Linda Spieth was arriving at a softball tournament near Denver with her daughter Mo, chatting on the phone with friend John Gay. Spieth and Gay had coached the Vancouver Patriots girls fastpitch team together for five summers. Gay had moved to Kansas City, and hadn’t seen the Spieths for some time.
“We came over the hill and he was standing there. He drove all the way from Kansas City to Denver to watch Mo play,” Spieth recalled. “That’s just the way John was.”
Considered one of the best fastpitch softball pitching coaches in the nation, Gay died on March 11 at his Battle Ground home. He was 75. A memorial service is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Church of Christ Restored, 2602 N.W. 151st Street.
Five days prior to his death, he was inducted into the Vancouver Girls Softball Association Hall of Fame.
Gay’s reach went beyond Clark County. He instructed aspiring pitchers around Washington and beyond. His love for the sport began in his youth and continued during his time in the Navy. A truck driver by trade, Gay became an accomplished pitcher in his 30s.
His coaching career started with instructing his daughter and grew into a business, Complete Pitching Clinics.
Kim Anthony, the Skyview High softball coach, was coached by Gay beginning when she was 11. She remembers pitching clinics in the gym at the Marshall Community Center where 30 or more girls would attend.
It wasn’t only the pitching knowledge that made Gay successful, but the way he connected with the young girls he coached, Anthony said.
“He had the perfect balance of having expectations of you, but he was always able to do it with joy and passion,” Anthony said.
A coach herself for two decades, Anthony said she is still striving to connect with and impact young players the way that Gay did.
Linda Spieth said coaching the Patriots with Gay was a special collaboration. She recalled late night debates with Gay about the team.
“He was happy to be proven wrong, but boy you better bring your facts,” Spieth said. “He was a very factual man.”
At the time, Spieth said, her biggest beef with Gay was he had too much fun.
“He used to drive me crazy. I tend to be a little too hard-core and John loved to have fun,” she said, remembering that Gay demonstrated ball spin and angles by using basketball backboards in a gym, and that he often stayed after practice to play volleyball.
Gary Martin sought out Gay when his daughters expressed interest in learning to pitch. The men had a lot in common — including being truck drivers — and became friends. Martin sdescribed Gay as honest, genuine and always looking for phrases to inspire his students.
One of Gay’s phrases that stuck with Martin focused upon the mental approach to competition. It was: “If you think you can, you’re right. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.”
His drive from Kansas City to Denver to watch Mo Spieth play in a summer tournament demonstrated Gay’s dedication to the players he coached. And his generosity went beyond his time, Linda Spieth said.
“He has touched so many lives,” Spieth said. “It’s amazing that John had a shirt on his back when you met him because he gave every thing away. He was just known for being a fantastic guy and I will miss that friendship.”
