Gaston County Trailblazer

Willie Gillispie is considered a pioneer in Gaston County, and he began blazing trails in the mid-1960s, well before he arrived at Gaston College.

Gillispie, along with Elmore Hill, became the first African-American players in N.C. Legion baseball in the summer of 1964. In 1965-66, Gillispie continued his pioneering efforts as a multi-sport athlete at old Dallas High, while continuing to play in the Legion league in the summers.

He continued to break barriers when he enrolled in Gaston’s new nursing program to forge a career path. “What brought me here was the nursing school,” Gillispie said. “And Gaston College really helped me secure a career in that profession.”

Gillispie’s decision to attend Gaston College reunited him with Hugh “Buzz” Peeler, a legendary Cherryville American Legion Post 100 and Lenoir-Rhyne baseball pitcher, who was originally his Gastonia American Legion Post 23 baseball head coach.

Peeler, who served as Gaston College’s director of adult education in addition to coaching baseball, recruited Gillispie to play for the college’s first baseball team in 1968. “When Buzz was the first baseball coach at Gaston College, I started playing,” Gillispie recalled. “He recruited kids from all over the area. The first team that Gaston College had was mostly local players from Cherryville, Shelby, and Gastonia, and we played on the south end of campus. The infield wasn’t bad, but the outfield didn’t have a fence. It was just an open field.”

After taking classes for a year, Gillispie enlisted in the military and worked for a U.S. military hospital. “I was a medic,” he explained. “I worked on the flight line at Chanute Air Force Base (in Rantoul, Ill.) where we picked up the wounded guys from Vietnam. What would happen is if a guy got wounded in Vietnam, they tried to get them near a base that was near their family.”

During his time in Illinois, Gillispie received permission from a military official to play in the independent professional Eastern League for four years. A left-handed hitter, he won three league batting titles. In 2010, a book about the league’s history named him the sixth-best player in its 75-year existence.

Gillispie returned to the area and Gaston College in 1972 and completed his Gaston College degree in 1973. He then embarked on a 41-year career as a nurse at the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in Salisbury.

While working as a nurse, Gillispie became a player-coach for a semipro baseball team in Gaston County. He coached several notable players, including Gaston College’s first major league draft pick Alan Lindsay of Cherryville, future major league All-Star pitcher Kevin Millwood, and longtime Bessemer City High baseball coach Mike Mahaffey.

In 2015, Gillispie was inducted into the N.C. American Legion Hall of Fame in Salisbury, alongside his 1964 teammate Hill. His accolades continued with his induction into the Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

“It’s a great honor for me,” Gillispie said of his 2024 induction ceremony held at Gastonia’s Conference Center. “There’s a lot of people that deserve to be in the Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame. What I accomplished in Gaston County is very important to me because I love Gaston County – and I had a lot of help.”