PEMBROKE — When you consider the history of baseball at UNCP, there is one name that stands out above the rest. Richard “Cooter” Powell, a 1959 graduate of Laurinburg High School, was recently named to the UNCP Hall of Fame and is unlike anyone that has ever taken the diamond in a Braves uniform. Powell was a member of the Braves’ baseball teams from 1960-64, back when the school was still in the NAIA and called Pembroke State College. He was simply put, a dominant force on the mound that could do things seemingly unfathomable today.

Take for example when a newspaper from March 24, 1964, had a headline of “Pembroke Tags New Bedford In Doubleheader 11-1, 3-2.” This may not seem unusual at first glance but when you read the first sentence of the story, you’ll see that Powell was the winning pitcher for both games. He would allow just two hits as the starter in the first game before coming on in relief during the second game and only allowing one hit, all while also collecting two hits as a batter in the first game.

Baseball teams nowadays rarely even have doubleheaders unless absolutely necessary and usually rest starting pitchers for several days after a start, showing just how ridiculous it is that Powell could pull this off in the span of a few hours. Cooter’s win-loss record for his 1963-64 senior season was 7-2 with an ERA of 0.27, yes 0.27. Those are numbers that are hard to pull off in a video game.

Powell had to work his way up the ranks at UNCP, primarily starting out as a relief pitcher after transferring in from North Carolina State University. He would go 3-1 over 11 appearances during his first year with the Braves before posting a very good 1.63 ERA during his sophomore season on a team that went 18-7 overall. Powell finally earned a starting role at the beginning of the 1962-63 season and then broke out with his incredible, for the ages season during his senior year. He also had an estimated batting average of .315 during his UNCP career, showing he was a very capable hitter.

While numbers tell part of the story, it’s his personality that makes him so special and beloved in Scotland County. Tim Brayboy, one of Cooter’s very close friends who was part of the 1963-64 team, wrote in a letter to the UNCP Athletics Hall of Fame Selection Committee that Powell is “an individual of impeccable character,” and that he “Throughout his life has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic, dogged determination, a strong sense of responsibility and an unwavering commitment to achieving high levels of excellence.” 1984 Hall of Fame Class member Larry Lindsey also wrote in a letter to the UNCP Athletics Hall of Fame Selection Committee that there was a “buzz” around campus during Cooter’s senior season but that “Cooter took it all in stride and never seemed to make a big deal of it.”

In other words, he always strived to be the best version of himself and remained even keeled at all times. He is also a very smart person as evidenced by his earning of a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Chemistry and Physical Education.

Cooter’s childhood dream according to a letter written by himself to the UNCP Athletics Hall of Fame Selection Committee, “was to play baseball and get a college degree.” He managed to accomplish that and a whole lot more on his way to a historic career with the Braves. In true Cooter fashion, he credited his personal success to the team, which he said, “was like family, played as a team and backed each other up.”

Now 83 years old, his life after baseball consisted of an eight-year career in dyeing with Springs Mills in Laurinburg and Rock Hill, South Carolina. He also had a 20-year career in the Hospital Division of Abbott Pharmaceuticals locally in Laurinburg. He has been married to his wife, Annette, for 60 years and has two daughters as well as three grandchildren. He is now residing in Jamestown, North Carolina after retiring from Abbott in 1992 so that he could be closer to his family.

It is clear why Cooter is so well respected by his peers, past teammates, family and friends. His dominance on the mound is of course a great story and what everyone watched on gamedays for four years in the early 60s, but it is his kind personality that has him remembered so fondly by all members of the UNCP Athletics community.

His wife Annette called her husband “a very humble man who is quite taken aback by all the attention since he received notice that he was being inducted into UNCP’s Athletics Hall of Fame.” The reality is his Hall of Fame induction is way overdue and well deserved. He was at one point just a boy who loved to play baseball, just like so many other kids. Now he is a UNCP legend forever.