Avid East Webster fans will have to adjust their eyes when they look into the dugout this year and see a different face coaching the team, but it’s a recognizable one that should stuck make them feel at home.
Wes Johnson called it a career after last season as the former player and longtime coach of the Wolverines was ready to take a step back. Johnson has two kids in junior college currently and another is getting ready to finish up her career at East Webster so the veteran coach has handed over the keys to the park to assistant Jordan Smith.
For the last five years, Smith was prepping for this opportunity. He jumped on board right on time in 2015 when he helped coach the Wolverine team that won the Class 2A state championship. From that point to now, he has felt like he’s grown tremendously.
“Ever since I got into coaching, I always felt like I had a desire to be a head coach,” Smith said. “I tried to do everything that I could to prepare myself for that moment and I feel like coach Johnson has helped prepare me in more ways than he realizes to be a head coach. He’s taught me about leadership and taught me the game. I’ve taken what I’ve learned from him and made it my own.”
There’s a solid foundation already in place in Cumberland as the Wolverines won 20 or more games in each of the first four years that Smith was an assistant with four trips to at least the third round of the playoffs, that state championship in 2015 and another to the north state championship back in 2018 as the Wolverines got to within a game of the state championship series.
Last year’s team finished 18-7 and was second in Class 2A, Region 2 behind the eventual state champions of Calhoun City. They were on a hot streak late in the season before New Site won two of three games in the first round of the playoffs to take the series.
A lot of players from that team are a year older and wiser and they’re ready for another year this season. Smith will rely on seniors like Cameron Pilgrim, Gray McCarter and Wes Silver to lead the way among many other younger players that already have experience.
“I love what we’ve got,” Smith said of his roster. “We’ve got a great balance with a mixture of senior leadership at the top of the lineup and then you mix that in with a really talented sophomore class that has jumped on board with the seniors. It really makes for a great balance and I’m really excited to see them.”
Getting a chance to see his team on a field has been the challenge to this point for Smith. The rain in the area has kept them from starting the season but they did play at the New Hope jamboree against Starkville and they also played against Tupelo Christian.
During that time, the hitting has jumped ahead of defense based on the fact that they’ve been in the Wolverines’ indoor facility and the hitting cages on site. Smith also says that his team is in great physical shape and has been in the weight room all year.
The team is going to be challenged early on this year. The Wolverines were supposed to play the opener of the season on Monday at Starkville before the game was rained out and instead will play that on Thursday afternoon at 7 p.m.
They were also expected to play at New Hope on Tuesday in a game that would have happened after press time of this story. The East Webster tournament on Saturday includes a game against Nanih Waiya at 11 a.m. and Choctaw County at 3 p.m. which concludes an already tough schedule and it is only week one.
“That’s what we want to be about at East Webster. We want to win the next game and win the division and strive to win a state championship,” Smith said. “We feel like playing great opponents is how you do it. When you play those level of opponents, you find out really quick what you’ve got and your strengths and weaknesses and what you need to work on.”
