TIFTON — In 24 years as the coach of the baseball team at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tom Moody watched a lot of great players pick up their bat and head to the plate for the Golden Stallions. But he never saw a player who hit like Chuck DeVane.

“To my recollection, he was the only player who ever hit over .400 both years he played for us,” Moody recalled in a recent interview. “He could really swing the bat.”

DeVane, a former Valdosta resident who now lives in Hot Springs, Ark., will be honored at ABAC’s Museum of Agriculture Conference Room on April 6 when he joins five other individuals and one team when they are inducted into the 2018 class of the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame.

DeVane, a Lowndes High graduate who excelled in football and baseball with the Vikings, hit .428 for the Golden Stallions as a freshman during the 1981 season. He had 59 hits including seven doubles, four triples and five home runs. DeVane also had 46 runs batted in.

“Coach Moody taught me how to hit,” DeVane, now the pastor of the Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, said. “I learned a lot from him.”

DeVane swung another hot bat in 1982 when he again led the Stallions with a .409 average including 47 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 21 runs batted in. He was named All-Conference and All-Region XVII in both his freshman and sophomore years.

Moving back to Valdosta to play for the Valdosta State Blazers proved to be an easy transition for DeVane in 1983. With a phenomenal .433 average, he led Valdosta State in hitting with 81 hits including 12 doubles seven home runs and 36 runs batted in. DeVane was All-Conference and made the prestigious NCAA Division II All-America team for Coach Tommy Thomas’ squad, which finished with a 45-14-l overall record.

As a senior, DeVane continued to hit the ball at a solid clip, rolling up a .338 average with 54 hits including 11 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 17 runs batted in for Valdosta State.

DeVane remembers those glory days on the diamond but he remembers another day even more.

“In January of 1982, I received Jesus as my Savior,” DeVane said. “That changed my life forever.”

Besides DeVane, who played baseball for ABAC from 1980 through 1982, ABAC Athletics Director Alan Kramer said the 2018 class includes the 1982 state championship men’s basketball team, Luis Paredes from the 1974-76 men’s tennis teams, Teresa Cromer Walker from the 1993-95 softball teams, Jorge Novoa, a friend of the tennis program since 1972; Jenni Collins Smith from the 1980-82 women’s basketball teams and Andy Vaughn from the 1981-83 golf teams.

As an extra added attraction to the Hall of Fame ceremony this year, Polly Huff, assistant director and curator at the Museum, will feature an entire exhibit based on ABAC athletics titled “The Glory Days” in the Museum Gallery. Hall of Fame members can visit the exhibit at a 5 p.m. reception prior to dinner. The exhibit will then open to all ABAC alumni and the public on April 7 as a part of the Homecoming Weekend.

For more information on the 2018 Homecoming Week, interested persons can visit the web site at www.abac.edu/homecoming.