Paul Brendle

Year Inducted: 2016

Paul Brendle starred in baseball and basketball at Cool Spring High School graduating in 1944. After serving two years in the US Navy, Brendle spent two years at Mitchell College playing baseball, basketball, tennis and football winning Most Athletic Award in 1947 and 1948. He then went to Catawba College where he pitched for two years. As an Indian, he played against Virginia Tech, Wofford, East Carolina, Appalachian, High Point and other colleges. Brendle was named to the All North State Conference baseball team in 1950.

He is one of the few who played for the Statesville Owls and the Mooresville Moors in the heyday of the old North Carolina State League. He was a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds-affiliated Owls in 1950 and 1951, hurled for the Mooresville Moors in 1952, and then returned to Statesville (by then the Statesville Sports) in 1953. When the Statesville team folded mid-season, he finished the season with the Hickory Rebels. He also pitched and was a utility man for the Dartmouth Arrows Baseball Club in Nova Scotia, Canada, for five seasons, winning the conference title every year. giving him a nine-year career in professional baseball.

He taught and coached baseball, and basketball at Cool Spring High from 1950-1966. After his star pupil Herman Starrette, a fellow Iredell County Sports Hall of Famer, went pro, he always rooted for whichever team “Herm” was on. He coached baseball at North Iredell 1966-1974. In 1977, he moved to South Iredell and won the conference and state runner-up in 1979, being named Coach of the Year for Western Piedmont Conference that year.