Get to know the winningest HS baseball coach in N.C. history, Ronald Vincent
GREENVILLE, N.C. —聽Meet Coach Ronald Vincent. He is probably a household name for most of you.聽 He has dedicated a good portion of his life to young baseball players and high school students at JH Rose High School.
He started his career in 1969, at age 18, in Farmville as a little league coach while he was in college. His little league team went on to win the State Championship in 1970.聽 In 1973 he was asked by the coach of Rose at that time to fill in for 2 weeks and the sitting coach never came back.聽 This was the start of Coach Vincent’s illustrious career at Rose.聽 He started his career off with a bang.聽 In the second season at Rose, the team won the State Championship!聽 Many of the boys on that team had been with him in little league. Coach Vincent told me that the funniest thing about the team he coached to the State Championships in 1975 is that they are all now on Medicare!聽 聽They have all turned 65 this year.
Not only was he dedicated to the baseball program at Rose, he was also a Social Studies teacher from 1973 until 2009.聽 For 40 years he was committed to the educational growth of his students.
He is still the baseball coach at Rose today.聽 He has had more wins than any coach in North Carolina, totaling 980 to date.聽 He is determined that this number will continue to grow as the current team is entering the playoffs.聽 I asked him if he thought there was a chance to make it to the State Championships this year, and he told me that yes, there is a possibility, and he is very confident in his team for the 2022 season.聽 Over his career, he has won 7 State Championships and 1 runner up.
I asked Coach Vincent what makes him such a great coach.聽 He was very modest and gave a lot of credit to his players and assistant coaches, but the 3 main things he mentioned as being the most important in the success of the team is to stay positive, that the players come first, and they always try to have fun!聽 They try to win as hard as anyone but the principal goal is to make sure that when the boys finish high school, they have had fun playing baseball.聽 That’s a really big deal for him.聽 They can be intense but they have to have fun.
The team at Rose is a big team.聽 Coach Vincent tries not to cut any players and everyone gets a chance. Many players actually move to Greenville to be able to play for Coach Vincent. In this moment there are 13 players from the Rose baseball program that are playing for college teams.聽 聽Two men from his program have made it to the Major 海角社区, Kelly Heath in 1980 and Jamie Brewington in 1991.
Many others have gotten close and have played in the minor leagues.
I asked what they do in training that aids in their success, and he mentioned that they practice a lot of game like scenarios, and they do a lot of repetition.聽 I also asked what he thinks are the most important positions in the game.聽 “All positions are important,” he states, ” but you have to have a good pitcher and you have to have a good catcher”.聽 These are the 2 key positions and all else will fall into place.
When I inquired as to his most memorable moments, he said that All the State Championships are etched in your brain forever and he can remember every moment play by play.
He also mentioned that the key to dealing with losing is to bounce back and to put the losses behind you.聽 Life is not fair or easy, so you just have to shake it off and look forward.聽 Many of the lessons in baseball also translate into real life. “Deal with it!”
I asked him if he noticed a change in the way players behave over all these years.聽 He said that the kids are still essentially the same.聽 They want discipline, they want things to be organized and they want to have a chance.聽 They want to be led.聽 聽The ones who have changed are the parents.聽 Some parents might have some expectations that aren’t realistic.聽 Coach Vincent says that the parents should just let the boys play and that after the game, they should just say, “I enjoyed watching you play today”.聽 He also mentions that these things are easier to say than they are to do, but everyone should try.聽 In baseball, the boys are made accountable for what they do and this is the main goal in the growth of the players.
Some of Coach Vincent’s proudest moments are when he sees players or students 20 years later and they have become successful citizens.聽 He wants to feel that he has really made a positive impact on these boys’ lives, not just in baseball but in all areas of their lives.聽 The true satisfaction in his life he is when his students come back after many years and thank him for what he did to influence their lives in a positive way.
His biggest life lesson from being a coach is having passion.聽 Things just don’t come easily, and he is always continuing to and adjust to how things have changed not only in baseball but also in life.聽 Things have changed so much over the years and he has been there dedicated to his students, his players and his community.
I heard and saw the passion and dedication in Coach Vincent as I spoke to him for this article.聽 We are so very lucky to have such a strong, grounded and kind man to lead our boys to success.
This is a special tribute to a very special person, so I ask all of you, when you see him, thank him for all he does and has done.聽 The community of Greenville is lucky to have him!
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