In the fall of 2015 the Koa Sports coaching staff put together a men’s softball team with two goals - bring home another Montgomery County championship and have some fun. We took to the field, looking to bring home the grandest of prizes – a $100 Visa gift card and some one-sided long sleeve t-shirts. Okay, so maybe they’re not all that grand, but we’ll play any chance we get.
From day one the team dominated, routinely blowing out other teams by double digits. Koa faulted only once the entire regular season – we suffered a heartbreaking loss where some late defensive miscues cost us the game. But we rebounded immediately, blowing out that same team in game two of that night’s double-header and never looked back. Koa easily secured a first round bye and home field advantage when the playoffs rolled around in early November.
Every coach on Koa had a season to remember, but a few performances stood out. Coach AJ led the team with four home runs on the season. CEO Tony Korson hit three long balls on opening night. Coach Tom was our ace on the mound, going undefeated. Coach Tim hit a homerun in his first at-bat as a new father. Coach Billy and Coach Adam routinely made spectacular defensive plays in the outfield.
In the second round of the playoffs (after our bye), we beat our opponent for the fifth time on the season, advancing to the championship game. To take home the title, we needed to get passed Securitas Watchdogs, the team that handed us our only defeat.
The championship game did not start out well. We were unable to get into any sort of rhythm for the first two innings, allowing Securitas to take an early lead. But just when things looked bad, we remembered how good our team was. And suddenly things turned around. Coach Aidan got Koa’s first hit and scored their first run, sparking our offensive rally. The defense tightened up, and before we knew it, the score was 11-8 - Koa Sports.
In the top the 7th, of the 7 inning contest, the defense bent but didn’t break. Though our opponent made it close at the end, we were too much for them to handle. The game ended on a play at the plate, when Coach AJ launched a one-hop seed from right-center field to Big Bruce to nail the runner at home. Game over. Season over. Another championship for Koa Sports!
I had a blast this past fall. Bringing home a championship with these guys was just one of the perks of being a youth sports coach at Koa Sports. If you’re interested in coaching with us, please email tim@koasports.org or call our office at (301) 229-7529.
By Aidan Edelman
