These past few weeks of missing "in person" school and baseball practice - make me wander down memory lane a little bit. I was a freshman at TR South in 1983 - playing on the Frosh OCT winning baseball team for Bill Rankin. I started my coaching career there in 1994, Frosh level

So I decided to try and come up with the list of Toms River High School/Toms River South coaches I played for; knew or also coached with. Let me start with the ones who were there from 1983-1986; Obviously Coach Ken Frank - whose first varsity season was 1978

The varsity staff in my senior was Coach Frank and Ted Schelmay; who moved over to TR North after the 1993 season. The first TRS/TRN varsity game in 1994; what a game. In 1984, I played on Coach Bill Frank's last TRS JV team; also and OCT winning JV team.

In 1985; I played in the first Ken Frank vs. Bill Frank (TR East) game - like all big Ocean County games - played in front of a great crowd at Winding River Park. As mentioned earlier - Bill Rankin was on that staff all 4 years and newcomer Bill Baxter was there

A presence all four years there and for many years to come, was the incomparable @dmorante_ATC77 - who in addition to be the TRS trainer over several decades basically acted as assistant coach all those years as well! Legend.

So before we can move ahead into the 90s, 2000s and 2010s; let's go back and meet the TR/TRS coaches prior to my first memories of 1983; of course there were former head coaches Al Fantuzzi and Bob Hawthorne; former assistants Tom DeAngelis and Andy Peterson and by chance...

I had met a former head coach from the early 1940s - who happened to be my neighbor - a gentleman named Doc Ricketts. He happened to pass away several years ago in his early 90s; his widow Mrs. Ricketts is 99. amazing.