Wednesday,
October 5, 2005
FORMER
BLUE HOSE BASEBALL PLAYER CURTIS BELL TO BE INDUCTED
INTO CLINTON, S.C. — The late Curtis Bell a 2004 graduate of Presbyterian College will be inducted the Gilbert High School Hall of Fame this weekend, announced today by school officials. The ceremony will take place at 7:00 pm at “Tomahawk Stadium” prior Gilbert’s football game with Swansea High School. |
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Each year during the fall new inductees are honored into the
Athletic Hall of Fame and usually it is an alumnus at least 15
years from graduation date but Bell was nominated and selected
to be included this year.
Bell, a native of Gilbert, S.C., was the starting third
baseman for the Blue Hose during the 2004 season. He died in
October of 2004 when the T-6 Texan airplane he was piloting
crashed in Lexington County. He was 22 years old.
Bell was a three-sport letterman (football, basketball, baseball)
at Gilbert. During his prep career he earned “Best Offensive
Player” and All-Tournament Team War Horse Classic on the
basketball team; “Best Defensive Player”, Sandlapper
Classic All Academic Team, All Region, All Area, North-South
All Star during his baseball career and played cornerback,
wide-receiver, and backup QB on the football team. He was a
national nominee for the Wendy’s Heisman Award as was
selected as the “Most Athletic” during his senior year.
A physics major at Presbyterian College, Bell minored in
both business and math, and was the epitome of the PC
scholar-athlete. As
the starting third baseman for the 2004 Blue Hose baseball
team, Bell hit .362 with four home runs and 44 RBI to earn
first team All-South Atlantic Conference honors. He also was named first team Academic All-America and SAC
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for baseball after posting a
3.94 grade point average in the classroom. He was named to the
SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll during all eight semesters he
attended PC.
A licensed pilot, Bell was a third-generation
aviator. He
had flown since the age of 13 and logged more than 2,000 hours
as a pilot. Bell soloed in a glider at age 14 and held the
North Carolina record for altitude in a glider. He and his
father, Don Bell, owner of Bell Aviation in Columbia, S.C.,
crossed the Atlantic together. Curtis also soloed to numerous
cities in the United States, and flew the family’s vintage
airplanes in shows and exhibitions across the U.S.
He was both instrument and multi-engine rated, and earned
his instructor rating in 2001 to spend his summers teaching
others to fly. His talents were profiled in 2002 in the
Presbyterian College Magazine and last
June on Fox Sports’ national “NCAA on Campus”
television show.