Bodenschatz among three new spring head coaches at Sherando

Jun 20, 2024

Craig Bodenschatz

Craig Bodenschatz sat next to Sherando High School baseball coach Pepper Martin for 25 years as an assistant.

Now after the school’s only head baseball coach retired over the summer, Bodenschatz will get the chance to lead the Warriors.

Bodenschatz was one of three new spring head coaches who were announced on Monday by the school. Seth Wade, a former Sherando standout, was named the new boys’ soccer head coach, while boys’ tennis coach Jason Robertson also will take on the additional duties as the girls’ tennis coach.

Bodenschatz, 49, will take over for Martin, who went 400-229 in 29 seasons and led the Warriors to the Class AA title in 2013, the last year when the Virginia High School League had three classes.

Bodenschatz, who was the head JV coach for two seasons before moving to the varsity, is pleased to get the opportunity to follow Martin.

“Obviously, it’s an honor,” he said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s an honor to continue on with what we’ve built in the past with Pepper and the years of hard work. It’s something that I didn’t ever think about until I got here at Sherando. It wasn’t my goal to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be a baseball coach, but after doing it I thought, ‘Yeah I’d like to give this a shot. And of course when you’re with Pepper, he had started the whole program.

“My son and my daughter went [to Sherando]. I wasn’t going anywhere else. It wasn’t like the opportunity to jump right up. To carry on what was started there, it’s an honor, a little scary and a challenge, no doubt.”

Bodenschatz said replacing a fixture like Martin certainly won’t be easy, although he’s been there for all of Sherando’s biggest moments on the diamond.

“Yeah, there’s definitely pressure,” Bodenschatz said. “There’s pressure to keep things going because Pepper set the bar high. It’s certainly going to be a challenge and something I look forward to.”

Bodenschatz said the good thing is that he can draw from much institutional knowledge, having been so close with Martin for so many years. Even out of season, the two worked together doing football statistics on Friday nights for the Warriors.

“I think that’s one thing that’s going to benefit our kids,” he said. “I think there’s continuity. In talking to the rest of the staff, it still sounds like we’re going to have the majority of our staff back in place. To me, there’s not a big disruption there. That can only make the transition go easier.

“I was fortunate enough that Pepper let me be involved in everything basically,” added Bodenschatz, who teaches biology. “I don’t think that there’s anything outside of ordering the hats that I haven’t done in some fashion over the last 27 years.”

Last season, the Warriors (12-11) placed second in the Class 4 Northwestern District tournament and was the only area team to knock off state semifinalist James Wood with a 4-3 triumph in the district semifinals.

They will return several of the starters from that team.

“We do return a lot of the position guys,” Bodenschatz said. “We don’t return as much of the pitching as I would have hoped. There’s definitely talent returning. We had a quick meeting today to introduce me as the new head coach. You just look around and see there’s returning guys coming back at just about every position. That certainly gives me a lot of hope, but it comes down to pitching.”

When the Warriors open practice in the spring, Bodenschatz said there definitely will be one thing from Martin that definitely will carry over — a meticulous daily practice schedule.

“That practice plan is something that every day you have got to have it,” he said. “You have to have your organization and you have got to be clear that, ‘Hey, this is what we’re working on today. This is what we’ll work on for different days.’ You have to have that organization or otherwise you end up spinning your wheels.”

Wade, a 2017 graduate, replaces his former coach Pat Anderson, who announced his retirement after following the Warriors’ season. Anderson had a 268-175-47 in his 28 seasons as head coach. After opening 0-4, Sherando closed 9-4-2 and finished as the runner-up in the district tournament.

Wade, a varsity assistant last season, was a First Team All-Conference 21 West selection and a Second Team All-Region 4A pick during his senior season, in which his scored 13 goals and had 13 assists. He’d go on to play at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.

Wade is a teacher in the Sherando Mathematics Department.

Robertson led the Sherando boys’ team to a district semifinal spot this past season. He takes over the highly successful girls’ program that was led by Trevor Johnson for the past 13 seasons. Johnson compiled a record of 176-60 and led the Warriors to a pair of state runner-up finishes including this past season.

Robertson’s daughter Kathryn was a member of the 2017 state runner-up Warriors and teamed with Alexa Venturato to place second in the Class 4 doubles tournament in 2018.

With Robertson coaching both boys’ and girls’ tennis, Sherando coordinator of student activities Jason Barbe said the Warriors will get creative with their tennis schedules. Barbe said the Warriors will have at least two assistant coaches and one would be with the other team if both teams are playing at the same time at different locations for matches.

Craig Bodenschatz

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