High school baseball: Donah remembered for coaching, teaching ability, sense of humor
Sep. 17—POTSDAM — Potsdam Central School varsity baseball coach and teacher Chris Donah accomplished many athletic achievements before his death Tuesday afternoon.
But Donah, who died at his residence at the age of 54, is also fondly remembered by former players, students and teammates, for what he was like as a person.
Among Donah's athletic achievements was guiding the Sandstoners to the state baseball Class C championship game in 2017 and helping the St. Lawrence University Golf Course win the Northern New York Six-Man Golf team title.
"Mr. Donah was a great teacher and baseball coach, but he also changed the lives of many students," said Potsdam alumnus Riley Clark, who didn't play baseball but knew Donah as a teacher. "He helped kids with learning disabilities understand things much better and clearer. If kids needed help with a subject, he would make sure they could master it by the end of the year."
Donah graduated from Potsdam High School in 1984 and played collegiate baseball at Onondaga Community College and also attended South Carolina Aiken. He went 9-0 for South Carolina Aiken in 1987 but a shoulder injury interupted his season in 1988. He finished his college career with a 33-3 record.
Donah earned a master's degree in sports medicine at Ithaca College and was a graduate assistant.
After college, he became a top pitcher in the old Northern Valley Baseball League. Donah was named the league's most valuable pitcher in 1990 and helped lead Norfolk to a fifth straight title in 1991.
"Coach Donah was involved in my life since I started playing junior ball," said Mark Maroney, one of his former baseball players at Potsdam. "He always was there for us to talk to and check in on how we were doing. He was a fair baseball coach with lots of knowledge of the game. I looked at him as a mentor growing up in school and he helped guide our team through all the ups and downs. I have many great memories from him on the baseball field with all my friends. He will be missed."
Before working at his alma-mater, Donah also worked at Harrisville, Gouverneur and Hermon-DeKalb. He also taught in the Potsdam middle school.
Donah drew the most notice on the baseball diamond, but he also was a standout golfer and a former club champion at the SLU golf course.
He helped the course end a long drought at the Six-Man championship when he and his teammates won the 2014 championship on their home course.
"Chris was such a gentle giant," said SLU member Aaron Jones, who coaches boys basketball and golf at Madrid-Waddington. "He was a big man with such great hands. He could hit the ball a long way but he had such great touch around the greens."
Jones said he played many rounds of golf with Donah over the years and added, "I always enjoyed being around Chris, whether it was playing golf with him or just hanging out. He was a lot of fun and there was always a great chatter and he had a wonderful sense of humor.
"Chris was also a great competitor. You knew when the club championship or qualifying for our (Six-Man) team came around that he would be there in the mix. He hated to lose and always found a way to get it done."
Donah's funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Stables at Windy Point on the Sissonville Road in Potsdam, conducted by the Rev. Robert Schirmer. Following the service Donah will be buried at the Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam.
