Furfari At-Large: Harold Lorenz
September 08, 2003 12:19 PM | General
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August 30, 2003
Harold "Zip" Lorenz, who played football and baseball for WVU in the late 1930s, is still enjoying life at age 90.
He was a quarterback on the gridiron and a left fielder on the diamond, earning three letters in each sport. He graduated in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.
Lorenz served 31 years at Charles Town High (now Jefferson) in various roles. From 1941-58, he coached football, basketball and track and also started the baseball program. Then, after a six-year stint as sales representative for a paper mill, he returned to CTHS as athletic director and assistant principal for 17 years.
He has been retired since 1978.
Lorenz still resides in that community with his wife, the former Jean Marie Davis of Keyser.
He credits her with keeping him in amazingly good health. "She's a heckuva good nurse," he said recently. "She watches me like a hawk."
While listed as a quarterback, Lorenz actually was a blocking back in the old single wing style of play. "He was a fine player," teammate Sam Pinion recalls.
The two played together on the highly successful 1937 team that posted an 8-1-1 record. The Mountaineers capped that season with a 7-6 upset of Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl on Jan. 1, 1938, at El Paso, Texas.
WVU had a 6-4 mark in 1936 and was 4-5-1 in 1938.
Freshmen weren't eligible for varsity competition during that period. But the first-year athletes organized and played a few games.
Lorenz had the distinction of playing for Coach Marshall "Little Sleepy" Glenn as a freshman, then again as a junior and senior. Charles C. "Trusty" Tallman was his coach as a sophomore.
"I really enjoyed playing for 'Little Sleepy'," Lorenz said. "He was a perfectionist. Anything imperfect, or almost, didn't go with him at all. I loved the man."
In 1940, Dr. Glenn started practicing medicine in Charles Town. And he was instrumental in the hiring of Lorenz as coach there.
"Sam Pinion was a salesman for Wilson Sporting Goods, and he stopped here to see Dr. Glenn," Lorenz explained. "He told Sam that Charles Town was looking for a new coach, and Sam said I might be interested."
Lorenz had coached two years at Pennsboro High, with his football teams winning 19 of 20 games.
Records aren't available, but his Charles Town teams fared well in competition against larger schools such as Martinsburg, Keyser, Hagerstown (Md.) and Winchester (Va.). They regularly won the sectional basketball tournament and his 1950 baseball team finished as state runner-up.
The immortal Ira Errett Rodgers was his WVU baseball coach. Lorenz excelled in hitting and fielding on teams that compiled 12-10, 5-10 and 8-7 records.
WVU baseball statistics go back only to 1939, his senior year. Those show that Lorenz batted 20-for-56 for a .357 average. He scored 23 runs, drove in eight, and had a team-high 17 walks for 15 games.
"After coming to Charles Town, I had the privilege of coaching Dr. Glenn's son Walter," Lorenz recalled. "He was an outstanding player here in football and basketball."
During one stretch, Lorenz coached baseball and track along with football and basketball.
"We had some pretty good teams," he said. "I don't know what the number would be, but I coached quite a few kids in athletics and taught quite a few in the classroom. The attitude of the kids was good, and they all turned out well.
"I really enjoyed my career. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Lorenz has two grown children, John of Martinsburg and Jean L. Johnson of Washington; a step-daughter, Jan Roth; and a grandson, John Jr.
