Q.V. Lowe to be inducted into WSHOF on Aug. 2

Q.V. Lowe doesn’t want any credit for his success as a baseball coach and player.
Born in Red Level and a former Auburn standout, Lowe will be one of nine inducted into the 2014 Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame on Sat., Aug. 2, at the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan.

“I am very honored and humbled,” Lowe said. “You never start out thinking about being in the Hall of Fame or being honored by anybody. You just doe what you love to do and that’s baseball.

“Fortunately for me, I had a lot of good players and a lot of good players playing with me at Auburn and Gulf Coast Community College, and they’ll have to get the credit,” he said. “I respect them for what they did back then and through the years. I am extremely honored, and I accept the honor on the part of the players who played for me and all the guys who played with me.”

Lowe was a junior college All-American at GCCC before pitching at Auburn, where he compiled a 23-3 record in two years, leading the Tigers to the college World Series in 1967. He was named SEC Player of the Year, All-American and member of the Auburn Tigers Walk of Fame.

After college, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played several seasons at Wrigley Field before playing stints for the New York Yankees and Montreal Expos organizations.

As a coach, Lowe was a head coach at LBWCC for seven years before leaving in 1986 to build the Auburn University at Montgomery baseball program, where he’s been for the last 28 seasons. He will retire officially on July 31.

While at AUM, Lowe compiled a 1,063-586-5 record, and led the team to the NAIA World Series three times and won six conference titles.

Additionally, Lowe was inducted into the Alabama Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005 and the NAIA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2011.

Lowe left Red Level and moved to Ocala, Fla. when he was 3 years old. However, the former coach said he still has a lot of kin folks who live in the RL area.

When asked what about the game of baseball that kept him in it for so long, Lowe said it’s his absolute love of the game.

“It’s also the love of the kids and trying to be a role model for them,” he said. “I wanted to help young men keep their life straightened out and going in the right direction.”

Lowe said he had no idea he’d be inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame.
“I never thought that Red Level was a part of the Wiregrass,” he quipped.

Age and making sure the AUM program stays within a coaching system he founded were the main reasons why he retired recently.

“I just felt he was right to being him (new AUM head coach Marty Lovrich, who was a long-time assistant for Lowe) back so I can keep all of my ex-players and coaches involved with the program,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful ride.”