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Monday evening marked the delayed, but official, end of my softball coaching career as we celebrated the 2020 softball season at WGHS (Webster Groves High School) in two separate masked, socially distanced ceremonies in a (mostly) empty Roberts Gym, although so many parents who made coaching at Webster such a pleasure were there for their kids and represented so many who came before in previous seasons. I know that parents have sometimes created headaches for coaches, but at both programs with which I was fortunate to be connected (Hancock and WG), they were a blessing, not a bane.

I got to say goodbye to my last team, the 2020 WGHS-JV which overcame multiple obstacles and challenges to cram 13 games into 15 days, coming from behind in our last contest to defeat the JV of perennial power Lafayette 5-4 and finish with a 7-6 record. I’m as proud of that team as any I’ve had the privilege to coach in my 35 year coaching career. Going out on a win is all that any coach could reasonably ask for, and an exciting one, well, “Extra cherry on top, please!”

That didn’t end things, of course, as I joined the varsity for the state tournament that culminated with WGHS’s first-ever softball state championship and only the second women’s sport team state championship in the district’s 125 year history (of course, women’s sports don’t have that long a history [I remember when the “sporty” girls were shunted off to GAA club competitions.]). Of the 19 girls on our state championship squad, 17 had played for me in the program. Last night we unveiled the banner for the gym as well as the state championship picture. There’s also a poster in Webster’s Athletic “Hall of Fame.” 

Which means that you can find my name in the Halls of Fame in two different schools. For those who knew me back when (I started my teaching career 50 years ago), you are probably open-eyed in wonder, joining me in saying, as they do from time to time on TV, “Well, I sure didn’t see that coming!” 

I know I will miss coaching, I will miss my friends and colleagues, and, of course, the girls (as politically incorrect as the term may be, my former players will always be “my girls”), but I’m at peace with my retirement decision. It’s always a blessing to be able to control your exit from any job or stage of life, but 2020 notwithstanding, I couldn’t have scripted mine any better. 

So here’s my script (minus the inevitable ad libs) from the JV portion of last night’s ceremonies, plus  random pix from last night and the unforgettable 2020 season. 

About a year ago, and for me, if not most of us, I’m sure it seems much longer, we could have made any number of predictions about 2020, all of which would have been pure (wrong) guesses, but I’m confident that being here in Roberts Gym on April 12 to celebrate our 2020 softball seasons would not have made anyone’s list. 

But that we are here tonight to celebrate our successful 2020 seasons is a testament to the kind of young women who play Statesmen Softball. Despite the challenges and uncertainty, our dedicated players continued to not just show up, but to show up with purpose, to work hard during the seemingly interminable summer and fall. They were conscientious and mindful of the health and safety of their teammates and coaches – and as a coach of a certain age, I personally appreciated that. 

Every day they practiced as though their next game was going to be tomorrow – and then, all of a sudden, their next game WAS tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that and…. Thanks to Jerry Collins, our JV managed to play a 13-game schedule, undoubtedly more games than any other JV team in St. Louis County. Despite essentially no time to practice between games, our athletes managed to improve daily, both individually and as a team. No team I’ve ever coached has done as much with as little opportunity, rejecting the myriad of excuses to just go through the motions, or has represented their school and community any better than our 2020 JV. 

2020 was definitely a year of transition, but thanks to the efforts of the young women here tonight, we can look forward with realistic hopes that 2021 will see Webster softball continue its tradition as a well-respected program. The young women who committed to the season that was 2020 can and should deservedly take pride in that; Coach Ashlock and I are certainly proud to have had the opportunity to work with you, and as I transition from coach to fan (although I’ve always been your fan), I know that pride will continue. Thank you.

Webster 13, Lindbergh 0

The 2019 JV Softball season is now officially underway, and while we would have preferred a more challenging game, perhaps this was the best way to get the jitters out of the way, as all of our players saw significant playing time in the 5-inning 13-0 victory over the Lindbergh Flyers. Besides the victory, I enjoyed reconnecting with two former students from my Hancock days (two brothers who served as my yearbook editors and are now the head principal and social studies department chair at LHS) and Maddy Raimondo, a former WG player of mine who is now an assistant principal.

Our next opponents will provide us with plenty of challenge as we face Oakville at home tomorrow (Thursday), visit Eureka on Friday, and host Poplar Bluff in the second game of a double header on Saturday. We know the first two will test us and I expect Poplar Bluff didn’t decide to drive three hours to get clobbered.

But we’ll celebrate today’s win (all 3 teams won today) and worry about tomorrow, well, tomorrow. Behind the pitching of Olivia Leaver, who picked up her first JV win and Nicola Rikand (a 3-inning “save”), the inexperienced Flyers were overmatched. We put the brakes on early but also struggled against the soft tosses of the Lindbergh pitcher (the principal’s daughter). Our defense was generally solid, with Taylor (Friday) Graning especially flashing some leather at 2B. Thanks to Karen Smith for the photos that follow. Okay, also thanks to the "Live" feature on my iPhone (I do not stock, but I do admit to having been an Apple Fanboy for 35 years now) for some of the others.

Freshman Morgan Lawrence contributed two hits including a double and drove home three runs; Maddie Keefer added her own double and drove in two. I know the girls appreciated all the fans in the stands for their first game as we look forward to our home opener tomorrow against the Tigers from Oakville.

Go go get 'em.... Let's play ball!

The Flyers decided to test Olivia Leaver right away with a bunt -- Put out, 1-3

Taylor (Friday) Graning played a solid 2B, solidified the right side defense with 3 put outs and 2 assists.

Ally Marshall settles under a fly ball to CF for the last out of the first inning.

Nora Marcinkiewicz prepare to grab Strike 3 for Olivia Leaver's first JV-Black K.

Maddie Keefer hangs on the Strike 3 from Nicola Rikand

Freshman Morgan Lawrence flips to Friday for a force at second and almost a DP.

Nicola Rikand finished the game with 3 innings in the circle, four strike outs.

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

Outrunning the Jaguars: Webster 12, Seckman 2

Seckman has long been a nemesis, at least for the JV (and going farther back into the 90s for the varsity), so I was looking forward to the test they would bring to our team. It was only after they arrived that we learned this was their second JV team, although their coach confessed that he had two decent pitchers. Although a bit disappointing, I think there may have been some gamesmanship in providing that scouting report, maybe hoping to soften us up. But we played like we were facing a 5-0 team, which we were, and which we became, scoring 7 runs in the fifth inning to end the contest with the 10-run rule.

Although the Jaguars threatened to put up a “crooked number” in the first three innings, TK and our defense limited them to single tallies until we could expand our 5-2 lead and walk off. It was a solid team effort and (perhaps overly) aggressive baserunning pushed across runs when Seckman couldn’t respond to the pressure.

Softball isn’t like some other sports, where umpire or referee baiting pays off. I’ve always felt like complaining to umpires about their efforts works at cross purposes. Whether that was true today or not, I don’t know, but I do know the Seckman coach was well known to at least the field umpire (from summer ball); if the plate umpire didn’t know him before, he certainly did by the end of the game. Let’s just point out that he prevailed in exactly none of the four questions/complaints about rulings during our game. Draw your own conclusions on that while you peruse the box score, pictures from Andrew Graning, Karen Smith and the bench. Then, if you have an extra $2 to spare, com watch us at Fox tomorrow as we close out our games this week. (Personally, there have been years we should have paid people to watch JV games, but Fox sees it differently.)

Emmy Gary drives in the first run of the game and the first of her two RBI in the game. 

Ivy Clark takes the throw from Marko to slow down this Jaguar trying to steal third.

Nora (Marko) Marcinkiewicz drives the ball. Her CR, Caitlyn Boyd, stole 4 bases on the afternoon.

Taylor Smith put three strong ABs together, drove in three runs.

Our girls consistently demonstrate sportsmanship and team camaraderie. #pleasuretocoach

2017 Season Recap

We set records in 2016, including most wins (16, despite getting rained out of a tournament and another game) and winning percentage. It was a natural follow-up when people complimented that team, “You had a good year. What does next year look like?” Having seen what was in the pipeline through the feeder league and elsewhere, I brashly said, violating a long-standing rule of never predicting the results of any JV game, much less season, “I think we’re going to be even better.” Then I started to worry that maybe last year’s record just might be harder to eclipse than I thought. But apparently this was the year for total eclipses.

If you’re a coach, you worry. At the risk of sounding like a commercial for an insurance company with an amphibian spokesperson, it’s what you do. Those worries, as it turned out, were needless. It took us only 12 more innings to play 4 more games and compile a 22-2 record; in 2016 we outscored the opposition by 100+ runs; this year the margin was 200+. We took home a second-place plaque in our inaugural entry in the Ft. Zumwalt South Tournament and successfully defended our 4^th straight Hancock Tournament trophy. Like last year, we extended more mercy to our opponents and required none in return.

All those stats, and more, are available below. (Double click to open for a larger view.) 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, but 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 all six graduating seniors from our 2017 varsity squad – I’m proud of the athletes they are, but even prouder of the young women they have become who do such a magnificent job of representing their team, their school and their community.

This will look familiar to sophomore parents because (full disclosure) it’s mostly copied from last year’s season-ending entry. However, truth is truth, and the core values of Webster Softball do not really change.


We do, of course, set expectations for our program, but those expectations have nothing to do with wins, losses, or any other statistic. 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 2018 season. 

     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 being 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.

If I were smart, I’d bid adieu to coaching, because I don’t think it’s possible to top this season, not in terms of wins and losses, which, while nice, are not the be-all-end-all of JV coaching. The bond of this team, the love, the family-feelings, well, they’ll be difficult, if not impossible to replicate in future seasons. But the sophomores next year who experienced the joy of this season have the leadership and personal skills to create their own dynamic and one I anticipate enjoying in equal measure. I look forward to seeing that play out, because THAT is the true value of high school sports and I have truly appreciated sharing that with my girls.

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, for a fantastic season. Looking forward to another great year in 2018. Before that, there will be one more post about 2017 with some random observations about softball, coaching, and life in general. Because that’s what I do.