By Sonny Jones
Tuesday will be a very special evening at East Bladen High School. It’s when the baseball field officially will be named for the late Russell Priest, who coached at the school for more than 40 years before retiring after the 2019 season. He died last year.
The ceremony will take place between the junior varsity and varsity games when the Eagles host county rival West Bladen. The JV game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and the varsity game at 7.
It’s a well deserved honor. It’s ashamed that Priest won’t be there in body to bask in the celebration and feel the love for his dedication and care for the athletes and students. He definitely will be there in spirit because his love for East Bladen — first as a Cougar, then as an Eagle — was unconditional.
He was the right-hand man for former head football coaches Bob Lewis and Lenon Fisher and, finally, for his son, Robby. He helped Jimmy Baldwin win the 1982 state baseball championship, then oversaw the program until 2019.
Russell wanted to be involved in his community. He served on the Elizabethtown Town Council and the Bladen County Board of Commissioners. He ran an auto repair shop and sold used cars on the side. He spent time selling sporting goods. He played softball for many years and was on the Kinlaw Insurance team that won a state slow-pitch title in the 1980s.
It’s not certain if Russell Priest was the most interesting man in the world, but it’s certain that he was among the busiest. He wanted to help. He wanted to be involved. And he wanted to know what was going on.
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Aug. 2, 2020
Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
I first met Russell in March 1978 at a restaurant in downtown Elizabethtown. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but I do remember him devouring a piece of chicken. Russell didn’t eat the chicken nor gnaw the chicken. He destroyed the chicken. Only a few small bones were left on his plate. It left quite the impression.
I was doing a sports report for WBLA radio in those days and Russell was coaching junior varsity baseball at East Bladen so we struck a friendship. He called in a baseball game the Cougars had won handily and he said something along the line that “it was good to win, but that team really wasn’t very good.” I quoted him. He wished I hadn’t.
For the next 40 years or so, every time we saw each other he would say, “Sonny Jones, WBLA. Don’t quote me on that.”
The last time I spoke to him before his death was at a county commissioner’s meeting. Sure enough, he said, “Sonny Jones, WBLA. Don’t quote me on that.” He then gave me a Bladen County pin.
Russell Priest was a competitor. We had our differences when we were coaching against each other in the Elizabethtown Dixie Youth League. He coached Lee and Robby in the minor league and we had our battles, but he eventually came over to “our” side when I selected his youngest son, Ritchie, and he was supportive of our team from Day 1.
You could disagree with Russell’s coaching strategy or his decision while serving on a government board, but you could never question the man’s desire to help others and his willingness to pitch in when needed.
Tuesday night, weather permitting, the Eagles and Knights officially will play on Russell Priest Field on a day proclaimed by Elizabethtown Mayor Sylvia Campbell as Russell Priest Day.
It’s a well deserved honor. And, yes, you can quote me on that.
https://bladencounty.org/coach-russell-priest-remembered-for-his-service-loyalty-friendship/
https://bladencounty.org/a-patriarch-daniel-leon-russell-priest-jr-has-passed-on/
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