On Saturday October 26 the Rainy River District Fastball League RRDFL held its year end awards banquet in Rainy River at the Rainy River Legion.
The night was a special one for the Nosan family of Baudette as the League chose Doug Nosan as the newest member of the RRDFL Hall of Fame.
Nosan started his fastpitch career in Hibbing, MN during his high school days as a catch- er for Jasper Engineering. In 1973, after moving to Baudette MN, he formed the Baudette Legion fastpitch team where he played for over 20 years. Over the years, Nosan played on the Baudette Legion team with all three of his sons.
After tearing his bicep while pitching in Stratton, Nosan retired from playing and found a way to remain in the game he loved by coaching and umpiring both in Baudette and in the Rainy River District Fastball League.
He was selected Section 8A Softball Coach of the year in 2003 when he led the Lake of the Woods High School team to the State Tournament.
Nosan’s love of the game has produced three sons who were active with their local fastpitch squads, and two granddaughters who went on to play Division 1 softball in College. His natural qualities as a mentor and coach were put to use when he helped the RRDFL organize teams to compete in various North American Fast- pitch Association tournaments.
Nosan was awarded the All Star Catcher award in 1975, one of the years that his Baudette team was crowned the regular season champions (1975, 1977)
RRDFL commissioner Vaughan Wilson praised Nosan’s many contributions to the league.
“We like to make decisions by committee on Hall of Fame inductees and Doug is a unanimous shoe-in,” he said. “We consider things like outstanding talent, longevity, contributions to our league as a builder or volunteer, and sportsmanship. With Doug, you could just take your pick, he was an all star catcher, a founder of the Baudette Legion team in 1972, an active player for over two decades, an umpire, a coach, and a mentor to so many of us. Probably the biggest contribution that Doug ever made was introducing our league to the phenom that is his daughter, Shelby.”
