Oconee nuclear worker keeps baseball tradition alive

Weekdays security officer Hugh Gorie watches over the Oconee Nuclear Station. On selected weekends, Gorie helps keep alive a South Carolina tradition of community baseball. South Carolina likely will never have a Major League team, but the state has a long tradition with the sport. At 52 years old, Gorie is one of the oldest players in the Community All-Star Baseball League which includes teams from Newberry, Lancaster, and Lexington, and follows an April to September schedule. The Pomaria native spent part of his early childhood watching three uncles play for the Newberry team. Gorie played in his first game at 13 years old, when one of teams came up a player short. And, all these years later, he’s still playing. Gorie’s and the story of the Community All-Star Baseball League is a story worth telling during Black History Month. Seven out of 10 league players are African American.