MILL CREEK — When Kyle Peacocke agreed to help out the Inglemoor softball team as he finished up college back in 1996, he never imagined that he’d eventually lead his own team to state championships.
After accomplishing the remarkable feat of winning four titles in the past five tournament seasons at Jackson High School, Peacocke officially stepped down as head coach on Monday.
“Sometimes you just know it’s time for a change,” said Peacocke, who has been a head coach for 25 years, including the past 13 at Jackson. “I don’t think I could say that I’ll never coach again, but I definitely need a break.”
Peacocke also cited wanting to see his son, Nate, compete for the Jackson track team as a senior next spring in addition to all of the family activities associated with having a senior in high school. With the Timberwolves softball team making deep postseason runs most years, he knew there was a chance he’d miss a lot of once-in-a-lifetime moments next spring.
Jackson is believed to be the first Class 3A or 4A school to win four state softball titles. It seemed like a natural point to step down for Peacocke, who leaves with an overall record of 457-148. He said it was not the first time he’s considered a break, but he recognized during a Covid-shortened season in 2021 that the 2024 class was a special group of players. They delivered with a Class 4A semifinal appearance in 2022 and consecutive championships in 2023 and 2024.
“It’s been such a part of my life, and I’ve had such a joy doing it,” said Peacocke, who will be the athletic coordinator at Jackson in the fall. “It’s just time to do something different.”
There was a time when coaching softball was something different. He envisioned himself an eventual head football coach as he prepared to enter the teaching profession in 1996, but noticed how much he enjoyed the family aspect of softball — so much so that he eventually stopped coaching football. As it turned out, he was involved in 28 of the first 33 seasons that fastpitch softball was an official high school sport in Washington. Since being named head coach at Everett High School in 2000, his list of accomplishments, which includes 10 district titles and 16 state appearances, is long:
- Five-time Herald All-Area coach of the Year
- Twelve 20-win seasons
- 23 postseason appearances in all 23 seasons postseasons were held
- Seven top-four state tournament finishes
- Never had a losing season in league play
Peacocke credits strong youth programs and enthusiasm for softball in Snohomish County for providing a pool of players that he and his coaching staffs have been able to turn into winners, and in dozens of cases, college-bound athletes. He also attributed the help from Ken Hudson, a volunteer assistant who is retiring after nearly 20 seasons of working with Peacocke at Everett and Jackson.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to have good players,” Peacocke said. “It’s kind of hard to have that much success without having really good players.
“The environment that we wanted to create was truly family, and when you have kids buy into that it’s amazing.”
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