Powell Inducted into Halls of Fame
CHICKASHA – Usually the best men can be described with the fewest words. L.J. Powell, the head baseball coach at the University of Science and Arts, might best be summed up in three words: “I am third.” That phrase, Powell says, is how he has tried to live his life and is what inspired his teaching philosophy.
Friday night Powell will not be third when the community he has called home for 50 years will have their chance to thank him for his contributions. Powell will be one of six inductees into the Chickasha High School Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place at approximately 7:30 p.m. between the boys and girls basketball games.
The induction into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame is the second such honor for Powell in the last week. Powell, known as the “Godfather” of Chickasha High School baseball was inducted into the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Saturday.
Powell’s lasting affect on his players and community can be traced back to a few things. He gives credit and thanks to his parents for developing his faith and work ethic. He credits Laverne, his soul mate and friend of 56 years and immediate family for their never ending support. He also remembered the first time he saw that three-word phrase: “I am third” and talked about it’s effect during his induction speech at the OBCA banquet.
As a high school baseball player at Mountain View High School, Powell noticed a sign on his coach’s desk that read, “I am third.”
“That triggered something in me,” Powell said. “I kept wondering what it was, so I asked him one day. He told me that God is first, others are second and I am third. From that I developed what was important. It’s not that baseball is not important, but everything has its place in life. And you have to develop priorities.”
Not only did those priorities help Powell amass a staggering number of high school wins which includes 857 victories, 12 regional titles, four Coach of the Year awards and one state title, but those priorities have helped his players be successful off the field.
“One of the big things for me as far as my time at USAO is that we have had a baseball player named a member of Hypatia every year,” Powell said about the honor society that recognizes students for their high academic achievements, character and integrity and service to the university and their community.
“That’s important because that’s their life. Very few people that we get in this program are going to go make a living playing baseball. There are a lot of them that will make their living coaching or working with young people,” Powell said.
The 1966 CHS state championship team is another experience that stands out in Powell’s memory basically because what the members of that team accomplished after baseball. Powell still tells the story of the day the ’66 team set its sights on the state championship after a loss to Crooked Oak.
After the disappointing loss, Powell skipped the post-game talk. “They went to the dressing room, and I went to my office,” he said. “One of them came into the office and said, ‘Coach, are you going to talk to us?’ I said, ‘No. Get your clothes on and get out of here.’ A couple of minutes later a few kids came in and said, ‘Coach, if you don’t want to talk to us, we are going to talk to you.’”
In the locker room in front of the whole team, Tommy Hooker spoke up. “Coach, we want to win the state championship,” he said. “But there are a lot of things that we have to do to prepare for that. Will you help us?”
“What the heck are you going to say?” Powell said. “Sure, I’ll help you, but you’re going to have to learn to listen.
“Those guys came up with a philosophy,” Powell said. “Give us two runs, and we’ll win the ball game. I turned lights on for those kids to practice. I had blisters on my hand from hitting fungos. They wouldn’t leave. When they set that goal, and they worked at it while continuing to be great students, the light bulb came on that night for them.”
Powell said that his approach to coaching and teaching did change over the years, which led to a more positive experience for himself as well as his players or students. That change took place when realized that he was coaching people and not coaching baseball.
“When you see that light bulb turn on, and when you see them turn a corner and start being successful, that’s a tremendous feeling,” Powell said. “It’s a tremendous feeling to see each person be a success in their own way.”
The longtime Chickasha resident has been successful in his own way, too. Some coaches count wins while others count titles. Powell counts the success stories. Powell counts the friends and supporters in the community, and he says it’s that support that makes his selection into the CHS Hall of Fame special.
“It’s going to be emotional,” Powell said. “The OBCA was something that was really important, but it’s just as important that the people that I live with, and work with, and go to and ask for help to support our baseball team, and other things and activities like with our church. I don’t want to down play the OCBA because it was awesome, to say the least, that your peers at the OBCA think that much of you and think you’ve done something right, but this has a touch to it and a feeling that kind of tugs at your heart strings.”###
