'I feel like I've left my legacy'

NEW RIEGEL — Last spring wasn't the first time Jamie Lininger had thought about stepping away from coaching softball at New Riegel. But if he'd gone with his first thought, he'd have missed out on a big honor.The Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inducted Lininger and a handful of others into its hall of fame this past January at the group's annual coaches clinic, capping his 17-year head coaching career with the Blue Jackets.It almost never happened.Lininger served as an assistant for New Riegel for a few years but was thinking about calling it quits before then-coach Mark Theis said he was going to step down and asked if Lininger wanted to take over."I looked at him and said, 'No, I don't think I have the passion for this that you do,'" Lininger said, recalling the conversation. "He said, 'Oh, yeah, I think you do.'"It was a pretty fun run," Lininger said.That fun run stretched 17 seasons from 2004 through 2021 — the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19 — and brought a slew of high water marks for the players, the program and Lininger.He holds the school softball coaching records for career wins (331), wins in a season (29) and years coaching (17).Three of his teams reached the state semifinals, including last year's 29-3 squad, while five others earned regional berths.Lininger's only losing season came in his second year, when the Blue Jackets went 12-13 and fell 4-3 to St. Wendelin in a nine-inning district semifinal.Eight of the program's 10 teams to win at least 20 games in a season came with him at the helm.Nineteen of the program's 22 All-Ohio selections came during his tenure. One of them — Taylor Kirian — was a three-time first-team pick while three others — Kristin Coleman, Lauren Mathias and Jackie Reinhart — were each two-time All-Ohio selections. His youngest daughter, Kayleigh Lininger, also earned All-Ohio first-team honors as a senior pitcher last year.His Blue Jackets won six conference championships — Midland Athletic League in 2010 and 2012, Sandusky River League in 2015 and 2016, and Sandusky Bay Conference River Division in 2019 and 2021 — while he amassed a 331-133 record guiding them."It just became part of me — the expectations to come in and we're going to do another year. It was easy to do with the kids I had," Lininger said. "We had great kids, great support from the community and parents, and it was just easy to do every year."We had good players who were good kids who make the coach look like he knows what he's doing," he said.But he also said he knew it had to eventually end. Lininger said he'd been thinking about stepping away over the past few years, but decided to do it after the 2021 season. That way, he said, he could coach both of his daughters through their prep careers while also making sure this year's team had plenty of good players and experience returning."I didn't want to leave the cupboard bare," he said.Four letterwinners return this year for new coach Tony Conner, who was an assistant under Lininger. Conner's staff also includes former players Darci (Nye) Dailey — a three-time All-Ohioan who played before Lininger began coaching — and Leah Bouillon.Lininger said he'll now spend his springs playing golf, watching his son compete in high school track and hanging out around the outfield fence when the Blue Jackets take the softball and baseball fields."I guess I still think of the (high school) girls as my kids still, because I coached them for so long, but I'm going to enjoy just sitting back and watching them and not having any other worries, concerns, commitments or responsibilities or whatever. It'll be fun just to watch," he said."It was a great run and I feel like I influenced a lot of kids' lives, hopefully, in a positive manner," Lininger said. "I feel like I've left my legacy. I'm pretty proud of a lot of our accomplishments."