SALEM, Va. – The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its class of 2025 inductees.
Ed Culicerto, Casey Hodges, J.D. Mundy, F.L. Slough and Terry Collins will all be recognized as the 33rd annual banquet and induction ceremony at the Salem Civic Center on February 2nd. Collins is set to also serve as guest speaker for the evening.
Collins was drafted and signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971 and spent 53 years in professional baseball. He was an infielder for the Carolina League champion Salem Pirates in 1972. Collins went on to play 10 seasons in the minor leagues, including six in the AAA before being hired as manager for the Lodi Dodgers of the Class A California League in 1981. He managed 11 years in the minors for five different teams before the Pirates hired him as coach with the Major League team.
“Well, I was shocked. I spent 54 years in the game. I haven’t been in Salem in 53 years, so, it was a big surprise. We had a great team,” Collins said.
Culicerto was head baseball coach at Northside High School for 16 years. His 2011 team won the Group AA state championship and Ed’s overall record is 244-121-2. During that time the Vikings won four district titles, two regional titles and made four state tournament appearances. He was selected as the state AA Coach of the Year and Timesland Coach of the Year in 2011.
“Just growing up as a kid, loving the game of baseball, and to be recognized with all these great names I associate with baseball in this area, it’s overwhelming,” Culicerto added.
Mundy is a 2016 graduate of Northside, where he was a four-year starter and three time All-State player. He hit .550 his senior year and was the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ray Bellamy Award winner as the outstanding player in the Hall of Fame area. Mundy played two years at Virginia Tech, then played his junior and senior seasons at Radford University. He led the team with 13 home runs his junior year and hit .385 as a senior, earning VaSID All-State first team honors. J.D. signed as a free agent with Baltimore Orioles and spent two seasons in their organization, reaching the AA level.
“Everything I worked for, it’s an awesome opportunity. You know, I’m really excited to be here, just all the hard work I put in throughout the years and stuff like this. Makes it really feel like it paid off,” Mundy said.
Hodges is a former Franklin County High School, Radford University and University of Mount Olive pitcher and infielder. He had a 10-1 record on Mount Olive’s National Championship team with a 2.52 ERA, pitching in the championship game and earning All-American honors.
“Well, it really hasn’t set in yet. I mean, it means a lot. My dad was inducted in 1993, so getting to share that with him is pretty special. I’ve got my nephews in there taking a look around and showing them how big baseball is in the area - it’s pretty surreal,” Hodges said.
Casey was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 Major League draft by the Atlanta Braves and played four seasons and 100 games in professional baseball, reaching the high Class A level. He has served as an assistant coach at Patrick Henry Community College and as the pitching coach at the University of Charleston in West Virginia.
Slough coached high school baseball for 22 years with a record of 188-109 as head coach. He was at Franklin County High from 1988 until 2007 and was head coach of the Eagles for 14 years, winning five district championships and a regional championship in 1997.
“It’s awesome, it felt good, unexpected, so it was a shock. There’s a lot of Franklin County folks, so that makes it special,” Slough said.
F.L. served as assistant coach of the West Squad for the Commonwealth Games for 18 years, worked at the Baseball Factory for four years and the Ferrum College Summer Baseball Camp for 10 years. He coached over 40 players who went on to play at the college level.