Wyoming East baseball coach Ron Mayhew has been honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Mayhew is the ABCA/Diamond Sports Company High School Division II Regional Coach of the Year.

The coach found out via letter.

“I don’t think I read it (at first), and I opened it and thought it was one of those letters they send if you belong to the association,” he commented.

Then he took a closer look.

“I read it and didn’t believe it,” he stated. “I want to thank who ever nominated me.”

Region 2 includes West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Pennysylvania and New Jersey. There are eight regions in three divisions.

Mayhew’s 2012 East team won the Class AA championship last June with a dramatic 1-0 win over Herbert Hoover in the title game. The Warriors set a school record with 29 wins. An awards banquet was held in Chicago in early January for the honored coaches, but Mayhew decided not to attend.

“I’m coaching the eighth grade girls at Pineville Middle, so I just decided not to go,” he commented.

He has been coaching for 40 years. He had two state runner-up teams at Pineville and two more at East before winning the championship last season.

“Baseball is fun,” Mayhew said. “I used to be stressed out and be a Billy Martin kind of guy, but I learned the game is meant to be fun. You work hard, but at the same time it has to be fun for you and the players.”

Mayhew is recovering from recent health problems, but he says he is doing well. “It took me a little while to get out of the hospital,” he remarked. “Since then, it is a slow recovery energy-wise, but I’m still in pretty good shape and improving every day.

Baseball is not just a spring sport, he pointed out. “We’ re still building lockers and working on the field,” he said. “You’ve got to keep the field mowed and the dirt out of the infield and keep the mound built up and covered. You put things away for the winter.

“You basically get the field ready by October or November,” he added, “because the weather won’t let you do a lot (in the winter). The field is too soft.”

Mayhew credited the coaches and players he has worked with for his success. “I’ve had a lot of good coaches and player who like to ply and they all help and they all make everything possible,” he said.