Suiter's first meeting with Whitfield is memorable

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 8, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Tom Suiter began to think it was bad luck.

It turned into an afternoon he wouldn't forget.

The former WRAL sports news anchor had flown into Dudley to present an Extra Effort Award to Southern Wayne player. During the presentation, the helicopter pilot received a call from the station and had to leave immediately.

Suiter and his crew hadn't finished filming segment.

"We were stranded, we had no car to take us back to Raleigh," Suiter chuckled.

That's when he met George Whitfield.

The journeyman coach offered to drive Suiter and his crew back to the Capital City. Along the way, Suiter began to learn more about Whitfield, especially his success at Richmond County and coach of the perennial powerhouse Hamlet Senior Legion team.

"That was kind of special," Suiter recalled.

The two will see other again Friday evening.

Suiter is among the 43rd annual class slated for enshrinement in the prestigious Whitfield Hall of Fame. The 19-member group of inductees could easily comprise a "Who's Who" encyclopedia and spans more than four decades. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. Inside the Goldsboro High auditorium.

The celebration is part of Whitfield's two-day event that includes a baseball clinic on Saturday. His guest speaker is Patrick "Clebe" McClary, a highly-decorated veteran who is a three-time Purple Heart recipient.

Before the induction takes place, Whitfield plans to dole out a few special awards. He will recognize each head coach that guided his respective team to a N.C. High School Athletic Association state baseball championship last spring.

Whitfield will honor Eastern Wayne alum John Wooten, who earned the MVP award after leading the Potomac Nationals to their fifth Mills Cup Championship this past summer. Potomac is the Single-A high affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

Princeton High's volleyball team is also among Whitfield's special guests. The Bulldogs claimed the NCHSAA 1-A state championship -- the first-ever in any girls' sport at the school.

But the highlight will be honoring the three state championship women's tennis teams from Goldsboro High. Players who now live in different parts of the country are expected to attend the celebration and reminisce about their days when they dominated opponents on the Herman Park courts just across the street from campus.

Local Hall inductees include avid sportsman Wes Seegars, a former Blue Rock Marlin champion; and Ricky Crumpler, a member of the N.C. American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.

"It came as a shock to me because I never expected that," Crumpler said. "I'm thankful for it and I appreciate it, but I don't know what I've done to deserve it. When it comes down to it I'm just an umpire, and I just try to do my best each time I step on the field."