Lord Botetourt’s Brae Farrell is one of six finalists for High School Player of the Year
The 28th annual Ray Bellamy Memorial Award will be presented to one of six high school baseball players prior to the Salem Red Sox game against the Lynchburg Hillcats on Wednesday, August 7, at Salem’s Haley Toyota Field.
The Bellamy Award was initiated in 1992 to honor the top high school baseball player in the area served by the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame. Six finalists, nominated by their coaches, have been chosen by the Hall of Fame Board of Directors, with the winner to be announced prior to the Sox game. The finalists, in alphabetical order, are Brae Farrell of Lord Botetourt, Nick Funk of Staunton River, Brady Kirtner of Christiansburg, Hunter Meador of William Byrd, Cameron Mullins of Franklin County and Parker Stallard of Salem.
The award was named in honor of the late Ray Bellamy, a long-time sports enthusiast and baseball supporter in the Roanoke Valley. Previous winners of the award are as follows: 1992 Josh Herman-William Byrd; ’93 Kelly Dampeer-Northside; ’94 Jason Anderson-Glenvar; ’95 Chad Foutz-Franklin County; ’96 Gray Hodges-Franklin County; ’97 Larry Bowles, Jr.-Franklin County; ’98 Bobby Basham-Franklin County; ’99 Matt McGuire-William Byrd; 2000 Nick Jones-William Byrd; ’01 Tyler Lumsden-Cave Spring; ’02 Daniel Tanner-Jefferson Forest; ’03 Nate Parks-Glenvar; ’04 Bobby West-Blacksburg; ’05 Alan Moore-Cave Spring; ’06 Nathan Furry-Salem; ’07 Lefty Flora-Northside; ’08 Mikey O’Brien-Hidden Valley; ’09 Thomas Kuhlman-Hidden Valley; ’10 Eric Heiligenstadt-Jefferson Forest; ’11 Tyler Duke-James River; ’12 Dylan Powers-Lord Botetourt;’13 Ryan Lauria-Hidden Valley; ’14 Hayes Nelson-Hidden Valley;’15 Dean Hermanson-William Byrd; ’16 JD.Mundy-Northside; ’17 Cody Boone of Hidden Valley and ’18 Evan Parks of Northside.
Also, it has been announced that Keith Reed of Auburn been selected to receive Posey Oyler Baseball Scholarship from the Hall of Fame. The award honors the late Oyler, a founding member of the Hall of Fame and the first president of the organization. The award goes to a player showing dedication to the game who will be attending a college to play baseball.
The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1991 and honors players and contributors from the counties of Alleghany, Roanoke, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin and Montgomery and the independent cities located within the boundaries of those counties. The Hall of Fame building is located on the grounds of the James E. Taliaferro Complex, next to the Salem Red Sox administrative office behind the third base seating area of Salem Memorial Ballpark.