Cal Bailey entering West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame | Herald-Dispatch.com

Well, this certainly qualifies as OUTSTANDING news! Congratulations to former Top Coach guest, Cal Bailey, on being inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame!

WHEELING – Two of the most successful Mountain State college and high school coaches are being inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

The honorees are retired West Virginia State University baseball coach Cal Bailey and former North Marion High School and Mannington High School football and wrestling coach Roy Michael. They will be inducted May 6 by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at the 72nd Victory Awards Dinner in Charleston.

Bailey retired in 2014 as the winningest all-sport college coach in state history. Michael retired in 2003 after winning seven state titles for two schools in two sports and in two classes.

Bailey compiled a won-loss record of 1,063-521-4 in 37 seasons as Yellow Jacket coach from 1978-2014. Guiding 36 winning record teams, he became in 2012 only the 10th NCAA Division II coach to record 1,000 wins. His West Virginia Conference and Mountain East Conference record was 645-168.

He coached 18 WVIAC title teams plus one MEC championship squad with two D-II World Series squads. The 1999 team was ranked No. 3 nationally and the 2005 squad ranked No. 5.

Honored numerous times, Bailey is the only state college spring coach to be selected as the all-sports West Virginia College Coach of the Year (1980) and was the WVIAC Coach of the Year eight times and Atlantic Regional coach of the year twice. He was selected to coach the USA Eastern Division Olympic Trials team in 1985.

The Yellow Jacket diamond in Institute, West Virginia, was named Calvin Bailey Field in 1998.

Bailey coached 16 All-America honorees including eight first team picks; 36 professional players including three to reach the major leagues – Larry Carter and Paul Fletcher of Ravenswood and Scott Patterson of Pittsburgh; and more than 100 players who became baseball coaches.

Born April 8, 1943 in Newton, West Virginia, he is a 1960 graduate of Spencer High School where he played baseball and basketball.

At West Virginia State, the right-handed pitcher earned All-WVIAC honors and was a 23rd-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966. He competed six years in the minor leagues and retired in 1971 after playing for the Charleston Charlies. After completing his college work, including a master’s, he joined West Virginia State in 1974 as an assistant coach before assuming the head coaching job in 1978.

Bailey resides in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.

Read the entire article at Herald-Dispatch.com.

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