“I just wanted to tell you how important you were to me as a person and as a baseball player,” Eaton said.
“Enjoy this day,” Beals said. “You’ve earned it. You bleed Cougar ball like no one else.”
That was true for nearly half of Fitzwater’s life. He died on Sunday at 85, having spent 40 seasons with the team. He assisted first Tom Randall, who retired after the 2007 season, and then Aaron Shaffer, the coach of the Cougars since 2008. Fitzwater was the first base coach for most of the 40 seasons.
“I love Kenton Ridge baseball,” Fitzwater said in 2010. “This is my family. These are the people I love.”
Shaffer said Fitzwater wasn’t able to get around this past season as well as he used to, but he was still involved.
“You could see our guys really light up when he came to practice,” Shaffer said. “He just has a way of lightening the mood and getting everybody ready to go. They loved having him around.”
Kenton Ridge surprised Fitzwater by retiring his number. Shaffer told him, “You deserve it more than anybody.”
“He’s kind of been the face of the program for 40 years,” Shaffer said. “This was year 40. It’s crazy. That’s just a long time to do anything. He was dedicated to the program and dedicated to our players. He had a unique ability calm any situation. That’s what he did very well.”
Fitzwater was inducted into the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011 in his 26th season at Kenton Ridge. His late twin brother, Amos, who died in 2003, was honored at the same time.
Amos and Andy were nicknames. Their real names were Ronald and Donald, and they were profiled by the Springfield News-Sun in a story about twins in 1981. Both then worked for Kelsey-Hayes, Speco Division Steel Products. Andy worked there for 32 years, according to his obituary, and spent five years at the International Harvester Company.
Amos and Andy started umpiring together around the time they graduated from Springfield High School in 1959. Amos kept umpiring until 1994, while Andy joined Randall’s staff in 1985.
Credit: Submitted photo
Credit: Submitted photo
During Fitzwater’s long tenure, the Cougars sent four players to the big leagues: Dave Burba; Dustin Hermanson; Rick White; and Eaton, who won a World Series championship with the Washington Nationals in 2019, 12 years after losing in the state championship game in Randall’s final game as coach.
Fitzwater experienced state final four appearances with Kenton Ridge baseball in 1989, 2007 and 2008. He also coached the KR boys golf team for many years.
Randall said compassion was Fitzwater’s strength.
“He was one of those guys that if the kid was down, he’d be the first one to wrap his arm around him and say, ‘Hey, things are going to get better,’” Randall said. “Or if things were positive, he was going to be the first one to high five that kid and say, ‘Great job.’ He was really a buffer between myself and the team. He could communicate very well with the kids. They admired him, and they listened to him, and he had a good eye as far as baseball.”
Fitzwater is survived by his wife of 44 years, Carolyn, four children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A visitation for Fitzwater will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Conroy Funeral Home. A mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Raphael.
Credit: Staff photo by David Jablonski
Credit: Staff photo by David Jablonski
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