Ronald "Ron" Renaud
Graduating class: 1978
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2023
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Ron Renaud was a member of the FHS Varsity Football team and saw enough playing time to score a key touchdown that helped secure a 14-6 victory at Durfee High School midway through his senior season in 1977. It turned out to be the only touchdown of his football career and came in the team’s final victory that season. The team would score just three touchdowns and a total of 22 points over the final five games of that 1977 season turning a hot 4-1 start into a rather not-so cool 4-5-1 overall record.
But in the spring there was nothing mediocre about the athletic Ronnie Renaud who was a dominant force on the baseball diamond. Pitching was his claim to fame, and in the Greater New Bedford area there was no better high school pitcher than the Fairhaven hard-throwing right hander. Ron Renaud established himself during his sophomore season when he struck out more than 80 hitters while compiling an earned run average of 1.90 on his way to fashioning a record of 8-2 to earn a spot on The Standard-Times All-Star Team. And this was just the beginning of his brilliant baseball career.
Following a better-than-solid junior season, Ron Renaud continued to dominate by going undefeated on the mound (8-0) while swinging the bat at a productive .380 clip to help power Fairhaven into the post season tournament. Following the season, he was a unanimous selection for The Standard-Times All-Star Team.
But all-star performances seemed to be the norm for the 5 foot 10 powerfully built right hander. Ron had raised eyebrows the summer before entering high school when he retired all 18 batters that he faced, striking out 14 of them, in leading his Morse Twist Drill team to a victory over the Panthers Club in a pony league game.
After putting the finishing touches on his high school baseball career, which included pitching Fairhaven to its only victory in the post season tournament, Ron was back on the mound a week later hurling his New Bedford Wallpaper team to an 8-1 win over the Exchange Club in a Greater New Bedford Teener League contest.
Ron went on to attend Southeastern Massachusetts University (as it was then named) in North Dartmouth, and continued to play baseball on the collegiate level. After leaving SMU he became a commercial fisherman, and unexpectedly passed away in 1989.