Ron Main, a 1949 Proctor graduate, died on August 26, 2021, at age 90.

Main lettered in football, basketball, baseball, tennis, and track as a Rails athlete. He then attended Augsburg College, the alma mater of his high school coach and mentor, Henry Chapman. His college studies were interrupted due to enlistment in the Army during the Korean War, but he returned to earn a degree in English literature and physical education. He furthered his education by earning master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota. His career included stints as a teacher and administrator at Columbia Heights and as principal at Robbinsdale Armstrong.

The Minnesota State High School League first sanctioned baseball in 1947, Main’s sophomore year at Proctor. The high school baseball season occurred in the summer for three years, 1947-49, before moving to the spring season in 1950.

Proctor, which offered baseball only once before, in 1938, became one of a handful of area schools to sponsor a team in 1947.

Main, playing shortstop, led the offense with two hits as Proctor defeated Two Harbors, 8-6, in the area’s first MSHSL game, played at Proctor on June 26, 1947. His older brother, Charley, a WWII veteran who also later served during the Korean War, earned the pitching win.

Proctor again took down Two Harbors, 14-3, in the first MSHSL District 26 playoffs game ever played, on August 1, 1947. The Main brothers combined for five hits, with Charley leading the way with three.

In 1948, “[Ron] Main did a splendid job in his first mound duty of his career. He gave up four scattered hits, while walking four and striking out seven,” reported the Proctor Journal of the 5-3 loss to Duluth Cathedral on June 15.

He picked up his first win on June 29, 1948, when Proctor defeated Two Harbors, 4-3. Main tossed a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts. He notched another win in the playoffs, with a two-hit shutout of Duluth Morgan Park on July 27. He also had two of the Rails’ four hits in the 2-0 win.

His first win of the 1949 season, after two losses, came on June 24 when he tossed a three-hitter to beat Duluth Central, 7-3. His season’s pitching record fell to 1-3 with a 5-0 loss to Cloquet. But then he got hot.

He had 14 strikeouts and threw the Rails baseball program’s first no-hitter on July 19, when Proctor downed Duluth Central, 7-1. He followed that with a one-hit shutout—1-0 vs. Morgan Park—on July 26. His third consecutive masterpiece gave Proctor a win in the District 26 quarterfinals for the third straight year. He tossed another shutout, this one a four-hitter with eight strikeouts, as the Rails beat Two Harbors, 3-0, on August 2.

Proctor lost in the district semifinals in all three of his varsity baseball seasons. Main made at least one state tournament appearance in a Rails uniform, however: He reached the semifinals of the state singles tennis tournament in June of 1949.

He is listed on the Augsburg baseball roster for the 1950 and ’51 seasons, the basketball roster for the 1950-51 season, and the 1951 football roster. Among his later athletic feats, he was named to the 1960 all-state tournament team for men’s fastpitch softball while playing for Columbia Heights.

His obituary states, “Ron was an avid athlete and lifelong Gopher and Auggie fan. He was kind hearted, humorous and his generosity knew no limits.”