Year Inducted – 2014

Ron Spears is trained well to know the law of the land as a highly respected attorney in Akron. But the Kentucky native readily answers to an even higher court as a standout baseball player. Spears, who moved to Akron in 1997, has been a standout on the diamond and has been consistently playing the game he is so passionate about since he was a 7-year-old in Kentucky. He played football, basketball and baseball at such a high level that he received college athletic scholarship offers in all 3 sports after a stellar career at Madison County High School, where he also excelled academically and was salutatorian of his senior class and a Presidential Scholar. It was inevitable that Spears would narrow his athletic path to baseball. He accepted a scholarship from Eastern Kentucky University. He lettered 3 years at EKU and was named the Ohio Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete as a junior and senior. He earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science from EKU in 1992 and a master’s degree in public administration at EKU in 1994. He then earned his juris doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Law and became a practicing attorney. Despite his rigorous academic path, Spears never lost his passion for baseball. He has been a standout on several area teams during the past 17 seasons. He has been a 10-time all-star selection in the NEO-AAA and Greater Akron AA leagues. He won the Garcia Award in 2007 while playing for Wadsworth and was a Garcia finalist 4 other seasons. Spears was named George Sisler MVP of the Buckeye 18+ state championship tournaments in 2006. He was a key cog in Roy Hobbs championships in 4 seasons playing with the A’s and Knights. Spears also found time in his busy professional, family and athletic lives to join the Kent Roosevelt High School baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach.