Whiteville, NC – Robert Linwood Hedgpeth passed away on November 6, 2024, at Shoreland Health & Retirement Center.

Coach Hedgepeth graduated from Pembroke State University in 1964 as an NAIA all-region baseball player. After finishing up his playing days, Hedgepeth began his legendary baseball coaching career in 1967 at Massey Hill High School and moved to Hallsboro High School in 1969, where he won two NCHSAA State Championships and seven conference championships. He was head coach at Whiteville High School from 1980-1989. where he’d make his mark on the community forever. At Whiteville, he won nine conference championships and three NCHSAA State Championships, which brought him into an elite category of five-time State Championship winners. Winning followed Coach Hedgepeth wherever he went, and his legacy remains intertwined with the Whiteville community. During his time in Whiteville, he compiled a record of 226-64, produced around 40 college players, and was the main feature in Sport Magazine’s article deeming Whiteville as Baseball Town USA. Hedgepeth was inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the UNC Pembroke Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

He was a member of the 2024 NCHSAA Hall of Fame class.