Remarkable reign
Simms\' 300 wins span impressive career at West Greene
Bill Simms has never been one to toot his own horn.
The West Greene softball coach didn’t tell anyone that he was closing in on his 300th win with the Lady Pioneers.
“I didn’t publicize it to anybody,” Simms said.
He figured out pretty quickly before his team’s 17-2, four-inning win at Avella on Tuesday the secret was out.
“When I saw several buddies and friends show up at an away game at Polar Star at Avella I thought something’s up here,” Simms said. “And when I saw my one daughter (former player Emily Simms) came home from Pitt to be there, then I kind of knew that they know.
“I’m not sure how many of the players knew but they all congratulated me afterwards.”
They saw another impressive game from Simms’ squad, which wrapped up Section 3-A play with an 8-2 record and improved to 11-4 overall.
Caitlin Whyte tossed a four-inning, three-hitter with five strikeouts and had two hits and RBI and Emmaline Beazell contributed two hits and three RBIs for the Lady Pioneers, who also got two RBIs apiece from Kendra Tharp, Madelyn Roberts and Rylee Yeager.
“A good win,” said Simms, whose team is still in the running to claim a share of first place, likely needing a second win by Jefferson-Morgan over Carmichaels to forge a possible three-way tie.
Simms is in his 20th season as West Greene’s head coach, a job he took over in 2006.
“We’ve had a nice run of success on just trying to put out good teams every year,” Simms said.
The Lady Pioneers have certainly done that and much more under Simms, whose career record stands at a sparkling 300-125 for a winning percentage of 71 percent.
Simms’ reign has included a record five consecutive WPIAL championships from 2016 to 2022 with back-to-back PIAA titles in 2017 and 2018.
It could’ve easily been six or even seven WPIAL crowns and another state championship. West Greene was loaded in 2021, led by one the state’s top pitchers and hitters in Jade Renner, but that season was wiped out by the covid pandemic. In 2022 the Lady Pioneers lost in the WPIAL final to Chartiers-Houston in a tight 3-2 battle.
“It’s a combination of a lot of talented girls over the years, lot of heartache and a lot of euphoria,” Simms said. “We’ve been to the top and we’ve had some hard losses. Lot of good times though.”
Simms remembers the tough defeats more than the glorious victories.
“Getting 300 is special. But I’m unfortunately that guy who focuses on the tough losses more than the marquee wins,” Simms said. “Just the other day we lost a heartbreaker to Carmichaels, 3-1. Those are the games I say is there anything I could’ve done as a coach to have helped my kids get over the top.”
Simms, not surprisingly tried to downplay his impact in getting to 300.
“We had the great teams from 2016 on where you’re above average every year and you’re pushing 20-24 wins at times,” Simms said. “I think the group of 2019, that graduation class was 96-12 over four years, so you rack up a lot of wins with those kids and it boosts your total.”
IN THE BEGINNING
Simms can’t recall who his first win came against.
“I remember the first team,” he said. “That was a lot of the Burns girls.”
Rachel Burns held the school record for wins until it was broken by Renner in 2019. Rebecca Burns was 3 for 4 with a two-run single in Simms’ first playoff victory, 4-2 over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 2006.
“One of my best friend’s daughter urged me to coach the kids,” Simms said. “His daughter Chelsea Jones was on that team, and the Burns girls, Maggie Fike, I could name them all. I just can’t remember who that first win was against, but I knew we were pretty good.
“I certainly didn’t see all this coming though.”
CHAMPIONSHIPS RUN
The two straight PIAA championships obviously standout for Simms, teams led by four-year stars Kaitlyn Rizor along with twin sisters McKenna and Madison Lampe.
“It ranks right up there, that’s for sure. If memory serves me correct, we’re still the only Class A team to win back-to-back,” said Simms, whose statement is accurate. “We were there three straight years and were one run away from being there four straight years and potentially playing Williams Valley four years in a row. So a lot of great memories there.”
The fifth WPIAL title rubbed out any naysayers who felt it was the one spectacular class that led to all of Simms’ and West Greene’s success.
“Also ranking right up there is the 2021 team that didn’t win the state when we got beat by Tri-Valley in a walk-off, because that was after the twins, and everybody maybe doesn’t know that you still have a good team,” Simms said. “Our pitcher who went to Saint Vincent, Kiley Meek, had just an unfathomable year. That was a fun ride, too.”
ONE YEAR AT TIME
Simms said he still enjoys coaching at West Greene.
“There are some drawbacks to it just like anything,” Simms said. “I think the times and pressure have changed. You get a little more parent involvement in that way but that’s up and down in every sport, let alone what we’re doing.
“But it’s a lot more good than bad. It’s still fun to do. I’ve had a little bit of turnover in my coaching staff this particular year so you’ve got a lot of brand new people around. I look back at all the guys and women who have helped me, it’s just a pretty good laundry list.
“I go year by year and not try to project ahead too far. The old saying is if you’re thinking about retiring then it’s time to retire anyway. But I haven’t truly felt yet that calling to hang it up. I’m getting to around the tail end of my teaching career so it’s probably going to be a bundle package one of these years.”
Simms admits he’s not as loud as he used to be.
“I think having daughters and coaching girls has mellowed me,” he said. “When I first started coaching girls, my dad, who was a great influence on my life, was about ready to strangle me. He’d say you can’t yell at them like that,” Simms added with a chuckle. “I have toned it down a bit over the years.”
HONORING THE PAST
Simms is aware of the West Greene softball tradition that preceded him.
“Ironically enough I hit what everyone’s calling a milestone and a guy that was the longtime softball coach before me that had a couple accolades at the school, too, just passed away,” Simms pointed out. “Bill DeVore was the coach in the 1980s whenever Helen Wise and that crew went to the tournament.”
DeVore, who died at age 79 on Saturday, guided the Lady Pioneers to two section titles in 15 years and his 1983 team reached the WPIAL semifinals and won a PIAA playoff game.
“It’s pretty bittersweet when you lose that guy and then you do this the next day or two,” Simms said. “It doesn’t put a damper on it but I’d love to have had him around for this.”
LEARNING FROM THE BEST
Simms’ teams are known to be well prepared for each game and fundamentally sound.
Simms stressed he evolved as a coach thanks to being very observant of other great coaches he’s seen over the years, and not just in softball.
“I look at a guy up at Burgettstown, Mark Deer, who’s coached softball for a long time and always had great teams back to the Romney Waters era,” Simms said. “You look at Chartiers-Houston and what Trish (Alderson) does over there, where they’re just good every year. I think you try to model yourself around that.”
He picked up plenty in his early days at West Greene.
“As I grew up as a young guy coming through the AD ranks, two very influential guys on me, watching them coach and trying to model myself after them, were one basketball coach and one baseball coach,” Simms said.
“One was Joe Maize over at Peters Township, who’s actually a Waynesburg guy. He just always had a great team at Peters Township. And probably my biggest mentor-type guy outside of West Greene, I always watched the guy win, win, win, and that was Ron Faust, the basketball coach over at Wash High.
“I’d always try to just pick their brains and try to be a sponge and try to pick up anything that can give you an edge.”
Simms has great respect for both.
“I’d be at an AD meeting and Joe Maize would be sitting down there with a yellow legal pad and he’d fill that thing up and I’d say, ‘What are you writing?’ And he’d say I’m just laying out my daily practice routine. I’d just peek at it.
“You try to emulate a little bit. This guy’s won over 400 games and has a field named after him. That’s a pretty good guy to try to model yourself after. Ron Faust, 52 victories in a row, two state titles. Why wouldn’t you want to be like that guy?”
GROUP EFFORT
Simms lauded all those around him for reaching the 300 milestone.
“To have a program as successful as we’ve had, you can’t give just one person credit for all that,” Simms said. “All the coaches that have helped me over the years, all the administrative support we’ve received, the parents driving their kids to camps and lessons and travel ball and supporting the team, the community, they’re all part of this.
“But it all comes down to the players. You’ve got to have the horses. They’re the ones who have done it. They’re the ones who should get most of the credit for that 300 number.”