Long-time Eastern Randolph American Legion baseball coach Harold Kivett has passed away

Baseball fans and followers from throughout two counties are mourning the death tonight of long-time Eastern Randolph American Legion baseball coach Harold Kivett…

Kivett passed away earlier today and he was in his late 70’s/early 80’s and he had been coaching baseball down in Randolph County since back in the early 60’s….Kivett’s son Neil is currently the head baseball coach at Eastern Randolph High School….(Neil Kivett is also the assistant football coach at ER.)

The list of men/boys that have played for Harold Kivett is very long and here are just a few of the names that we have collected so far….Dave Beasley, Bob Smith, Ken Gilliand, Dave Gilliand, Cliff Craven, Kevin Callahan, Mike Artis, Rudy Artis, Jake Artis, Daryl Artis, John Barrow, Jerry Kidd, Charles Arrington, Kyle Bollick and many, many more….

Kivett played minor league baseball and he goes back to a time-period where he played against the great Willie Mays in the minors…Kivett, to many is one of the best baseball coaches to ever come out of the Triad area of North Carolina….The book says that he coached in over 1,000 games in his storied career and he won well over half of them….

Many have simply referred to Harold Kivett as ‘The Baseball Man’ over the years…He died today and the funeral arrangements are still incomplete…

Watch for more details on the death of ‘The Baseball Man of Randolph County’ in Wednesday’s edition of the Asheboro Courier-Tribune and Dennis Garcia should have all the details about one of the greatest coaches that this area has ever seen, in Harold Kivett……

The old ‘Baseball Man’ is headed home and we hope he will be SAFE on arrival………

RIP Harold Kivett, the man that put American Legion Baseball on the map in Randolph County and then he turned the keys over to the ‘Modern Day Warrior’ Grady Lawson and Lawson is left to carry on and to pass the torch on to younger leaders, like Harold’s son Neil Kivett….It will be up to men like Neal Kivett to keep the fires burning in Randolph County……

4 thoughts on “Long-time Eastern Randolph American Legion baseball coach Harold Kivett has passed away

  1. RIP Harold…one of the best, if not THE best, that I have ever played for. Great coach, great man…he will be missed!

  2. Truly one of the great baseball men in North Carolina! Enjoyed our many competitive games and just as his players did ,I and my players learned alot from Him!!! He will be missed by everyone! Our heart and prayers go out to his family and the community as a void will not be filled!

  3. As we get more names we will keep adding to the list of players that played for Coach Harold Kivett….

    Thank-you to those that have checked in so far.

  4. On Coach Harold Kivett from Kevin Callahan, former head baseball coach at Southeast Guilford High School:

    Coach Kivett was a mentor and friend. Thirty years ago I had the opportunity to
    work with him. It was at the start of my coaching career. Coach Kivett taught me
    alot. He taught me how to teach the game, play the game hard, respect your
    opponents and most importantly respect the game of baseball. Coaching 24 years at
    SE whenever we played ER, the first person I’d seek out before and after each game
    was Coach Kivett. Winning or losing did not seem to really matter just those few
    minutes to talk and update how our families were doing I’ll remember the most.
    Coach Kivett loved baseball and Eastern Randolph, not sure which one more. Our
    prayers are with the Kivett family and the ER community. May you rest in heaven
    coach and watch all the games you want.

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