Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame
Ashland County Sports
Hall of Fame
 
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Class of 1996
'Dan Bowersox
'Charles Chuck
''Campbell *
'Dave Crecelius
'Jim Diffendorfer
'Randy Fierbaugh
'Larry Hastings
'Jim Reynolds, Jr.
'Tim Richmond *
'Tammy Eisel Shaw
'Dr. Mel Woelfling *
''( Deceased * )
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Selection Committee
'George Valentine ,
'''Chairman

'Gaylord Meininger
'Marvin Sprang
'Wayne Dessenberg
'Ron Marquette
'Tom Herron
'Don Sprang


 

Randy Fierbaugh

Randy Fierbaugh

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1952, his family moved to Ashland in 1954. Participating in sports was his passion, as almost every free moment was spent playing baseball, football, or basketball with whomever he could find to play no matter what age they were.

In 1960 he began organized sports by participating in Little League baseball. Rheumatic fever in 1962 eliminated his playing days for that summer, but did not slow down his desire for playing baseball. He was a member of the 1964 American League All-Stars that came within a run of becoming state champions. The “cardiac kids” beat Maumee in fourteen innings that allowed them to proceed to the state championships.

Randy participated in baseball and football at Ashland High School, earning three varsity letters in football and two letters in baseball. In football, he starred as the team’s offensive tight end his junior year, while switching to halfback his senior year. While his halfback assignments were normally blocking for halfback Mike Glasser and fullback Jim Monahan, he also averaged over four yards per carry. He also manned the kicking and punting duties all three years of high school. He was named as an All-Ohio Honorable Mention his senior year. In baseball, Randy excelled in pitching and hitting. His senior year saw him amass a 7-2 record in pitching, while accumulating a Cardinal Conference league leading .470 batting average. He was invited to participate in the All-Ohio All-State tournament at the Columbus, Ohio, Jet Stadium. He pitched his team to victory the first game and averaged over .600 at the plate to walk away with the tournament’s MVP award.

While Randy had several colleges courting his football talents, he decided to stay home and participate in both football and baseball at Ashland College. Randy lettered all four years in both sports. In football, playing for head coach Fred Martinelli, he began his career handling the kick-off duties, while sharing the tight end duties by the middle of the season. He maintained the starting tight end position throughout his college career, being named Offensive Lineman of the Year during his sophomore year, and averaging over 22 catches per year. During his sophomore, junior, and seniors years, he also performed the punting chores, averaging 42 yards per punt his senior year, ranking second in the nation for small colleges. The 1972 Ashland College Eagles recorded an unblemished 11-0 record, ranking fourth in the nation. He was selected to participate in the All-Ohio College Shrine football game and was the starting tight end, while also performing the punting duties for the East Squad.

In baseball, Randy starred for Ashland College’s George Donges and Lou Markle’s diamond squad. While sharing duties at first base and pitching his first two years, he concentrated his efforts toward pitching his junior and senior yeas. He teamed with left Ken Kravec to produce one of the best 1-2 pitching staffs in a small college in 1972 and 1973. His senior year produced a pitching record, with a nation high 16.8 strikeouts per game average.

During the 1974 Major League baseball draft, Randy was selected in the fifth round by the Montreal Expos, the 106th player chosen in the draft. After being assigned to their Class A farm team in West Palm, he was quickly elevated to their AA team in Quebec City. Being selected as their top rookie prospect for 1974. During his seven years of professional baseball, he was traded to the San Diego Padres in 1977 and to the Baltimore Orioles in 1978. He was promoted to the major league forty-man roster in 1978 and 1979 with the Padres and spent those years playing for their Class AAA team in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1980, he was invited to the Baltimore Orioles spring training. He injured his left knee in spring training and, after several surgeries during the next six months did not clear up his injury, retired from baseball in 1980.

Randy and his wife, Mindy, now reside in Palm Harbor, Florida. He presently is an AVP with SecurityLink from Ameritech in national account sales. He has been named as an Outstanding Business Leader with the security industry for the past seven years.

Nominator: James V. Martin 



 
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