As his players doused him with the cooler of water, Chad Anderson didn't mind one bit. The former Averett University baseball player had just coached his Chatham High School baseball team to the Group A state championship with a 10-4 victory over Gate City.
Anderson's Cavaliers (25-2) rolled through the postseason, scoring double digits in all but one playoff game en route to the program's first state title since 1987.
Anderson said a lot of the things he teaches his players came from what he learned when he played at Averett under coach
Ed Fulton.
But Anderson wasn't the only former Cougar on Chatham's coaching staff, nor was was he the only former Averett standout to help guide a team deep into the Virginia High School League playoffs.
When Chatham and Northumberland High School squared off in the Group A state baseball quarterfinals, their respective coaches had more in common than leading their teams deep into the Virginia High School League playoffs. Both head coaches — Chatham's Anderson (1999-2002) and Northumberland's Johnny Mothershead (2005-06) — played for Fulton, as did Chatham assistants Kyle Hoehne (2001-04) and Justin Brown (2006-08) and Northumberland assistant Larry Mothershead (2006-07).
They are just a handful of the many former Averett players that are coaching high school teams this late into the postseason. Tunstall assistant coach Mark Austin, who played at Averett from 1999-2000, has helped the Trojans advance to the Group AA state quarterfinals, along with Grafton High School, where former Cougar Ryan Ansama (1998-2000) is an assistant coach.
"There's no doubt that it's a pleasure to watch those guys take the things they learned here at Averett and apply them to the development of their own teams," Fulton said. "They've all done a remarkable job. It's an honor to have those guys coaching and having the success they've achieved."
The game between Chatham and Northumberland wasn't the first time during this year's playoffs that former Cougars have faced off. Chatham defeated Randolph-Henry in the Region B quarterfinals. Randolph-Henry assistant J.R. Allen (1998-2001) is also a former Averett player.