Hall of Fame
Doug Ragsdale came to Western New Mexico University in the fall of 1968 on an academic scholarship where 35-40 freshmen showed up to play football. After running a mile in full pads, a bunch of the players ended up going home. He got a chance to start when a senior dislocated his ankle in practice. He wound up starting four games at guard and played on special teams. Coach Al Johnson asked him if he wanted to play baseball in the spring. He jumped at the chance to play baseball and ended up starting in the outfield and moved to catcher about midway through the year when a senior ahead of him got hurt. Hit his first college home run at College of Artesia with his parents in attendance. Posted a win against ENMU at home, which was great because Ragsdale had played with many of those players in summer ball and he contributed in the win knocking two hits.
During his sophomore year of 1969-1970, the football coaching change brought a lot of new faces. Doug would start at inside linebacker and intercepted a pass against New Mexico Highlands. WNMU led the NAIA in kickoff return yards that year. Building off that year paid off the following year for the football squad. The baseball seemed bigger and slower that year, coming away with six hits in four consecutive double headers, including a walk-off two run homer to beat NMSU. He would go on to hit .400 that season.
As a junior in 1970-1971, it was a milestone year in WNMU football. The team won the RMAC Mountain Division Championship and played in the NAIA playoffs. He started at nose guard, and collected a sack against the Oklahoma Panhandle State quarterback for a safety. The Mustangs beat perennial RMAC powers Adams State and Western State. New baseball coach and new approach. He came away with five hits in a doubleheader against UTEP. We ended Lubbock Christian's 23 game winning streak and beat Grand Canyon one game.
In his final year as a senior in 1971-1972, there were lots of new faces due to graduation. Defense played strong, offense was young. He ended up starting at center for four years, and four different positions. While at center with a freshman quarterback, they went the whole season without a fumble. They scored twice in the fourth quarter to come from behind and win the last game of the season against Southern Utah. Another new baseball coach would follow for his last turn through. It became tough to play and student teach at the same time. He had three hits, but Sam was amazing in a 10 inning loss to NMSU. Coach Shanahan would later ask him to serve as a Graduate Assistant. He would later meet and marry Cheryl which would set them off on 40 years of teaching and coaching. Thank You, Western.
