Ringgold, coach unlikely champions
Ringgold baseball coach Don Roberts is a math teacher at Ringgold High School and has had almost all of his players in class. They must have studied formulas and the probability theory at some points because Roberts’ players figured out all the right things needed for the most improbable event. Ringgold. State champion. Go figure. Ringgold won a PIAA championship June 14 at Penn State and the Rams have to be one of the most unlikely state champs from the WPIAL in years. It’s not that Ringgold could never have enough talent to be a championship team. But it’s where the Rams came from that makes their story so improbable.
This is a program that won only four games two years ago, its fifth consecutive season with four wins or fewer and its 11th consecutive losing season. Only a year ago, the program was in disarray and Roberts wasn’t even the coach. The school actually thought about possibly canceling last season because of alleged hazing and alcohol incidents on a team trip to Florida at the start of last season. Roberts was brought in as the interim coach.
Then last Thursday evening, a bunch of Rams went into the dogpile as Ringgold celebrated a 6-4 victory against Valley View in the PIAA 4A title game. Who would’ve thought this a year ago from a team that had never won a WPIAL or state title before?
“It’s been crazy,” said senior center fielder Bo Haines. Indeed. “It feels phenomenal, just the fact that we’re making history,” said Ryan Varley, Ringgold’s standout senior pitcher-third baseman. “Last year, we went through a lot of adversity, but we stayed strong and here we are now, state champions. ... It feels unreal.”
Now the backstory. A year ago, Jim Coulter resigned as coach after a few games and players were suspended over the incidents on the team trip to Florida. The school turned to Roberts to take over the team. He had been a Ringgold assistant for three previous seasons and was willing to step in and lead.
“I knew we had a good team that would be competitive,” said Roberts. “A lot of these seniors, I had when they were freshmen playing on the varsity. I knew there was some talent there. I knew a lot of the players, too, because I have them in class.”
Things started to turn last year when Ringgold went 13-6 and made it to the WPIAL quarterfinals. At the end of the season, the “interim” tag was removed from Roberts.
“I think the team was just being confident in themselves, playing as a team and family,” said Roberts. “I think we built a lot of confidence last year with the little playoff run we had. Then we started a fall program and we were really successful, playing a bunch of teams who were in [Class] 6A. That gave us confidence. We thought, ‘Hey, we’re good.’”
Ringgold was a lot more than good this season. The Rams won Class 4A Section 3 and made it to the WPIAL final before losing to South Fayette. They regrouped for the PIAA playoffs.
“We were on quite a roll in the playoffs,” said Roberts. “I think timely hitting was a key. We won a lot of close games, so they kept their composure in a lot of tight games, and I think that was the difference in making it all the way.”
In the PIAA final, Ringgold faced a Valley View team that featured Mason Black, a Lehigh University recruit that had allowed only six runs all season. But Ringgold had scored six by the end of the fifth inning.
Ringgold went on to become only the second team from the school to win a PIAA championship. The other was the 1995 basketball team.
That basketball team featured Mike Horan, Jamont Kinds and Czar Walsh. Coincidentally, Kinds is a friend of Roberts.
“Jamont had been telling me all week to go back and get the gold again. I’ll be calling him as soon as we leave here,” said Roberts after the game.
The 2018 Ringgold team will always be remembered but a natural question is what does the future look like for the Rams? Four seniors who started the PIAA final graduated, including Varley, who was a force as a pitcher and hitter. But the Rams have some pitchers returning next season, including Chase Angotti and Josh Peters, who started the PIAA final. Other returning starters are shortstop Koby Bubash, catcher Robert Boyer, second baseman Jake Rongaus and first baseman Nick Kolano.
And Roberts also will be returning.
“This is my dream job,” said Roberts. “I love it. I told our athletic director [Laura Grimm], you might have to give me an extension after this.
“This is all kind of funny because when this coaching position opened up a few years ago, I interviewed for the job, but didn’t get it. I’m not trying to be bitter, but it’s just ironic the way it worked out.”