EDMONDS — For Edmonds-Woodway’s Joe Webster, this week’s milestone in his coaching career was more of a tribute to his players and the community that supports them than it was about him.
The Warriors’ 5-2 victory over Meadowdale gave Webster his 200th career win as head baseball coach at Edmonds-Woodway.
Webster was quick to point out that his accomplishment would not have been possible without the Little League and other summer baseball programs that help to produce quality players season after season.
“For the most part, every year I have the talent on the team to win more (games) than I lose,” Webster said following the March 28 game at Edmonds-Woodway High School. “Everybody that’s played for me is a part of that. Every kid who’s played for me has won some of those games.”
Webster started coaching at Edmonds-Woodway in 1992 at the age of 23. This is his 15th season at the school, where he currently is the Dean of Students.
“It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been here for 15 years because I don’t feel old,” Webster said.
Webster was a catcher in high school and continued his baseball career at Bellevue Community College for two years. Webster soon realized his playing days were going to be limited to the junior college level and that he probably was more suited to the coaching ranks.
Webster initially thought that he might coach football rather than baseball, but the opportunity to play baseball at Bellevue Community College enabled Webster to become a student of the game.
“Baseball was something I could play at the college level,” Webster said. “I felt like I had a lot more knowledge of the game.”
He didn’t play much his first season at Bellevue, but spent the season learning as much as he could from the coaches.
Webster added that being a catcher definitely helped prepare him for his future career as a coach.
“When you’re a catcher, you have to think about how you pitch the hitter,” he said. “You’re calling the game and the whole game is in front of you. You’re kind of in charge and the coaches coach through you some of the time.
“If I hadn’t played catcher, I probably wouldn’t have played baseball because I probably would have thought it was boring.”
Of the six coaches in the Edmonds-Woodway baseball program, four of them played catcher. Three of Webster’s former catchers are assistant coaches for him now.
“I think people who play catcher are there for a reason,” Webster said. “They aren’t as gifted on some other things. We always had to kind of try and find that little extra edge. That’s always what you’re doing as a coach.”
The 38-year-old Webster also was an assistant football coach for 12 years before resigning to spend more time with his family.
People sometimes ask Webster how long he is going to coach.
“Right up until I’m not looking forward to the next year or something better comes along that changes the circumstances of my life,” is what Webster tells them.
“I still enjoy it,” he added. “This is a really neat group of kids to get No. 200 because they’re getting better every game. They played a great game all around. We had great pitching, clutch hitting, good baserunning, great defense. It was a well-played game by both teams.”
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