Melissa Jones Tabor & Lynn "Lefty" Bridwell
Inducted to Hall of Fame September 2009

Melissa Jones Tabor
The best female golfer to ever compete in Crittenden County will be inducted into the Marion-Crittenden County Athletic Hall of Fame Friday.
Before she was old enough to play nine holes, Melissa Jones Tabor began developing a love for the game while riding on the back of her father’s pull-cart.
“He used to walk and pull his clubs and I would ride on the back of his clubs,” said Tabor, now principal of Crittenden County Elementary School.
Her father Bill, and her late mother, Bonnie Sue, lived adjacent to the Marion Country Club, where Tabor sharpened the golf skills that would take her to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Girls' State Golf Tournament five consecutive years, from 1976 through 1980.
She was back-to-back regional champion as a junior and senior, and was runnerup at the state tournament as a 12th grader. As an eighth grader and freshman, Tabor was regional runnerup while playing under coaches Joe McCord and Dale Kirk.
Her high school career helped land her a position on the women’s golf team at Western Kentucky University.
Not only was golf a competitive sport for Tabor, it was summertime entertainment for her and other children growing up in her neighborhood on Leland Avenue.
“We lived right there by the golf course, and there were a lot of the kids in the neighborhood who played golf,” Tabor said. “Girls’ golf wasn’t promoted that much back then, but my dad always encouraged me to play and was such an advocate for girls' golf.
“I played in matches against the boys, played from the boys tees, which was a good way to practice because at regionals I played from the ladies tees.”
Tabor played two years at Western before transferring to Murray State, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in elementary education. She was second and third seed on the WKU team, which competed against several schools in the Southeastern portion of the United States.
When she transferred to Murray, Tabor gave up collegiate golf and focused on finishing her education. She eventually returned to Crittenden County as a fourth-grade teacher.
Tabor also coached the Crittenden County High School golf team for 14 years, a position she said allowed her to give back to a program that meant so much to her as a youngster.
There was a time when Tabor thought about pursuing a career as a professional golfer; and, in fact, within the last 10 years she was encouraged to re-consider that potential career.
Shooting sub-par golf has always come easy to Tabor, who as an adult has numerous amateur tournament titles under her belt, some of which came in couples play with her father, Bill, and her husband, Jat.
Today, Tabor lives on the opposite side of the same golf course where she grew up and perfected her long drive and deft short game. Still today, with very little practice, Tabor can pick up her clubs, stroll onto the course behind her house and hit the ball long and straight en route to an easy par round.
“I have been blessed,” she said. “God gives us all talents, and I think He gave me a gift to play golf. It is something I enjoy so much.
“I have developed many friendships over the years while playing golf. It has also been fun playing with my dad, my son, and my husband.”
Tabor is honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. In fact, she is the first female to be inducted into the group which now includes all Crittenden County sports.

Lynn "Lefty" Bridwell
For the first few years of his life, Lynn Bridwell grew up in the small community of Cedar Grove in eastern Livingston County.
Even in those early years, Bridwell began to play baseball and he concentrated on the art of pitching.
“I learned to do that by throwing rocks in the river,” he said with a chuckle.
After his father bought a farm in Crittenden County in 1950, Bridwell crossed the line with a strong desire to keep playing the sport he grew to love.
While playing little league baseball during the 1950 season, the future Marion Blue Terror pitched the first game of his long and storied career, defeating a youth team from Paducah 2-1.
Bridwell began to discover that his command of pitches and ball movement were his strengths.
“Most people couldn't hit a curveball then,” said Bridwell, who now lives in Eureka Springs, Ark.
During his junior season at Marion High School, Bridwell began to dominate opposing hitters, tossing a no-hitter against Uniontown. During that contest, he narrowly missed throwing a perfect game, facing 23 batters – only two above the minimum.
During that same season, Bridwell pitched a two-hitter in a Fifth District semifinal game and a one-hitter against Murray High in the Second Region championship. Unfortunately, Bridwell and his Blue Terror team would drop that game on a controversial balk call.
His senior season at Marion was also sensational. He threw a one-hitter to start the year and tossed the second no-hitter of his prep career against Lyon County.
According to the KHSAA record book, the former Blue Terror was the only high school pitcher to ever record two no-hitters until 1972. Some 37 years later, Bridwell is one of just 17 pitchers in the state of Kentucky to accomplish that hard feat.
The southpaw played summer baseball against legendary Murray State coach Johnny Reagan, who would end up serving as Bridwell’s college coach.
Bridwell’s 19 career wins ranks sixth on Murray State’s career list and he believes it would have been more if they had played more games. While college baseball teams now play nearly every day, he said in those days the Thoroughbreds only saw action twice a week.
“I probably started every game,” he said.
Bridwell led Murray State in wins in 1960 and 1961. He ranks second in career ERA at 1.31 and he recorded 197 strikeouts, which is fourth on the MSU all-time list. The southpaw led the ’Breds in strikeouts and innings pitched for three seasons and was named to the 1960 All-Ohio Valley Conference Team.
One of his favorite moments was capturing the OVC regular-season championship in 1961 when MSU upended Middle Tennessee the last weekend of the season.
During his senior season at Murray, Bridwell went to Nashville to try out in front of some professional scouts. The Minnesota Twins signed him to a pro contract and assigned him to Nashville’s farm club. Afterwards, he was assigned to a minor league team in Virginia. He racked up an impressive 9-1 professional record and was selected to the Southern All-Star Team.
After his only season in pro baseball, Bridwell decided to enter graduate school at the University of Illinois.
“I think I made the right decision. We’ve come a long way since those days,” he said.
Bridwell is honored to be recognized for his athletic accomplishments.
“It kind of solidifies the memories we made along the way. There’s been a lot of talented athletes come out of Crittenden County,” he said
Bridwell went on to serve on the Murray State faculty for 20 years, teaching physics. He currently operates a resort hotel in Arkansas.