seeing information from friends that former NC State baseball player and WPC staff member Chris Combs has died of ALS

https://www.wralsportsfan.com/chris-combs-als-fundraiser-and-nc-state-baseball-legend-passes-away/19268439/?version=amp&__twitter_impression=true

NC State's baseball program retired Chris Combs' jersey number in March.

That Combs was one of the best power hitters in school history was only a small part of the reason his No. 26 will never be worn again.

Combs' inspirational and unrelenting fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis helped raise more than $4 million for research for the disease.

He also had an agreeable personality that made him uncommonly popular with, and beloved by, his teammates, coaches and later as a longtime associate director for the Wolfpack Club.

Five years into his ALS fight, Combs passed away early Thursday morning, according to his family. He was 45.

A giant of a man at 6-7, Combs had an unusual combination of easiness and selflessness.

"Everybody loved Chris," NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent said. "The way he fought this disease and never let it break his spirit tells you all you need to know about who he was as a person."

Combs grew up in Raleigh in a Wolfpack family. His dad, Francis, and uncle, Freddie, both played baseball at NC State, as did his brother, Ryan.

His raw power at the plate, and athletic ability, were the stuff of prep legend at Broughton high school before he began his career at NC State in the 1993.

Combs hit 42 home runs in his college career, which still ranks fifth on the school's all-time list. He was also a relief pitcher, which got him drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1997.

In his senior season, which was Avent's first in 1997, Combs helped the Wolfpack win 43 games and reach the NCAA tournament. Combs would hit key home runs and then come in and save games

He could do anything," said Tom Sergio, an All-American second basemen for the Wolfpack and one of Combs' longtime friends.

After Combs was diagnosed in May 2016, he and his wife, Gena, began to help raise money for Project ALS. The annual fundraisers spawned "Strikeout ALS" games at NC State and Broughton.

The Wolfpack Club raised $400,000 and created the Chris Combs scholarship endowment in 2019.

The past few months had been particularly difficult for Combs and his family.

"Chris was my hero and mentor and as hard is it is to say goodbye, I know that he is no longer in pain and is at peace in Heaven watching over all of us," Ryan Combs, his brother, wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.

Combs, in a 2016 interview, understood the odds of the fight he was in with ALS and how it would affect his daughters, Anne Marie and Ava and son, Christopher.

He also somehow managed to keep his own fight in perspective.

"I feel like I've been very fortunate and experienced so many awesome things in my life," Combs said in a 2016 interview. "So I never say, why me?"

After a four-year battle with ALS we lost an amazing member of the #Pack9 family, Chris Combs, last week.

He may be gone, but his legacy will continue to live on through his accomplishments on and off the field.

#STRIKEOUTALS
On September 3, 2020, NC State baseball lost a special member of its program in former player Chris Combs. He lost a four-year battle with ALS at the age of 45.

Combs' jersey number (26), which was honored in the spring of 2020, can be found on the padding in right field to remember his outstanding baseball career and tireless pursuit for a cure for ALS. His jersey can also be found hanging in the dugout during every NC State baseball game.

This year's annual ALS game will be held April 16 against Boston College. The two teams share a special connection with ALS, as BC's Pete Frates also lost his life to the disease in 2019 at the age of 34 and like Combs, he spent his final years in pursuit for a cure.

https://gopack.com/news/2022/4/13/baseball-pack9-welcomes-boston-college-for-three-game-set.aspx