DEPEW, N.Y. — The Depew baseball community is remembering a local legend, baseball coach Dennis Crawley.
Family of Crawley, and the Depew Union Free School District had shared the sad news that he had passed away on Tuesday, August 6.
Crawley led the team to their first state title all while battling ALS. He would've turned 55-years-old on Tuesday, August 13.
Dennis Crawley was diagnosed with ALS in August of 2021, but even as his conditions got worse, he decided to continue his passion which was being on the field, coaching baseball to his players.
During his last year coaching at Depew, coach Crawley led his team to win the district's first-ever state title, in any sport. He also led the Depew Wildcats to two division championships and a sectional title in June of 2023.
In 2022, coach Crawley was inducted into the Western New York Baseball Hall of Fame.
Crawley's ALS diagnosis made him the 27th member of his family to battle the disease.
Watch the full story below:
A GoFundMe has been created to help Crawley's family during this time. It can be found by clicking here.