CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Little league baseball players in the Charlotte area are grieving the loss of a well-known coach.
Alexander "Zan" Copeland, 66, died Thursday after an early-morning fire in his home on Lacie Lane in the SouthPark neighborhood.
Firefighters said they found him unconscious near the front door of the home. They pulled him to the front lawn, where they performed CPR. Paramedics then rushed Copeland to Carolinas Medical Center Main, where he was pronounced dead.
RAW VIDEO: Firefighter Roger Hunter Describes Scene
RAW VIDEO: Firefighter David Green Describes Scene
Copeland had a background in law and was also one of the original owners of Alexander Michael's Restaurant in Charlotte's Fourth Ward. He spent much of his life on the baseball field, going from being a player in the 1950s to a coach with the Myers Park Trinity Little League.
There was a small memorial set up at the entrance of Randolph Park, where the league plays its games, on Thursday evening.
It was the first day of camp for the league's All-Star teams. Organizers said they decided to go on with camp because that is what Coach Copeland would have wanted.
"He tried to make the best baseball player out of everybody he coached," 11-year-old Jackson Hodges, a player on the team Copeland coached, said. "He was really good to play with."
League President Joe Lucas said Copeland coached hundreds of teams and affected thousands of children.
"He was so interested in influencing these kids and everything he did was for the betterment of this league and its families," Lucas said. "We're going to miss him terribly."
The league is planning to make special patches for team uniforms in honor of Copeland.
Fire investigators haven't determined the cause of the fire, but it was ruled accidental.