SALEM, Va. – A special baseball weekend in Salem came to an end Sunday night with the induction of new hall of fame members.
The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame held its 31st annual ceremony and dinner at the Salem Civic Center. Five members were inducted: Nick Jones, Randy Lawrence, Reggie Poff, Matt Trent and Roy Clark.
Clark is a Martinsville native who was an All-American infielder at Ferrum College in the late 1970s. From there he went on to start at the University of North Carolina before being drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the MLB draft. After playing four years of minor league ball, Clark quickly became a scout in 1985 with Seattle, then Cleveland before spending 20 years with the Atlanta Braves organization. Though he currently serves as a senior advisor for the Kansas City Royals, Clark guided many big name athletes to the majors including Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward just to name a few.
“It all revolves around Ferrum,” Clark said. “I wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school. From the day I walked on at Ferrum and then graduated North Carolina. Ferrum was a junior college then. It was tremendous for me so I’m very thankful.”
Nick Jones is a Roanoke native who played at William Byrd High School where he was part of the 1997 state championship team and the state runner-up team in 2000. A two-time all-state selection, he was Blue Ridge District and Region Player of the Year and a recipient of the Ray Bellamy Award, presented by the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2000. Jones left Byrd as the school career leader in runs scored and was in the top five all-time in seven hitting categories.
After graduation Nick played at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was a part of three NCAA Regional teams along with two CAA Regular Season and Tournament Champions. Nick was selected in the 11th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago Cubs and, while in the Cubs Organization, he was a member of three league championship teams. He resides in the Roanoke Valley and is active in coaching youth sports.
Randy Lawrence is a Montgomery County native and 1989 graduate of Christiansburg High School. he held 13 athletic records in three sports, baseball, basketball, and football. In baseball he received all-state honors as a pitcher, twice, and also as a first baseman along with numerous all-district and all-region honors. Randy was the AA State Player of the Year in 1988 after leading Timesland in both pitching and hitting.
Lawrence began his college baseball career at Ferrum in the spring of 1990 where he played on a nationally ranked team for three seasons, was named two time Dixie All Conference Pitcher, Dixie Conference Pitcher of the Year in 1992 with a 9-0 record, and was an All-American. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in June ‘92 and played for three seasons with the organization’s minor leagues in Florida and New York. Randy was inducted as an inaugural member of Christiansburg High School’s Sports Hall of Fame in April 2023.
Reggie Poff played baseball for Glenvar High School. The longtime official umpired baseball for 47 years before retiring in 2022. He also officiated basketball, volleyball, and softball. As an umpire Reggie could be found on the high school, American Legion, AAU and recreation league diamonds. He was a crew chief for VHSL finals at several levels and umpired the Virginia Commonwealth Games for over 25 years.
Matt Trent is a Roanoke native and Cave Spring graduate where he stood out in the Knights outfield and on the pitchers mound. As a walk-on at Wingate University Matt earned a scholarship and led the Bulldogs in saves and strikeouts per nine innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery as a sophomore. Upon returning, he led Wingate again in saves and strikeouts and in 2005 Matt was drafted round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
In his first professional season, Trent led the New Jersey Cardinals of the NY-Penn League in saves before being promoted to Class A and finished his first season with an ERA of 2.51. In his second season for Quad Cities Matt was a leader out of the bullpen where he maintained a 2.61 ERA. The following year, Matt was promoted to the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Class A Advanced League. After being traded to the Colorado Rockies, he finished the season with a combined 3.02 ERA.
Gary Oyler was the recipient of this years Wayne LaPierre Sr. Community Service Award.
Ferrum legend Abe Naff served as the keynote speaker on Sunday night.