Woods hired as VASJ baseball coach

Veteran baseball coach Dennis Woods, who stepped down this past season after a lengthy stint at Lake Catholic, has been hired as the new coach at Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Nate Barnes reports.

Add future classes of Villa Angela-St. Joseph baseball players to Dennis Woods’ Christmas card list.

Woods, who stepped down from his post as Lake Catholic’s varsity baseball coach in May, was hired as the Vikings’ new coach Aug. 27.

The 76-year-old graduate of Cleveland South owns more than 50 years of coaching experience at Glenville, Cleveland Heights, Case Western Reserve, Cuyahoga Community College and Lake Catholic. Woods coached the Cougars for the past 19 seasons.

Woods received a handful of offers to join staffs of successful programs around the area and Northeast Ohio. No doubt existed in his mind, he wanted to continue working as a head coach.

“Coaches call it coaching,” Woods said. “Teachers call it teaching. That’s what I like doing, helping them along.”

VASJ confirmed the hire to The News-Herald on Aug. 27. The hire was announced later that morning. Woods will meet with the team at a time to be determined.

Woods takes over a VASJ program that’s won two playoff games in the past five seasons. The Vikings have not advanced to the district level of the state baseball tournament in more than a decade.

“I don’t run away from challenges,” Woods said. “I’m happy, I’m pleased to stay in the game in that capacity as a head coach.”

Woods plans to build VASJ’s program into a competitor. He’ll now call Euclid’s Serra Field home after he put full-time hours of maintenance into the facility back on Reynolds Road.

Woods ranks seventh all-time in OHSAA history with 730 wins.

Lake Catholic went 13-12 in 2018. The Cougars, competing in Division I for the first time, were eliminated by South in a Euclid District semifinal.

Woods resigned as the Cougars’ coach at the team banquet May 23. The decision caught Lake Catholic’s administration by surprise.

As fellow members of the North Coast League, Woods will see his former team on the field in the spring.

“I miss the kids at Lake,” Woods said. “Don’t get me wrong, I miss Lake Catholic, I miss the kids. I see the kids once in a while. Of course, I still see my kids from Glenville.”

Recently, Woods reunited with former Glenville players for the funeral of a player who graduated in 1969. When his hire was announced, Woods said he received messages from John Carroll basketball coach Pete Moran, members of the Lake Catholic community and texts from an array of numbers he didn’t recognize.

Such relationships, and some time off, left no question Woods still wanted to coach.

“I still feel like I can be a head coach,” Woods said. “I’m a little older than other people, but I still feel I can do things.”

PAUL DICICCO — THE NEWS-HERALD Former Lake Catholic coach Dennis Woods was hired at VASJ on Aug. 27.