As a young baseball and basketball coach, Scott McCormick didn't know anything about softball when he began coaching the sport in 1980.
“My thought was that softball is just baseball on a smaller field,” McCormick said. “I found out real fast that it's a heck of a lot different game. It's a lot faster. It was eye-opening to me.”
It didn't take long before McCormick was hooked.
“It was like, 'I can't get enough of it,'” he said.
Now, after 42 seasons as a head coach – 14 at McNary (1982-95) and 28 at South Salem (1996-2024) – McCormick has come to the end of an historic career. He announced his retirement last week, going out as the state's all-time leader in wins with a record of 748-346.
He led teams to 11 league titles and five state finals, winning a co-title at McNary in 1990 and an outright championship at South Salem in 2014. He was named 6A coach of the year in 2014 and national coach of the year by the National Federation of High School Coaches in 2006.
South Salem named its softball complex after him in 2014.
“My wife Tricia describes it as coaching softball is what I am,” McCormick said. “It's my essence. When I got into it, I really got involved. Especially in the last 15, 20 years, everything was central around that.
“Making relationships with kids, it was really important to me. A kid wasn't just a softball player, a kid was a person, and I was going to know that person, too.”
McCormick has made a profound impact on his players, according to Kelly Parsell (formerly Burdick), a second baseman on South Salem's 2014 state title team.
“Playing sports growing up, I had more coaches than I could count, and Scott's just the top one, there's no question about it,” Parsell said. “I think I could say this for most of my teammates, he just felt like family. He was there for all aspects of life. It was so much more than just softball, and it always will be.”
McCormick said he considered stepping down last year but decided to go one more season. In late September, he suffered torn ligaments in his neck when he fell on a patio. Once he recovered, he had shoulder replacement surgery in December.
McCormick was unable to swing a bat last season, relying on assistants to conduct drills.
“By the end of the season, I was just tired,” he said. “I thought, 'If I coach next season, I'd be 74, and maybe this is a good time to step down.' I'll do some traveling with my wife, do some fishing. I thought this probably was the best time.”
McCormick's 1990 McNary team shared the title with Milwaukie when the final was suspended by rain with the score tied 1-1 in the seventh inning. He had three runner-up finishes – McNary in 1991 and South Salem in 2011 and 2012 – before claiming the outright title when the Saxons defeated North Medford 5-3 in the 2014 final.
“When we were co-champions at McNary, it was the first time we had been that far in the state playoffs. It was so new and real,” he said. “The 2014 team, the game was so intense. North Medford had been our rival for as long as I'd been at South. They'd beaten us in the playoffs.”
The 2014 South Salem team featured Parsell and pitcher Katie Donovan, who went on to college careers at Washington and Utah, respectively. They were among 18 Division I college players that McCormick coached at South Salem.
McCormick created such a positive atmosphere that many former South Salem players came back to coach with him.
“We loved practice, and it was because of him,” said Parsell, who assisted McCormick for one season (2019) and was McNary's head coach for two seasons (2022-23). “He just fostered such a relaxed and enjoyable – but still competitive and efficient – environment to play and grow in.”
With 748 wins, McCormick has a cushion ahead of Mike Jodoin (671-314), Ronda McKenzie (609-231) and Steve Baker (552-471) on the state's all-time list. With McKenzie also retiring this year, the leading active coach is Jesuit's Jim Speciale (529-284), who stands at No. 5.
McCormick grew up in North Portland and moved to Newport after his eighth-grade year. He graduated from Taft and Willamette University, where he played baseball.
McCormick began his career in education with two years at an elementary school in Nyssa. He spent the next 29 years as a PE teacher in the Salem-Keizer district at Highland Elementary, where the gym is named after him.
McCormick broke into high school coaching in 1979 with McNary's JV girls basketball team. He became a softball assistant when McNary added the sport in 1980.
In 1981, McCormick had an opportunity to become the girls basketball coach at Sprague, but McNary offered him the softball head coaching job after the previous coach, Sandee Kurz, retired.
He left McNary for the South Salem job in 1995 largely because his three sons were entering high school at South Salem. Twins Matt and Nick graduated in 1997 and Chris graduated in 1999.
McCormick retired from teaching in 2004 but has stayed busy by coaching softball, maintaining his five-acre property between Turner and Jefferson and spending time with his wife, sons and seven grandchildren.
“I try to figure out how I ever had time to teach. It seems like I'm always busy,” he said.
His oldest grandchild, Lilly, is entering eighth grade this year. She began showing more interest in playing softball in the past year.
“She wants to learn how to pitch and everything,” McCormick said. “There's my project.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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