Softball Coach Of The Year: James Wood's Todd Baker

Posted: June 29, 2016

James Wood’s Todd Baker — The Winchester Star’s Softball Coach of the Year — guided the Colonels to a 16-8 record, including a 5-2 mark in the Northwestern District and a berth in the 4A West Region Tournament.

The Colonels equaled the program record for victories set by last year’s team and likely could have eclipsed that mark if one of their games didn’t get canceled late in the season.

James Wood — led by sophomore pitchers Lani Spielman and Lauren King, sophomore catcher Lindsey Anderson and junior shortstop Courteney Harper — lost two of their first three games of the season but then reeled off nine straight victories.

Spielman threw a perfect game against Handley, and King threw a no-hitter against Spring Mills (W.Va.). King and Spielman also combined for another perfect game against Handley.

The Colonels punched their ticket to the 4A West Region Tournament with a 4-2 win over Frederick County-rival Sherando in the Conference 21 West Tournament semifinals. James Wood lost 7-0 to Woodgrove in the conference championship.

James Wood defeated Heritage 8-2 in the first round of the 4A West Region Tournament, but the Colonels’ season ended with a 5-1 loss to defending Group 4A state champion Carroll County in the regional quarterfinals.

Two of the Colonels’ losses came against Woodgrove, which went on to win the Group 4A state championship with a 19-0 victory over Fauquier.

Q. What were your expectations coming into the season?
We talked about getting into regional play and giving us a chance to reach the state tournament. We came close. We reached our goals, but we’re going to start talking to our team in the fall about not being satisfied with that. In “Moneyball” — they talk about winning the last game of the season — and that’s the state championship.

Q. What stands out most about this season?
I think the tightness of the group which is something that I always strive for. We always talk about team-first and the individual stuff is after the season with [postseason awards] and the banquet we have is the time to reflect on individual performances. But just being one unit and a softball family is a big key for us. I’ve always been someone who thinks it’s important to surround yourself with good people and talented people and I’d like to mention my assistant coaches, Patrick Gibson and Steve Hicks. This is like a one-unit award for all of us. Because without them, I don’t think we win 32 games over the past two years. They’ve been a huge help.

Q. Was there any game that you thought was significantly important?
Anytime you win an elimination game, like the one we won against Sherando, that has to be right up there with the top game of the year. We also won a home regional game against Heritage which was exciting.

Q. What was the most memorable moment?
I would say both of our pitchers throwing no-hitters. As a past pitcher myself, I know how hard that is to do. I would say those two no-hit games were probably the biggest for me. One was a perfect game and Lani Spielman threw that against Handley (a 16-0, five-inning victory on April 27) and Lauren King threw a no-hitter against Spring Mills (W.Va.). She was one walk shy of a perfect game, she walked one in the sixth inning. They also combined for a no-hitter. They were a huge part of our success for sure.

Q. What was the most difficult moment?
We started off with a win [12-1 at Hampshire County, W.Va.] and then we had two straight losses. I know myself and our two other coaches really took a step back and kind of looked at what we could do differently — almost second-guessing ourselves. We made a few changes in our practices plans and plate approaches and it paid off. We went on a nine-game winning streak after that.

Q. What do you see going forward based on who’s returning?
The core of the girls are coming back. Alyssa Brown, our starting shortstop, broke her hand and we’ll have her back healthy. That hurt us toward the end of the year, especially in the playoffs when we had to do some shuffling around. The girls that stepped up did a great job, but losing Alyssa’s offensive abilty — she was batting .439 when she went down in the 13th game of the season. But getting all those kids back, staying healthy and having another good fall program, I don’t see why we can’t do what we have in the past or maybe even better. We’re going to be a little more mature. I think going down on that four-hour bus ride to Carroll County — the defending state champions — and playing in that environment was huge for our girls. They saw what it was going to take to advance to the next level.

— Compiled by Robert Stocks