Division II Team Of The Week: West Holmes
May 22, 2019
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Division II Team Of The Week: West Holmes
In addition to tying the school mark for wins in a season with 23, the Knights were also Ohio Cardinal Conference champions for the first time in school history, sharing the title with Lexington, a team West Holmes beat twice.
“That was a thrill for me and the team,” admitted head coach Bill Pim about winning the OCC. “It was cool to see all the parents taking photos after we won. There were a lot of tears of joy on the bus ride home. But there were tears of sorrow last night (Monday).”
That is because a 23-3 season came to an end with a loss to Meadowbrook in the district semifinals.
“We knew we would be good this year but not sure this good,” Pim reflected. “It was one of those years where all the breaks went our way. And then last night it turned the other way. We were in so many close games all year, your kids learn how to act in those situations. It happened again when we got down four and came back to score three in the bottom of the first inning. These kids just know how to respond.”
Unfortunately, the tenth-ranked team in the state did not have enough against Meadowbrook, bringing an end to the high school careers of eight seniors including Kendrick Wagler, Bridger Cline and twins Shane and Shiloh Jones.
Wagler, the ace pitcher for the Knights four consecutive years, finished 4-2 with three saves, striking out 50 in 48 innings of work. Cline, a second baseman who hit a triple in the season finale on Monday, is a quarterback recruit by Heidelberg.
Shane Jones is also going to college to play on the gridiron after an all-state senior year for the Knights with 19 TD receptions. A center fielder in baseball, the Ashland football commit set a school record with 44 runs scored while leading the team in average at .511 and stolen bases with 26 along with 22 RBIs. Brother Shiloh, a corner outfielder, batted .353 this season.
A 23-3 record is the best ever at West Holmes, which finished 23-7 in 2012. It came following a 10-13 season in 2018 for Pim, a fifth-year head coach at the school who was a long-time coach at Triway in the 1980s.
“It’s kind of where I wanted to get the program when I took the job,” Pim noted. “I didn’t coach for 27 years and I retired as a teacher, but some of my ex-players that live in West Holmes asked me to come back and coach their sons.”
It started with a 15-12 season in 2015 followed by 8-14 and 13-13 years. But with a 13-game improvement in wins this year and “a load of talent coming up” according to Pim, the program appears on the rise.
“A lot of it is the mentality,” Pim explained about turning things in the right direction. “How you practice, what you expect out of them. Eventually, the kids learn. Discipline is not for everybody but it’s what we demand. If you get the right kids that are willing to listen, and they’re talented … we had a lot of kids willing to do that.
“As a coach you have to have a track record, these kids have to believe in what you’re saying. It just all kind of came together this year.”
With two freshmen and one sophomore among the top five pitchers along with a sophomore catcher this season, Pim sees promise ahead. More help comes from Luke Vess, this year’s two-hole hitter as a DH who batted .407, and junior shortstop Zander Proper (Video), who had just two errors in the first 23 games.
“Our JVs were 18-3 and our freshmen were 10-3,” Pim added. “Put it all together and it was a good year for the program all the way around.”