Clarke Central High School senior Katherine Sartain, CCHS softball coach William Lance and CCHS senior Senorra Baldwin (left to right) celebrate Senior Night on Sept. 25 for the 2019 softball season. Lance will be the head softball coach for the upcoming 2020 season. Varsity softball team Captain and CCHS rising senior, Abby Allen, believes he will be a committed coach. “During the offseason, he held optional offseason workouts in the mornings for all players. It was him volunteering his time for us if we wanted to get better and stronger. It meant a lot that he was willing to give up his time and come to school at 6:30 in the morning just to work out with us and get better,” Allen said. Photo by Natalie Pierce
Clarke Central High School Special Education department teacher and CCHS class of 2010 alumnus William Lance will be the CCHS head softball coach beginning the 2020-21 school year.
William Lance was an assistant coach for the Clarke Central High School softball team last year and assistant CCHS baseball coach for the past two years. He will take over the softball program, replacing Physical Education department teacher Alex Holmes as head coach for the 2020-21 season.
“I knew (the position) was vacant, and I had a good relationship with the girls. I felt like there was mutual respect and trust there. I knew that they needed to start working out and getting stronger and getting better for next season, so I decided to start running the offseason stuff with the girls in the weight room,” Lance said. “After that, people were asking, ‘Do (you) want this job?’ or ‘Would you apply for it?’ and when the girls told me that they wanted me to apply for (it) and be their head coach, I just knew I had to do it for them.”
Varsity softball team captain Abby Allen, a rising CCHS senior, thinks Lance will be a good fit as head coach.
“(I think) transitioning to Coach Lance (will) be easy because we’ve already been with him for a year. The team knows that Coach Lance cares a lot about softball and the players,” Allen said. “I feel like he is going to be a great head coach. I’m sad that I will only have him as a head coach for a year.”
“(I think) transitioning to Coach Lance (will) be easy because we’ve already been with him for a year. The team knows that Coach Lance cares a lot about softball and the players.”
— Abby Allen,
Varsity softball team captain and CCHS rising senior
Beth Segars, the mom of CCHS softball player and a rising senior, Kinsey Segars, and thinks Lance’s coaching will offer stability for the players that they have not had due to many recent coaching turnovers.
“I think his dedication to the girls is going to make a big impact. It’s been a rough few years in the coaching area, and I think this is going to be a good change,” Segars said. “He was always very encouraging both during the season and in the off-season and both off and on the field.”
Going into the 2020 fall softball season, Lance has plans for the team to improve their athletic performance from last season’s record of 9-21.
“I think I want to win more games than we won last year and I would love to make the playoffs, but most importantly for those senior girls, I want to make it a good time for them,” Lance said. “So hopefully we can make a lot of noise and get them the recognition that they deserve.”
