Class 4A-6A All-Calhoun County baseball: Patience paid off for Shaw in final season at Alexandria
Jun. 18—ALEXANDRIA — The key to Andy Shaw guiding his last Alexandria baseball team deep into the playoffs?
Patience.
For guiding the Valley Cubs to the Class 5A quarterfinals, Shaw is The Anniston Star's Class 4A-6A Calhoun County coach of the year for 2022.
Alexandria finished 24-15, including playoff series victories over Fairview and John Carroll before falling at Madison Academy in the quarterfinals.
The Madison Academy series marked the end of Shaw's 31-year run with Alexandria baseball. He informed his team April 14 of plans to retire from Alexandria. He and former Alexandria boys basketball coach Jason Johnson and former Alexandria football coach Frank Tucker will coach together at Harralson County (Ga.).
Shaw finished with 580 wins. Former Valley Cub Zac Welch will take over the program.
Alexandria started a seven-game winning streak after Shaw announced his plans, and the streak carried through the first two playoff series.
The Valley Cubs' season also included an Area 11 title and run to the county-tourney finals, where pitcher Andrew Allen came one batter away from finishing a no-hitter. Oxford won on Hudson Gilman's walk-off double.
Shaw's plan with his last Alexandria team was to wait.
"I knew we were still going to be young, because we were so young last year," Shaw said. "I just thought, the more experience we got, the better we'd be. ...
"I thought our guys progressed well during the year to put themselves in that kind of position."
So ends a run that started when Alexandria hired Shaw as Jim Heathcock's assistant in January of 1991. After the first year, Heathcock suggested the two switch roles. Shaw became the head coach.
He also helped coach junior-high football and basketball and coached all three sports for years.
Shaw's teams won 17 area titles and made two appearances in the state finals, five semifinals and 14 quarterfinals. They won 40 playoff series.
"We tried to practice them hard and put our kids in pressure situations as much as we can," he said. "We just talk about competing a lot, and we hope we did that.
"I got so much from Coach (Larry) Ginn on how to coach kids, and it's the type of kids we've got out here at Alexandria, too, and help I got from players who came back and coached with me."
What made him proudest? Who could blame him for boasting 37 college players? His former players include 17 coaches/teachers, including 10 head coaches.
"It's just the relationships that I got to build with these kids, and getting to coach my son (Riley) and having my family involved in this the whole time," he said.
Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.
