LDHS’s Prescott inducted into SCBCA Hall of Fame

It was hardly a business-as-usual family weekend for the Prescotts.

First, retired Laurens District High School baseball coach Ed Prescott was inducted into the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame Thursday night during a ceremony held at The Cotton Press in Little Mountain.

And on Friday, Prescott and wife Peggy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Both events were family affairs for the Prescotts.

“It was very, very well organized, and it was nice to have the family so it was an awards night that was very, very well organized, and it was nice to be able to have your family – your children and grandchildren, so it was a very special occasion,” Prescott said.

Prescott was part of a SCBCA Hall of Fame Class of 2026 that also included Andy Hallett of A.C. Flora, Jack Jolly of Dorman and Eddie Hill of Rock Hill.

Clinton all-state catcher Luke Young was also honored as the Class 2A Co-Player of the Year along with Atlantic Collegiate outfielder/pitcher Logan Newcomb.

Prescott retired from LDHS in 2005 after leading the Raiders for 28 seasons and to state championships in 1983 and 1990. In 1990, LDHS was ranked No. 3 in the nation and finished with a 26-1 record. Prescott, who collected more than 420 wins as head coach, was named state

Baseball Coach of the Year by several organizations, including the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association and SCBCA in 1990.

LDHS’s baseball field is named for Prescott, an enduring reminder to his legacy with the Raiders.

Although retired for over 20 years, Prescott, who was inducted into the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame in 2025, has never strayed too far from the game.

“It’s awfully humbling – I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve been out of it,” he said. “Of course, I was keeping track when Dale Nelson (Prescott’s successor at LDHS) was coach and keeping current with (current LDHS head coach) Torie Patterson. It’s just a real enjoyable experience to still be in contact with it. I have a grandson who’s playing (Raiders) C-Team, so I’m around the facility and the coaches and the players who are currently playing whose dads were part of the program years ago. It’s just a very gratifying experience.”

Patterson said Prescott took a chance on him, inserting Patterson into the Raiders’ starting lineup as a seventh-grader in 2005, Prescott’s final year as LDHS’s head coach. Patterson went on to play five seasons under Nelson and took over as the Raiders head coach in 2017.

“I’ll always thank him for giving me an opportunity to play at the varsity level – not a lot of coaches would take a chance on a middle schooler, but he did,” Patterson said. “I think the way we play baseball started back with Coach Prescott and then Dale Nelson carried that on. I like to think I coach the same way that they did, and we’re the same type of team – disciplined and playing hard, just a scrappy ball team that isn’t going to quit.”

Prescott said he has reflected on nearly 50 years in the game in Laurens since his election into the SCBCA Hall of Fame.

“I said this in most of my responses to the Hall of Fame stuff – I just hope everybody realizes the bond that these guys and these kids are making,” he said. “Even at the coach’s pitch level, they’ll remember stuff (while) they forget about algebra, geometry and whatever. They’ll remember their baseball teammates or certain things that happen. It’s fun, and it’s wholesome to have those kinds of memories.”