Softball Coach of the Year: James Wood's Patrick Gibson

James Wood first-year coach Patrick Gibson is The Winchester Star’s Softball Coach of the Year.

A longtime assistant to former head coach Todd Baker, Gibson took the Colonels into uncharted territory this season.

James Wood (22-3) set a school record for victories, while capturing its first Region 4C title with a 5-3 triumph at Tuscarora. The Colonels had clinched the first state tournament berth in school history by bashing their way to a 12-10 victory over Loudoun County in the regional semifinals.

Led by Class 4 Northwestern District Player of the Year and Region 4C Co-Player of the Year Cadence Rieg, James Wood captured the Class 4 Northwestern District regular-season and tournament titles.

In addition to Rieg (a pitcher and outfielder), the Colonels would put three more players on the First Team in Region 4C (Catcher Sydney Orndorff, second baseman Izzy McKee and pitcher/designated hitter Jenna Shull).

James Wood would fall 16-9 in a slugfest against Halifax County in the state quarterfinals. The Comets would finish as the state runner-up.

Q: What were your expectations for the season and were they met?

Gibson: Yes, they were absolutely met. Our expectations were to make it to the regionals for the seventh year in a row and take the next step to making states. Anything less than that was a disappointment. We not only got the regional thing done, we took it a step farther and made the states for the first time. I was very pleased with that. And I was really pleased with my assistant coaches Steve Hicks and Chris Greene. We gelled together right away.

Q: Were there any adjustments you made during the season that paid off for you?

Gibson: I think about five or six games in, we switched the batting order. It gave us more flow in our lineup. We really pounded hitting in practice. We worked a ton on hitting and that really paid off. We scored a lot of runs.

Q: Were there any key games that you thought defined the season for you?

Gibson: Yes, definitely a couple. For one, the Kettle Run game. I think we were losing [4-2] in the final inning and we came back and won [7-5]. That was a huge game in winning the district. Another was the Fauquier game. We were down [7-1] after two innings and we came back and won [15-7]. And another big game was Berkeley Springs actually canceled on us and we picked up the best team we could find and we got Washington (W.Va.) on the schedule. Washington at the time only one loss and that was to Jefferson the [West Virginia] state champion [in 2022]. We played Washington really tough [a 7-5 loss] and were in it and could have won it. What was important that week is we had four games in a row. The next night we had to go down to Liberty for the fourth game. We could have declined that game, but we took them on and it set the tone. Our kids accepted the challenge and played them tough. That just showed we could play with anybody.

Q: Were there any players who surprised you this season?

Gibson: I don’t know about surprised me because we had seen them in the offseason and knew what everybody was capable of. Of course, freshman Brynnen Williams played outstanding at third. She had never even played at third before. That’s where we needed her. She struggled a little bit early, but then she settled in. She was dynamic in the last couple of games. She made a ton of good plays. Another one was Skyla Compton. She had a great offensive season. She could have batted in our No. 4 hole most of the year. We had her in the No. 6 hole driving in runs and she ran the bases well. We had a great offensive years all of the way around. Jenna Shull was also a big piece to our success, the transfer from Handley. She was outstanding on the mound and she allowed us, when she was on the mound, to put Cadence [Rieg] in the outfield and Cadence is a shut-down center fielder. With Jenna on the mound, it made our defense so much better.

Q: What was the biggest disappointment this season?

Gibson: That’s got to be the Sherando loss [a 7-2 defeat in the first meeting between the teams]. That one stung bad, man. We felt like we were the better team and they came into our house and they beat us. We were kind of surprised to be honest. Lily Wray, the freshman, pitched really well against us. She just got it done. … At the time, we had one loss and they didn’t have any and we thought that was going to factor in. We stayed the course and we ended up winning the district. We used that adversity and we got better because of it.

Q: You lose some great seniors. What are your expectations for next season?

Gibson: Losing those seven seniors is tough. They’re very talented, all seven of them contributed. They were very talented kids and affected our practices. We have a couple of freshmen coming up that we know of who are going to help us a lot. Our bench was so deep, so we have freshmen, sophomores and juniors coming off the bench that can fill those roles for next year. We’re very optimistic. It’s whether the team will gel together like this year’s team did.

— Compiled by Walt Moody