BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — The Tug Valley High School baseball field at Naugatuck was officially dedicated in memory of beloved coach, principal and county superintendent Don Spence on Thursday, April 17.

“Though Don is gone, his contributions will forever live on. Our goal is to honor his memory and contributions to our community,” Tug Valley principal Doug Ward said.

Spence, who retired as Mingo County superintendent of schools before his untimely passing in 2023, was the longtime baseball coach at Tug Valley High School, where he also coached softball, football and basketball during his teaching tenure before becoming a principal at Lenore K-8 and Dingess Elementary.

Spence’s daughters, Abigail and Patricia, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Panther’s baseball game with Van after the dedication of the plaque.

Randy Lackey, a baseball and basketball standout for Tug Valley in the 1990s, played for Spence in both sports and had very high praise for his TVHS mentor.

“I don’t know that words can do justice to what Don Spence means to the history of Tug Valley High School Athletics as a whole and Tug Valley Baseball in particular,” Lackey said. “He was Tug Valley’s first baseball coach and taught many of us that now teach this generation not just about baseball but about being an adult. And as good a coach he was, he was an even better man. I’m honored to have known him. My goal is to be half the coach he was.”