2022 Inductees

Grant Brittain

Hickory native Christopher “Grant” Brittain has enjoyed a long and successful career in professional baseball as a player and scout for over three decades.
Mr. Brittain was a standout infielder/shortstop for the Hickory High Red Tornadoes (1982-1986) where he was named All-Conference and team MVP in 1986.
Mr. Brittain later starred at Western Carolina University where he was a four-year starter, captain, and standout shortstop. He was selected the Southern Conference Player of the Year in 1990 after slugging .439 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI’s. For his efforts, he was named an American Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-American and WCU’s Athlete of the Year. During his collegiate career, Mr. Brittain helped lead WCU to four straight regular season Southern Conference Titles, three SoCon Tournament Championships, and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Mr. Brittain continued his playing career in the pros, when he was signed by the Atlanta Braves as an amateur free agent in 1990. He played three seasons in the minors, with Idaho Falls, Macon, Ga., and for the Durham Bulls.
For the past three decades, Mr. Brittain has taken his knowledge and passion for the sport to become a successful professional scout for several organizations including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland A’s.

James T. “Jim” Ledbetter (1927-2002)

Mr. James “Jim” Ledbetter will always be remembered as one of Catawba County’s most beloved sportsman, environmentalist, and goodwill ambassador for the sport and art of fishing.
Mr. Ledbetter was a resident of Newton for over five decades and made his mark first as a professional baseball player in the late 1940’s for the Newton-Conover Twins.
Later he rose to prominence when he parlayed his love of the outdoors into “The Piedmont Sportsman” fishing show which aired on WHKY-TV Channel 14 in Hickory and Cable TV outlets in Western NC for over three decades.
During his HOF career, Mr. Ledbetter organized, and sponsored many fishing events that raised awareness of and excitement about the sport he loved. He gave seminars, spoke at boat shows, bass clubs, sponsorship events, and numerous youth organizations throughout the Hickory Metro region.
A founding board member of the Hickory Metro Sports Commission in 2000, Mr. Ledbetter also served with distinction in helping to create the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame.

Elwood “Buck” Perry

Elwood “Buck” Perry (1915-2005) was born in Taylorsville, but grew up in Hickory where he became a star athlete, educator, and later a renowned sportsman who was widely acclaimed as the top fisherman in North America.
A member of the Lenoir-Rhyne Sports Hall of Fame, Mr. Perry earned a degree in Mathematics from L-R and was co-captain and MVP of the 1936 Bear football team where he earned All-Conference honors as a running back.
He taught and coached at Hickory High School before he entered World War II becoming a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.
Mr. Perry will be remembered for generations of fishermen as Buck, with his name forever linked to the lure he patented in 1946 the Spoonplug. Over the years he sold millions of those lures from his family business, Buck’s Bait Company, in Hickory.
Mr. Perry was a nationally known author and speaker and distinguished himself as the ‘Father of Structure Fishing’. In `1984, Mr. Perry received the most prestigious honor in fishing when he was inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward Wisconsin.

Dennis Setzer

Newton native Dennis Setzer is regarded as one of NASCAR’s most versatile and respected short track drivers of his era.
Mr. Setzer drove in all three of NASCAR’s top series in a career that spanned over four decades. He joins an impressive list of racing legends that are enshrined in the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame.
Mr. Setzer got his racing start at the Birthplace of NASCAR stars, Hickory Motor Speedway, where he was a two-time track champion (1983,1993). He also earned short- track championships at Tri-County, Wake County, and Caraway Speedways where he amassed a win total of over 180 career victories in Late Model Stock competition.
Mr. Setzer later experienced his greatest success in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series where he achieved 18 career victories, and 160 Top Ten finishes, was voted as the Series ‘Most Popular Driver’, and finished runner-up for the Truck Series Championship in 2003, 2004, 2005.
In his career, Mr. Setzer made close to 500 starts in NASCAR’s three national series winning over 20 races.

Jerry Willard

Maiden native Jerry Willard’s impact on Catawba County sports history was as a highly successful coach, community leader, visionary teacher, and administrator for over four decades.
Mr. Willard rose to prominence at Newton-Conover High School where he was an assistant football coach for 23 years, and head varsity basketball coach for both the men and women’s programs for 13 seasons.
Mr. Willard compiled an impressive record of 241-105, for a winning percentage of 70 percent. His teams made the post season in 12 of his 13 years. From 1985-88, he guided the Newton-Conover women to a 70-9 record helping the Red Devils become a perennial regional power in girls basketball.
Mr. Willard was also a three –time Southern District Seven Conference Coach of the Year , while winning five Conference Championships (three girls, 2 boys).
In addition, Mr. Willard’s impact was felt in the classroom where he earned N-C City Schools Teacher of the Year and was an 11-time winner for Excellence in Teaching as voted on by N-C’s senior class.
After his coaching career at N-C ended, Mr. Willard became the Founding Principal and lead teacher at Newton-Conover Health Science High, and most recently was Principal, teacher, and coach at University Christian High School on the campus at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

The St. Stephens High School baseball teams of (1971-73) set the standard for excellence in high school baseball in North Carolina when they won three consecutive State AA Championships, becoming the first school in the modern history of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) to capture a three-peat.
The Indians were led by Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame coach Harry Frye (343-179 record) and a total of 33 players, including six who saw action on all three title winning squads.
During the magical run from 1971-73, the Indians compiled a record of 63-7 (20-4 in ‘71, 22-1 in ’72, and 21-2 in ’73). The Tribe knocked off Jones Senior High School in a best-of-three series winning the final two games for the school’s first ever team championship.
In 1972 the team lost the first game of the season before winning their next 22 straight, including a two-game sweep of Mt. Pleasant High in the finals. The ’72 squad also posted the highest team batting average of any squad guided by Frye at SSHS.
The ’73 team won its first 16 games, before losing an extra inning affair late in the year. The third straight title was later secured as the Tribe defeated Southern Guilford High School in three-games, winning the finale 6-2.
The team also held the NCHSAA record at the time for consecutive victories with 38. The squad is also believed to be the only high school team of any kind from Catawba County to have won three straight state championships.