By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Piedmont softball’s secret weapon is hiding in plain sight.
It has been since head coach Keith Coleman arrived from Muskogee prior to the 2016 season, when Coleman inherited a successful program with a winning tradition, but no state championships.
Coleman wanted to change that as quickly as possible.
“I came to Piedmont to win state championships,” he said.
There were no shortcuts. Coleman added a rigorous offseason conditioning program and a jam-packed summer travel ball schedule.
Fast forward six years and Coleman’s master plan is in full swing. The Lady Wildcats have won two of the last three state titles in Class 5A and will enter the 2022 season as overwhelming favorites to repeat as champions.
What’s the secret to all the success?
Coleman along with Piedmont’s players and parents have poured an equal mix of dedication, desire and determination into the softball program. Perhaps the most important component of their efforts culminate with the team’s summer travel ball organization, the Oklahoma Athletics.
Each spring and summer, more than 90% of the players in Piedmont’s program join up to form the Athletics. It’s a teal and purple clad carbon copy of the Piedmont Lady Wildcats.
In recent years, a second A’s team coached by PHS assistant Coleman Hughes was formed to give Piedmont’s younger players a chance to gain more valuable experience.
“Between our two teams, we have 25 Piedmont kids,” Coleman said. “We’re playing in great tournaments against great competition every weekend.”
Coleman developed the travel team idea in Muskogee and brought it to PHS. Combined with Piedmont’s offseason conditioning regimen, it’s helped make the Lady Wildcats the preeminent program in Class 5A.
Though it’s a concept that might seem elementary, Coleman said, to his knowledge, Piedmont is the only school in the state with this framework in place.
Jason Nieuwenhuis, whose daughter Hannah is a pitcher for Piedmont and the Athletics, said it was a no-brainer to join the travel team.
“Hannah is with the same girls all the time and they’re some of her best friends. They do everything together and we have the best coach in the state coaching them,” he said.
The A’s will play 75-80 games — plus weekly practices — together over the spring and summer against premier teams from across the United States. From mid-January through October, Piedmont is full-go with either its high school or travel team.
Initially, there was some skepticism, but it didn’t last long. In less than a year, Coleman had nearly full buy-in from players and parents.
After PHS won its first state title in 2019, Coleman didn’t have to convince anyone the travel ball program paid dividends.
“It was automatic. Everyone wanted to be involved,” he said. “It’s been outstanding for our program.”
Coleman said by the time the 2019 Lady Wildcats dog piled in Oklahoma City after the program’s first state title, the team had played almost 600 games together since 2016. By comparison, the most veteran of Piedmont’s high school competition might’ve had, at most, 120 games together in that same time frame.
“It’s an outstanding deal that our parents buy into this and that our kids want to do it,” Coleman said. “Development wise, it’s been so good for us in every aspect of our program.”
The wealth of game action helps to provide Piedmont’s coaching staff with an unmatched depth of knowledge of each of their players.
“It helps us manage games properly,” Coleman said, “because we know so much about all of them.”
There’s no comparison between the program he inherited in 2016 and the one he’s in charge of today, Coleman said.
“We’re light years ahead of where we were because we have spent so much more time together as a team,” he said. “It’s what has gotten us over the hump.”
The Athletics will finish their summer slate with two of the premier travel tournaments in the nation the next two weeks, both in Oklahoma City.
‘Tough and resilient’
The extra time together in competition against the best players from around the country can, at times, make the high school season seem easier.
“Day in and day out, we’re playing better teams in the spring and summer,” Coleman said. “There’s more scouting in school ball, but the teams we play in travel ball are more talented.”
Despite the high level competition, the Athletics are successful. The main goal is always development, but Piedmont wins far more than it loses.
“We don’t win them all, but we sure compete,” Coleman said.
The A’s can’t get by on pure talent. They have good players, but usually not as good as the competition.
“We don’t have a bunch of D-1 kids. We beat people because our kids are tough and resilient and they put in the work,” Coleman said. “I can’t say enough about the work our players put in.”
Time for another title?
In 24 days, Piedmont will begin defense of its 2021 state title with a loaded roster filled with all the right ingredients for a third championship in four years.
“We’re going to be tough to beat, if we stay healthy,” Coleman said, “that doesn’t guarantee anything, but we’re going to be really good.”
The team is so good, in fact, Coleman said this might be his best team yet.
“We could be way better this year than last,” Coleman said. “Between the 2019 team and this one…that would be a fun game to watch.”
