CHOCOWINITY – Circumstance brought John Lohman to softball, love for the game made him stay. It was over 10 years ago that a vacancy propelled Lohman, a soccer coach and lifelong baseball fan, to enter a new field, literally.
“I started at P.S. Jones when I got my first (teaching) job,” Lohman said. “I coached soccer in the fall and they didn’t have a softball coach so they came and asked me – I walked into a great team that year – and I just fell in love with the game. It’s a fun game. The girls are great. It’s not a sit around and wait for something to happen sport … It’s just exciting. I love it.”
Lohman went from P.S. Jones to Southside High School and brought his love for the game with him as he led the Seahawks to three conference titles. Last year Southside won a District championship and advanced all the way to the Sectional championship game. This year, there would be no District title but the job Lohman did from the dugout was perhaps is finest in all his years with the school.
With traditional softball powers Williamston and Jamesville merging to form Riverside, most expected that the newly-formed super squad would runaway with the Four Rivers Conference title. However, the Seahawks, who finished the season 20-4, split their regular season meetings with the Knights and placed only one game behind them in the final regular season standings. That kind of performance made Lohman a solid choice to be this season’s Washington Daily News Softball Coach of the Year.
“We knew that the combination of Williamston and Jamesville was going to be potent,” Lohman said. “I was nervous going into our game against them, and I was nervous going into our game against South Creek (a combination of Bear Grass and Roanoke High School) too, but Riverside I was really nervous about. We got out there and started playing and by the third inning I started realizing that they’re just human; they’re not super-human. They have some good players and they have some great players but if you execute your game and do what you are supposed to do then you can beat them.”
Doing “what you’re supposed to do” has become a trademark of Lohman-led teams. Perhaps no other softball coach in the league is as verbal as the Southside skipper. Lohman is constantly alerting his team of the game situations and what their potential next move or moves should be. Like all good coaches, he leaves little or nothing to chance.
“For (the players) it’s real important. If you get a big hit and you’re going to second base you’re all pumped up on adrenaline and maybe you’re not thinking about the outs our the situation. So I am constantly reminding them of the situations,” Lohman said. “Sometimes I’ll make a mistake   and they love pointing out when I make a mistake – but, if I do make a mistake and they correct me that’s good because it means they are in the game too. There is always going to be at least one of them that’s going to let me know when I’m wrong and that’s good.
“We talk about situations or counts at the plate. If the count is 0-2 and the umpire sees a ball that’s a little bit off the plate what’s going to happen? You’re going to be walking back to the bench.”
Lohman also has a good feel on when to be serious and when to joke around with his players. That kind of relationship has fostered good clubhouse chemistry, but of course, when the stakes are high Lohman leaves nothing to chance.
“He’s both intense and laid back,” said Savannah Mumford, last season’s WDN Pitcher of the Year. “Sometimes he’s like, ‘We got to get it done,’ and sometimes he’s silly. When it’s time to play, if we got a tough game that week, he’s on us.”