By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Aaron Rimer spent the weekend in South Bend, Ind., crossing a trip to see Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish win a home football game off his bucket list.
“Notre Dame was awesome, but there were a whole lot of people up there,” said Rimer, who experienced a jam-packed Chicago airport. “If we’d known the Cubs were going to be in the World Series, we would’ve scheduled a different week.”
Rimer’s bucket list still includes winning a baseball high school state championship, and that could happen in the near future. He reached the 2A state-championship series as a player at North Rowan in 2000.
North’s coach the last six seasons, Rimer (and wife Maria) will be leaving Rowan County in November to start a new life on the North Carolina coast. Rimer has been approved as the head coach at Topsail High, which boasts one of the state’s stoutest 3A baseball programs.
Topsail, located between Wilmington and Jacksonville, won the 3A title in 2014, won 25 games in 2015, and then reached the state-championship series in 2016 while operating under an interim coach (Chris Blake).
“It’s a nice area to live in — not really touristy yet,” Rimer said. “And my wife has a marketing and sales job lined up down there. It’s going to be a new experience for both of us.”
Granville Gehris, the coach who elevated the Topsail program, was suspended with pay in January after off-the-field issues. He resigned in August, and Rimer started looking into the job opening not long after that.
“It’s one of the best baseball jobs in the state,” Rimer said. “When a job like that opens up, you have to take a look. Baseball is the biggest thing at that school and they’ve got good players. I guess the only negative is long bus rides — because it’s not like there’s anyone they can play to the east of them.”
Rimer found out in late September he was the frontrunner for the job as P.E. teacher and baseball coach pending approval by the school board in Pender County. That approval came on Oct. 18.
And now Rimer will be guiding a program that is 63-21 over the last three seasons.
Rimer has been an integral part of baseball in Rowan County since his playing days at North. He was among the best in school history for the Cavaliers with a .399 batting average in four varsity seasons. He had 105 hits, scored 103 runs and drove in 75.
He also was a standout for the Rowan County American Legion team and was the right fielder on the 2002 team that went 43-2. He scored 118 runs and drove in 102 in his Legion career and ranks in the top 20 all-time in both categories.
Rimer stayed home to play college ball at Catawba. He was signed very late, in July, with Catawba tugging him away from Lenoir-Rhyne at the last minute because Rimer’s fellow outfielders on the Legion team — Nick Lefko and Jimbo Davis — already were headed to Catawba.
Rimer turned out to be quite an addition after making a position switch to first base. He’s in the all-time top 20 at Catawba in runs (155) and RBIs (160) and he hit a memorable 10th-inning homer in 2006 that lifted Catawba to a walk-off regional win against Florida Southern.
Rimer was named North’s head coach in 2011 and was Rowan County Coach of the Year as a rookie. North went 22-7 that season and reached the third round of the 1A state playoffs.
Tougher times followed, but Rimer’s final North team last spring was strong. The Cavaliers won the Central Carolina Conference with a 9-1 record and finished 17-8. Rimer was 82-68 during his tenure as head coach.
“I’m leaving North baseball better than I found it, and I’m proud of that,” Rimer said. “We were better some years than others, but we always had great kids. And the cupboard’s not bare. I think North will be the favorite to win the conference again this spring. (North senior) Henderson Lentz should be as good as anyone.”
Rimer also contributes to North athletics as a football assistant. His immediate focus will be on that sport.
“We’ll be leaving right before Thanksgiving, and I want to be on that sideline with the football team my last week at North Rowan,” Rimer said. “We’ve got a good chance to still be playing.”