Carroll Ray “Rocky” Bridges was a larger-than-life athlete in Du Quoin sports history
Editor's Note: Du Quoin native Carroll Ray "Rocky" Bridges, 76, of Chester died last Thursday. He is buried in Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Du Quoin. Fred Huff has taken the time to remember a great athlete and a great man in this story about a life well-lived.
The marker on Carroll "Rocky" Bridges' grave won't tell the entire story. No way it'll be large enough as he achieved so much in his relatively short life that ended recently in the same lifestyle he followed. Quiet. Unassuming. Shying away from the limelight. Always looking for a spot in the back row come picture time.
That's why we thought it was the proper thing to do to tell more about Carroll "Rocky" Bridges' life as a standout baseball player. After all, many folks were just kids -- or not even born yet -- when "Rocky" was doing his thing for Du Quoin High School's Indians and later Southern Illinois University's Salukis.
Baseball, now a major part of the sports landscape at DTHS, was not initiated until 1947. That's when a senior by the name of Jim Werner proved that speakers could also excel in sports. A member of Paul Hibbs' storied speech teams, Werner led the baseball team with a .475 batting average as the Indians won 10, lost 7 in their initial season.
The program progressed during the early years with more prominent names like Henry Justice, Jack Opp, Bernard Martin and Bob Miller starring on the 1948 team which won 10 and lost just twice while reaching the sectional finals, Eddie Coleman, Don Degenhardt, Bob Keeler and Ed Voice leading the way to a 14-5 season in 1949, Gene Anderson, Dan Dudas and Gene Williams playing major roles in 1950 when the team won 17 of 22 games and its first trip to the state tournament.
In 1951 Don Wall completed a stellar pitching career for Du Quoin with a 7-2 record which matched his first two years with the Indians who were establishing themselves as the premier high school team in the area. Raymond Halstead matched Wall's 7-2 mark in 1952 when Dudas and Wayne Williams were completing their fine prep careers with .346 and .317 batting averages.
It was in 1953 that a freshman by name of "Rocky" Bridges from Sunfield arrived on the scene, won the starting job at third-base and established himself as the finest hitter in Du Quoin's history.
After a .146 freshman season, Bridges posted a .422 average in 1954 when the Indians won 19 of 22 games and hit .414 in 1955 when Du Quoin again won 19 games. As a senior Bridges slipped slightly below the .400 mark, hitting .380 on the Indians' 22-4 team which won their first game ever at the state tournament before losing in the second round to Lane Tech.
In doing so, Bridges became the first DTHS player ever to lead his teammates three consecutive years in hitting. Years later we left our job at the Du Quoin Evening Call to take a position with SIU's athletic department so we no longer possess records after 1960. "Rocky" may still own the distinction.
At SIU, Bridges continued his success story. He was the Salukis' second leading hitter in 1957 with a .320 average, the third with a .330 mark in 1958 and the best with a .342 mark in 1959. His senior year -- in 1960 -- he again led his teammates with a .350 average and his 41 hits were second most ever in SIU's baseball history.
The all-time leader, incidentally, in this department was Elkville's Roger Buyan who had 48 in 1959.
After his playing career, Bridges spent most of his life as a do-everything athletics administrator at Chester High School. And, yes, there's more to the story, but again, his stone has space limitations.