Another Chapter Ends

 All good things must come to an end. If you’re lucky, you can choose your own ending. I chose my exit time when I left my classroom behind and now I’m choosing my time to exit the field. And that time is now.

Part of life is leaving it behind, and endings are always bittersweet. I will undoubtedly miss working with my friends and players. I have yet to address the nagging worry that with nothing to do that is exactly what I will get done. I’ll save the “inside softball” thinking about the decision and its timing for the end if you’re interested, but, if you know me at all, you know I espouse multiple causation and reject simplistic answers in favor of simply complicated. So it will not be a short section.

What I want to share today is simply a reflection on another aspect of my life where I have been blessed beyond what I deserve. I’ve detailed elsewhere the accidental/serendipitous path I took to becoming a coach, a path I’ve traveled for 35 years now, a path that has afforded me true, lifelong friendships, joy and purpose. 

And hope for the future of my community and nation. I’ve been touched by so many remarkable young women, been privileged to share a segment of their lives that reinforces my faith in humanity and the future. No matter what was happening in the world around me, I always had “my girls.” As politically incorrect as it may be, they will always be “my girls” no matter how successful and accomplished they have, or will, become.

Thank you ladies (and your parents), for allowing me to share with you this small part of your life journey. I love you all.

Why now? 

• Although not identical, the reasoning behind my departure from a regular classroom is parallel to my decision to give up my own classroom. (Click here to read that analogous piece.) 

• 2020 – For better and (maybe) worse, my style, such as it is, was up close and personal. I like to think my most effective coaching (softball and otherwise) came on the bus rides and conversations from the games. My girls tolerated sharing a seat as we talked about their game that day, and anything else that surfaced. Obviously, 2020 precluded that; we didn’t TAKE even a single bus. Close-in conversations were rare to non-existent. (I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a special note of thanks to my last squad for their compliance with masking; I took their care and concern personally and appreciated it accordingly.) While the thought of retiring had been percolating for some time, 2020 was certainly a disincentive to continuing.

• I was blessed to have been befriended by Tim Cerutti and to spend five years working together. Being in the same (age) cohort and sharing a philosophy of life and temperament made the relationship special. His death this spring created an unfillable void. Tim was actually the third coach/friend/mentor to die during my career, but I’m following his (and our shared) mantra of “Choose Happy” – my Rule #1: “You don’t get a discount on the Happy Meal just because you’re not.” But it just wasn’t as much fun without him. That was no surprise.

• Thanks to the leadership of our head coach, Bryan Gibson, and the commitment of many community leaders, Webster has built a softball program that expanded to 3 full teams even as other communities were and are struggling to field even a JV team. 2020 also shelved the WGBSL rec league this spring and the “Feeder” team that funneled girls into the program. I feel safe in predicting we won’t have sufficient numbers for three teams next year (I’d love to be wrong about that). We’ve recently added some new, young, female coaches who may represent the future of the program. It’s time for me to get out of the way and not block their development and connection with the program.

• My wife and I have things we want to do and places we want to go that are best done either during the Fall softball season or the Summer pre-season. Not that we didn’t know it before, but 2020 has reinforced doing what you can while you are still physically able. 

• We’ve been making a conscious effort to de-junk, even before the inspiration of the COVID-quarantine. I’ll be passing along most of my coaching wardrobe, thus freeing up significant closet/storage space, because Bryan Gibson and WG always reinforced the belief that looking good was part of good performance). 

• But mostly I’m tired, struggling to summon the energy the prepare for games and practices. To be clear, it was never the kids, never the parents, never the administration, never the varsity or JV coaching staff that wore me out; on the contrary, it was those groups that energized me to continue as long as I did. In many ways this was the longest short season, but even last year Tim and I both were forced to admit that our energies were not always sufficient to meet the demands to do the job in a way that would live up to our standards. As those who know me can attest, modesty is not a dominant quality for me. I know what I can bring to the party on any given day. While I might fool some people with my 80%, it’s not good enough, not good enough for me to be satisfied and continue. Even if I still have (or ever had) an “A Game,” I can’t always bring it. Time to move aside.

I may not have been all that mindful when I started the job, but the least I can do is make a mindful decision about when it’s time to go. So it’s time to say good-bye, and thank you, thank you for 35 years and close to 50 different teams in two school districts, Hancock Place and Webster Groves.

Apropos of nothing, as I typed this I realized that every school with which I have been regularly associated had at least two names.

#Blessed.

                                                          -30-

Closing the Books on 2018

Season Wrap Up --

After the records we set in 2017, including most wins (22) and winning percentage, it occurred to me that I should seriously think about retiring. How could any team do any better? Yet, to my surprise, the 2018 squad threatened to do exactly that. Were it not for a tough loss to Kirkwood to end the season, we would have set a new winning percentage record. Although that was not to be, 2018 was another magical season, complete with two 10-game winning streaks and an overall 20-2 record.

Highlights included an exciting 3^rd place finish in the Ft. Zumwalt West Tournament, despite playing short-handed and losing only to the eventual champion; we had easily vanquished the second place finisher, Summit, earlier in the week. Our fifth straight Hancock championship lacked the drama of last year’s final, but was nonetheless satisfying as we again played without a key player. Taylor Knapp set records for most wins by a JV pitcher in both a season (17) and career (26), Caitlyn Boyle notched a new stolen base mark with 39, and Myah King pounded six (6!) homeruns, five of which cleared fences in four different ballparks (she also was walked intentionally five times).

All those stats, and more, are available below. As usual, I have also included those of previous years for those who think that’s important. I’m a fan of the Impressionist School, so JV statistics offer little more than a fuzzy replication of the season because programs vary wildly from year to year. But what is clear is that the Webster program is successfully bringing in players every year that can help our varsity program successfully compete with other schools. It was my pleasure to have coached both graduating seniors, Julia Love and Allison Peters, from our 2018 varsity District Champion squad – I’m proud of the athletes they are, but even prouder of the young women who do such a magnificent job of representing their team, their school and their community.

This piece will look familiar to sophomore parents because (full disclosure) it’s mostly copied from last year’s season-ending entry (again!). But despite protests to the contrary from some quarters, truth is truth.


We do, of course, set expectations for our program, but those expectations have nothing to do with wins, losses, or any other statistics. However, our goals are fairly consistent from year to year:

     1 – There should be a noticeable improvement in each girl’s game from the first practice in August to the last game in October.

     2 – There should be an obvious growth in team culture, and, although that may look different from year to year, a team bond and commitment to teammates must be part of that culture.

     3 – Our JV Statesmen should be, well, statesmen, maintaining a high level of sportsmanship and competitiveness that reflects positively on the district, the school, the team, and themselves. We want to be a respected and sought-after opponent.  
         4 – We should produce at least 5 varsity-ready players that Coach Gibson can think about as part of the mix for the next (2019) season. Whether that remains a shared objective remains to be seen and may require some thoughtful decision-making down the road.

     5 – Every player should be able to look back on the season as a worthwhile and enjoyable investment of her time and effort, and a minimum of 80% are looking forward and committed to continuing in the program next season, including participation in the off-season activities and workouts.

I think I can safely speak for my invaluable assistant coaches, Tim Cerutti, Kate Wylie, and David Knapp, when I declare this season a success. We are lucky to have such a large and talented coaching team, from the contracted staff to the many volunteers. I respect and enjoy working with all of them.

Parental involvement and support is something I NEVER take for granted, although, like every year, it’s been consistently outstanding. I started my coaching career at Hancock High School. By the fourth game of every Statesmen season, I have met and almost always have seen virtually every parent of every player at one game or another. I can tell you that by the end of any four year stretch at Hancock High School, I hadn’t met every parent with a senior in the program. The support and sportsmanship the parents modeled for their daughters is an integral part of our success. Thank you for that.

An additional huge "Thank you" to the girls, their parents, and fellow JV coaches who made me feel valued and validated. Whatever the future holds, those warm feelings will live in me for many years to come. I am beyond grateful for the honor and pleasure of carrying them with me.

Again, many thanks to all involved, coaches, parents, district administrators, but especially the girls themselves who never gave us less than their best, who never gave up on a teammate or themselves, for a fantastic season. There will (probably) be one more post about 2018 with some random observations about softball, coaching, and life in general. Or not. It may not always seem so, but I try not to speak (or write) unless I believe that I have something that needs to be said. I hope you enjoyed this season even half as much as I did.

Double Click on any Stat Box to Enlarge

Statesmen Tame the Lions: WG 5, NWCH 2

We got the challenging game we expected (and hoped for) on our Jeffco trip to play the Lions of Northwest HS. It was a crisp game that an inexperienced observer might have confused with a varsity tilt. For sure the level of sportsmanship from both teams was worthy of accolades at any level. Not even sure TK worked up a sweat, needing only 57 pitches to record her 21 outs in the 5-2 win, tying Olivia Collins’s record for most wins in a season with 15 (of our total 16 against a single loss). The defense made the routine plays she generated behind her and in slightly over an hour we were talking, packing up, and heading back to our own ‘hood.

Today’s offense featured Lydia Beggs and Taylor Smith, each with 4 hits and 2 runs; Taylor had 2 doubles and a triple in her collection. We also saw fundamentally sound softball with 2 sacrifice bunts each from Sarah Sammon and Caitlyn Boyle (who added a great throw from RF to defuse a potential threat in the fifth inning when Lions tried to roar).

This was another team win, with contributions all over the field, at the plate, and in the dugout. Veteran leadership has done what I didn’t think was possible, creating the beautiful team-first attitude and chemistry that rivals what Coach Cerutti and I marveled at last year.

We are Road Warriors for the rest of the season, as tomorrow we send a hybrid team (in what is technically an Orange game) to Lutheran South (where Black will travel again on Monday – we can’t quite explain that either), with a roster complicated by band conflicts. And then Saturday will see us at the KAA for the annual Hancock Tournament, where we will be defending our fourth straight title. We finish at Kirkwood on Tuesday, looking for a season sweep of our rival.
Photos thanks to Karen Smith.

We were a little bit out in the country. Bug forecast proved correct.

You can try to bunt on us if you want, but we'll all be moving. Note LF Sarah Sammon on the move in the background.

Taylor Smith's 4 for 4 day included two doubles and a triple.

Emmy Gary and her magic bat drives in Taylor Smith with a big seventh inning insurance run.

Lydia Beggs also went four for four, scoring 2 runs and driving in another.

The injury to Alyssa Moran necessitated moving Nic Rikand to CF and Taylor Smith shifted over the left side at short.

Falcon Wings Clipped: Webster 14, Summit 3

Heading into this afternoon’s conference tilt against the Summit Falcons we had a 3-0 conference record and a 14-2 overall mark.

We clipped the Falcons’ wings in the top of the first, turning a sacrifice bunt into a double play thanks to heads up play by Megan Hayes (2B) and Carissa Castro (who moved from 2B to LF for this game) and then flew around the bases ourselves, running Summit out of the game and ourselves into contention for an undefeated conference season. (Ritenour will visit on Thursday to complete our conference schedule.)

Behind Taylor Knapp’s consistent pitching in the circle and Kelly Collins four straight hits at the top of the lineup, we jumped out with a 6-run first and were never really threatened again, giving us a chance to let all our players the opportunity to contribute. One of the joys of this team, for me as a coach, is the unselfishness I see every game. That attitude is a tribute the character of these 14 good players and great young women.

Thanks to the girls for the pictures of today’s contest. We travel to Fox on Monday, and will try to give the girls who have been role players, for the most part, a chance to shine. We are lucky enough to be able to field a competitive team no matter who is in uniform.

We will practice Tuesday in preparation for “Sophomore Day” against the added Wednesday home game against Kirkwood, a chance to honor our six super sophs and the leadership they have brought to the 2017 Statesmen. Thursday against Ritenour wraps up our conference schedule and a real chance to celebrate a conference championship (unofficial, of course). We have the Hancock Tournament next weekend, at Affton Athletic, where we will try to defend our 3 straight championships.

We close the season on Tuesday, Oct. 4 with a final home game against Cor Jesu, followed by a visit to Serendipity and a team celebration of what I expect will be a record-setting season. I am collecting orders for the photobooks, a chance to support the program and get a great souvenir of your daughter’s season. You’ve only seen a few of the many pictures from which our editors will be choosing.