by DOUG KRETZER
When many think of sports in Eastern Kentucky, Vondal Lee Hall is another guy from Wheelwright who excelled in sports there, went to college in another state, made his home there, coached there and did it so well he had statewide recognition.
Vondal Lee Hall grew up at Melvin in Floyd County, KY. He was such a good pitcher on the Trojan baseball team at Wheelwright High School that his high school record was 21-1. That one loss came in the state baseball tournament his senior season. Newport Catholic defeated Wheelwright 4-1 in the first round of the State Tournament in June 1953.
Hall was selected All District two times, all Regional one time and All State one time for his pitching prowess. As a senior at Wheelwright he was selected as the best baseball player in the state of Kentucky.
Hall played in the Industrial League in Detroit Michigan and played American Legion baseball.
After high school Hall received a scholarship to play baseball at Georgia Teachers College. That name later was changed to Georgia Southern. Sound familiar? It may if you have read the articles on here about Don Wallen who played basketball at Wheelwright and stared at Georgia Southern. Hall was a pal of Wallen’s and went to that same college at the same time as did Wallen.
As a sophomore at Georgia Southern the right hander’s record was 4-1 with an ERA of 3.03. He was also an outstanding hitter.
After graduation from the college in 1957 Hall, like his friend Wallen, went into coaching his favored sport. Unlike Wallen, Hall chose to stay in Georgia to do his. He did it well. So well in fact that he became the Coach of The Year in Georgia baseball for 1967. Much as his friend Wallen had done in the state of Florida where he also added a “National High School Coach of the Year” to his record.
Hall also dabbled in golf. He loved teaching kids the many fine aspects of sports. The boys from Wheelwright all learned that sport well on their own course situated in a hollow in the coal town. For many years, Hall was a golf coach for the McDuffie County Recreation Department Youth Golf Program. He was also an advocate for handicapped children and began the Kicklighter Rehabilitation Center in Savannah, GA.
Hall passed away in 2008.
