state championships in her tenure as head coach, and oversaw a team that was ranked third nationally.

“It’s really a great honor to be here with these inductees and past inductees as well,” Sprott said. “I want to thank the Clarendon County Athletic Hall of Fame committee for giving me this honor. Growing up here in Manning, I had so many teachers and coaches who taught me more than just academics.”

She said her parents were always supportive of her athletic activities.

“They would do anything they could to see us succeed and be as good as we could possibly be,” she said. “So I decided that I wanted to share with others the same opportunities and life skills that were passed down to me from so many wonderful people.”

Sprott said good coaches “find people who are willing to work hard and believe in what you are doing.”

“Some say that good coaches win,” she said. “Coaches are only as good as the people they work with, and boy was I lucky. We had great athletes who were determined to do well. I had a very supportive athletic booster club that believed in what we were doing. From the assistants all the way down to the statistician, they believed in what we were doing. All these people worked tirelessly and put up with me, which is not always easy because I am not always a gracious loser. We were a softball family, and it was great.”

Reggie Kennedy accepted his honor thanking those in Clarendon that helped him the most. The East Clarendon graduate helped his team to a State Championship in football before embarking on a journey that led him to play for South Carolina State and begin coaching across South Carolina.

"First, I want to say congratulations to the other inductees of the Class of 2016,” Kennedy said. "When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to work at Clarendon Auto Parts. The impact that Slick had on me was incredible.”

“I want to thank my family for instilling in me values for success,” he added. “Of all the gifts my parents have given me, one stands out the most. They always believed in me and they never doubted me, thus providing me with the most special gift: the gift of believing in myself. To all of you, we began together, we play together, we perform together, we pray together. I am better as a person for having you all in my life. Thank you.”

The late Mac McElveen’s daughter, Emily Mcelveen, accepted his award on behalf of her family. McElveen was a 1979 Salem High graduate that played baseball for Newberry College. He still holds the all time Indians bating average record of .434.

“I am happy to accept this honor on behalf of my dad, Mac McElveen,” she said. “It is wonderful to see so many of his family and friends here tonight. I know he would be overwhelmed by all the people here tonight showing their support. I know he would also be extremely excited to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

"One of the things that I remember most about my dad is his love for sports,” she added. “It was his favorite past time. He would play ball with me and my brother in the backyard all the time, either hitting us balls or pitching us balls to hit. He watched Atlanta Braves games on TV religiously, and read every issue of ‘The Choptalk,’ sharing stories with us that he thought we would like. I remember going to American Legion games in Manning, as well as Lake City. My mom would want to know what friend’s son he was going to see play, while Edward and I were just excited because we would get to play ball behind the bleachers.

Emily said her father “didn’t have to know anyone playing, but he was going to watch a ball game.”

“Since the announcement of my dad’s induction into the Clarendon County Hall of Fame, my mother, brother, and I have been touched by so many of your wonderful memories about him, and we want to thank you for that,” she said.

Jerry Coker was the next to be inducted. Coker was a Manning High graduate who traveled the country playing minor league baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

“All my brothers were athletes, all my sisters were athletes,” he said. “My sisters might not have played at school, but they certainly played in the backyard and made us better. My parents were very supportive and very committed. We were tobacco-growing people, and whatever you started you finished. There was no such thing as quitting. The value of dedication certainly rang true in my family.”

"I was in the 7th grade and made the high school team,” Coker added. “At the time, Ray Geddings was our captain and a senior. I came along at a time when, and I feel very lucky not only to the family I was born into but also the time, because the older players took charge.”

Coker said that the coaches developed the strategies on the field, but that older players took care of discipline.

“I was a backup first baseman and a backup right fielder,” he said. “Before the end of the year, I was a regular right fielder. At the first practice we had, we were taking throws from the outfield. Ray Geddings let me know that if the throw was coming in and I was the first baseman, he would say two words: ‘cut’ and the base that I was to throw it to. If I heard nothing, I was to do nothing and get out of the way. We were practicing and a throw was clearly out of line. I heard nothing. I cut the ball. Wrong thing to do. Mr. Geddings proceeded to chew me out. I felt a sting in my ears.”

“At the end of the practice, our coach at the time called me over to the side and said, ‘Jerry, you don’t have to call Ray Geddings ‘sir’ and ‘mister.’ You just refer to me like that.’ I couldn’t do it. Ray Geddings was our captain and our leader, and at that time it meant a great deal.”

The late Julian Nunamaker was the last to be inducted. Nunamaker played football at Manning High before heading to the University of Tennessee-Martin. He later started for the Buffalo Bills. His daughter, Lee Pipkin, accepted the award on behalf of her family.

“Yes, my dad is being recognized for sports, but he was more well-known by his personality, his character, what he instilled in people, and what he represented,” Pipkin said. “I want to thank the Hall of Fame committee for recognizing my dad with this award. I want to thank the classmates, family, and friends who are out here tonight.”

Pipkin said her father told his children and family members “the most wonderful stories, and I don’t know if all of them are true or not, but they were the most wonderful stories.”

“We heard all sorts of stories about Manning, South Carolina, and to us it was this fairy tale land that had alligators and all of these things,” Pipkin said. “We heard about Miriam and Mr. Ray Geddings. If you didn’t know him, I really wish he could have been here to accept this award because he was an entertainer. What you probably don’t realize is that I have heard about you. I might not be able to recognize you, but I have probably heard some of your stories. If I hear a name, there has been a story about you.”