Central assistant coach promoted to head spot

One never knows, especially a coach, what lays ahead of him or her.

At the Central Public Schools Board of Education meeting last Wednesday night, it approved Central Lady Tigers fast-pitch softball assistant coach Victor Pierce being promoted to the head job to fill the void when Central FP softball/ baseball coach Wes Green left to become the second newest Lady Diamonds softball coach within a month.

Earlier this month, after Sallisaw Public Schools had promoted Josh Bolin to head softball coach, Bolin resigned after allegedly having engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a minor younger than age 18. At the Sallisaw Public Schools Board of Education meeting on July 8, it approved hiring Green as its new Lady Diamonds softball coach, thus creating a whirlwind by the Central Public Schools Board of Education to fill the two coaching voids Green’s departure created.

Pierce just wants to continue the improvement of the Lady Tigers fastpitch softball program that Green had started.

“I’m excited,” Pierce said about taking over the Central fast-pitch softball program. “I’m just excited to get in there and work, help these girls get better and see what they can do, and continue on what coach Green has done. He is a good coach and very knowledgeable about softball, and baseball. He did a really good job with them. Just from what I was around with him (as assistant fast-pitch softball coach) last year, they improved. He did a good job with them, and I just kind of want to build on what he started.”

One positive about Pierce taking over the Lady Tigers’ fast-pitch softball program is he knows practically all — if not completely all — of the players.

“It’s big,” he said. “They already know me. It’s a little bit of a different role because they haven’t had me as a head coach, just as an assistant — but it helps. It’s not like where they’re getting somebody new. You get somebody new, you know it will take a little while. I think it’s big that they’re going to have somebody that they already have in there and can hit the ground running, and build on what they were doing last year.”

Pierce believes the biggest task at hand is getting the incoming freshmen on the same page of the playbook as the returning players.

“You’ve got freshmen coming in that are new that are going to have to play because you’re going to have to fill some spots you’re going to have to fill with seniors who have graduated,” said Pierce, who coached previously at Shady Point and Panama in LeFlore County. “If anything, on my end of it is we just have to get these freshmen ready to go. I feel like the rest of them are ready to go. We’ve gotten to scrimmage a little bit over the summer, and I think there’s a foundation there from what he (Green) has built. He had those freshmen when they were in junior high, and they had a good junior high season. Those freshmen coming in will make an instant impact. I think it’s just going to be building on what was already there, and I don’t think there’s that much to change, honestly.”

While at Panama, he got indoctrinated to fast-pitch softball, so he is anxious to see how he does as a head fast-pitch softball coach.

“I can’t wait.,” Pierce said. “I think it’s going to be fun. It’s new. I was a head basketball coach (at Shady Point and Panama). I helped some with softball when I was at Panama. When Missy Rogers was there (at Panama), I helped a little bit with junior high fast-pitch softball, and I got to know a little bit more about fast-pitch (softball) through her, who is a really good coach and was a good coach to learn from. Honestly, I’ve had two pretty good fast-pitch (softball) coaches, you know, knowledgeable people with her and Wes (Green). I’ve had two really good coaches that I’ve been able to learn from, so I can’t wait to get in there and build on what Wes had already started.”

The Central Public Schools Board of Education also approved Colby Thompson to be the assistant fast-pitch softball coach.