MOUNT VERNON — It took just five short years for Mount Vernon softball coach Ryan Pentz to compile 100 wins.
In fact, Pentz has accumulated a record of 105-23 heading into this week’s action.
The coach will be the first to admit that he is not alone in earning more than 100 wins. Pentz has coaches Mike Fuller, Taylor Heckman, Lilly Erb, Cody Rolland and Jeremy Smith on his staff.
“You have taught me more than I have taught you,” Pentz told his team after a 17-0 mauling of Zanesville on Friday evening. “It’s not about me, it’s about them.”
During the Zaneseville game, the softball coaching staff wore shirts with the word “Legacy” emblazoned on the back.
“We talk about that every day, and each year, we talk about leaving a legacy. What legacy are you going to leave to the program to the school to softball?” Pentz said.
When he took the helm of the program five years ago he began a tradition that continues,
“When they join the team as freshmen, they get a legacy coin and they hold on to that for all four years,” Pentz said. “On awards night of their senior year, they come down here to the field and bury their coin wherever they would like.”
Pentz believes that leaving their legacy in the field transcends softball.
“The legacy coins are not only for softball, but life lessons as well,” he said.
Pentz believes that coaching a girls’ team is a multi-layered job.
“I think that when you are coaching young women, I’m not only trying to show them this sport, I’m trying to show them life,” the coach said. “I’m trying to show them that they are as good as any boys team. That they are as good as any, any male in the world and they get to be themselves at any given time.
“They should not take a backseat to anybody, I teach they should fight hard, play hard, go all in. That’s what I want for them in life.”
Pentz strives to make an impact on his team beyond the diamond.
“When we talk about that (philosophy) we take those words and try and apply them to life,” he said.
This season, the team has garnered a record of 12-2 and will host the first game of the District Playoffs with the first pitch slated for Wednesday at 5 p.m. The Yellow Jackets have not allowed a run in the last two games, winning both by the Mercy Rule.