Mar 28, 2018 4 min read

When Don Roberts picked up the phone in late June, he received the news from Ringgold athletic director Laura Grimm that the interim tag was being removed from his title.

The move also came with a three-year contract for Roberts, who switched from assistant to head coach of the Ringgold baseball team last April. Jim Coulter resigned from the position after allegations of hazing and other misconduct arose following a team trip to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.

“It was a very awkward situation. Everything was thrown at (our team) so fast,” Roberts said. “(Having the interim tag) was the last thing on our mind at the time.

“They saw that we care a great deal about these kids and gelled very well together,” he continued about the school board that made the decision to make him the permanent head coach.

What the school board, and Grimm, saw was a coach stuck in an unwinnable situation turn the team around. The Rams ended a streak of 11 consecutive losing seasons.

With a 14-6 record and appearance in the WPIAL playoffs – the Rams lost to eventual champion Blackhawk in the quarterfinals – it marked Ringgold’s first playoff game since it played Pine-Richland in 2005, one year after the graduation of Neil Walker.

The Rams had trouble creating any momentum in the last 11 seasons when they failed to finish above .500. They had at least a six-game losing streak in seven of those seasons. In four of the the frustrating 11 years, they had losing streaks of 10 games or more. Ringgold didn’t exceed four wins in a single season from 2013 to 2016.

But fortunes changed, especially in close games.

Ringgold went 5-1 in games decided by two or fewer runs last season. Instead of being stuck in a losing streak, the Rams used the close games to rattle off eight straight victories to comfortably catapult them into third place behind South Park and Belle Vernon in Section 3 of Class 4A.

“A lot of those games we won were really tight,” Roberts said. “The kids started really believing when we strung wins together. I just think we had a lot more talent. A lot of the kids on the team had been playing together for years. Many have been starting since they were freshmen. They just gelled.”

But Roberts said last year only motivated his team to experience more of the same with seven of nine starters returning this season.

“Losing (in the playoffs) has made them a lot hungrier in the offseason,” he said.

Ringgold will rely on fundamentals and solid defense, and the pitching of ace Ryan Varley.

Varley, who returns for his senior season, had a 5-1 record in his nine appearances. In 43 1/3 innings, he finished with a 0.81 ERA, 57 strikeouts and only five earned runs as a junior.

But as spring weather wrecks schedules, Roberts said he can turn to Bo Haines and Josh Peters for quality starts. Haines also appeared nine times in his junior year with a 3.09 ERA. Peters, now only a junior, was 4-0 with a 3.71 ERA in 22 innings.

Junior Chase Angotti also has taken the mound for Ringgold.

“(Ryan) is a very talented and competitive pitcher,” Roberts said. “He has pinpoint control and goes right at people. He is just a phenomenal, complete pitcher. But we feel kind of blessed with three other really good starters. With the weather around here, we sometimes end up playing four games a week. It gives us a tremendous advantage in section play.”

The biggest challenge is for the Rams to improve on offense. In their final four losses of the season, the Rams only scored four runs.

Outfield Jake Mayer returns after hitting .455 in 14 games. Anthony Vavasori, who moved to first base, hit .353 over 12 games.

Varley, an Alderson Broaddus recruit along with Haines, will help his own cause at the plate. Varley had a team-high 24 hits to finish with a .369 average, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored.

“Baseball is all about confidence,” Roberts said. “As a hitter, you are going to fail more times than you are going to succeed. But this is the hardest working group of kids I’ve ever been around. These kids just love the game of baseball.”