Grand Junction High School won its first softball game of the season under a new coaching staff Friday at Kronkright Complex. Their new head man is a familiar face in the District 51 softball scene — albeit one who hasn’t been around as much in recent years.
“I never thought I’d coach again,” new Tigers coach Scott Else said.
Else was a fixture in Western Slope softball for more than a decade. In his previous head coaching tenure, Else won nine Southwestern League titles, including seven in a row, as the patriarch of the Central softball program. Else lead the Warriors to the Class 5A state final four on three separate occasions during his time. But after a dozen years at Central, Else hung up his hat and glasses for good at the conclusion of the 2020 academic season — or so he thought until this offseason.
“(Grand Junction High School Dean of Students) Tom LeFebre, he was couple years behind me in school, and he called me and said ‘Hey, we are looking to do something here,’” Else said. “At first I said no, and then he called again, and I said ‘Let me think about it.’ Then he called again, and I said ‘Give me the weekend,’ and then I said ‘Fine, let’s do it.’”
Else, himself a graduate of Grand Junction High School, attended his 40-year high school class reunion earlier this year. Something about the reunion resonated with the retired coach, who was ultimately coaxed back into the dugout by his LeFebre.
“I was like, maybe it was meant to be,” Else said.
In his first game in the home dugout for the Tigers, his team topped Monarch, 11-6. Grand Junction faced some typical early season jitters in the game’s early going, as Tiger fielders committed three errors and the pitching staff allowed six hits, culminating in a 6-2 second-inning lead for the Coyotes. But the Tigers found their footing later in the contest, surging for four runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth to grab the season-opening win.
Freshman right fielder Avery Long was brilliant in her first-ever high school start, going 3 for 4 with a double and three runs scored. Long, alongside sophomore shortstop Alysa Lorimor — who drove in three runs without collecting a hit — are standouts among a larger youth movement that figures to play a large role in the outcome of this season for the Tigers. Despite his players’ youth and the nerves that come with it, Else foresees a strong season upcoming for his team.
“We’re young right now. We have basically seven girls starting for varsity (this year) that never have before,” Else said. “But we have a lot of talent. Overall, I think we’re gonna be good… Once we get the nerves out, we’ll be good.”