He’s written over 600 lineup cards.

His teams have won over 400 games.

Steve Caffrey is in his 31st year coaching Pleasant Valley softball, but if you would ask him about those numbers, he’d tell you that they don’t matter to him.

“I don’t keep a record of the numbers about me,” he said. “It’s not about me. The game is all about the kids.”

Throughout his long coaching career, Caffrey has seen the evolution of high school sports in general, and softball in particular.

“When I took the position of head coach at Pleasant Valley, many of our girls were two-sport players - mainly field hockey and softball. We had a few travel team girls and they were more highly skilled in the fundamentals because back then, making a travel team was harder than it is today with the many levels of competition and number of teams offered now.”

In recent years, his teams are not always comprised of girls who have played together like it used to be. He explained that in the past, most of his players came up through the community program and were friends from the same schools.

Because of that, they had formed a solid chemistry. But now with travel teams being more available from so many different locations, neighborhood softball teams are no longer the norm.

That means team chemistry is a work in progress, since a number of the girls have not played together much during their early years in the sport.

Despite dismissing numbers that relate to his achievements, Caffrey is concerned about the fluctuation of his roster numbers since he began his head coaching career in 1993. Over the years, he‘s had as many as 48 players try, out and as many as 33 players selected for JV and varsity teams.

He’s also had as few as 15 players in the entire program with that number coming recently - the year following the season being canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘It used to be where juniors and seniors played varsity, and freshmen and sophomores were on the JV team,” Caffrey explained. “Today, a ninth-grade player can play varsity if she’s good enough because there are a lot less upperclassmen to compete against.

“But what often happens to a freshman who plays travel ball on age related 14U teams and then comes to us, is that she’s likely to struggle against 16- and 17-year-old juniors and seniors.”

This season, the Bears had a solid turnout of 40 girls trying out for the team. Unfortunately, Caffrey sees that number potentially being more of a one-off rather than a trend toward a return to higher numbers in the future.

“Our junior high school numbers are in the very low teens,” Caffrey said. “Kids today have many more things to choose from, including more sports in the spring. Track gets a lot of girls, and now there’s lacrosse as well. A number of girls are now choosing those sports over softball in the spring.’

But it’s not just other sports.

A few of Caffrey’s current varsity players have jobs, and with recent multiple weather-related postponements forcing teams to play four or five games in a week, their employers will have to be extra considerate to allow those who work to come to all the games.

Off the field, parental involvement has had different impacts upon Caffrey’s program through the years. He’s very grateful for the PV Booster Club that helps fund the program and raises thousands of dollars for anything that might be needed beyond the softball budget set by the school board.

One thing that has made coaching easier over the years is technology.

In the 1990s, Caffrey had to call parents to inform them about practices and postponements, but now he can relay that information in five minutes on the team’s Facebook page.

“That’s a great form of communication,” he said. “But just like everything else, as helpful as technology and social media can be, it can also cause problems.

“Social media sites can be positive or negative. They can be places to share information about games or practices, or it can be a place for gripe sessions from parents who might be dissatisfied with some aspect of team management.”

Like most coaches, Caffrey has a calculated philosophy about playing time.

“Starting positions are earned,” he said. “I like to get everyone in games when we can, but sometimes it’s not practical. If we should be winning by 15 runs after three innings, we’d like to play everyone, but the mercy rule now end games so early that often times that is hard to do even with a big lead.”

Caffrey, a special education teacher at Pleasant Valley, credited Maynard Frantz for mentoring him during his early years as coach.

“Maynard taught me so much about coaching the game,” said Caffrey. “I want to credit him for taking me under his wing. He was my assistant during my first eight years here, and has been like an older brother to me throughout the years.”

Although a district championship has eluded Caffrey’s Bears despite being in the finals three times, his teams have won 10 league titles over the years. Arguably, his best team might have been the 2014 Bears squad that finished 20-5.

But he’s quick to dismiss the championship numbers as well, or compare his the teams he’s coached over the years to each other.

“For me, softball is just a game for the girls to enjoy playing,” said Caffrey. “Their education matters far more than any won-loss records.”

Asked if he sees his retirement from coaching coming in the near future, he said that all good things must come to an end at some point.

“I used to miss my son’s baseball games while I coached softball.” said Caffrey. “Now I have grandkids that I want to watch play sports. There will come a day that I will end what I’ve enjoyed doing for so long, but that day is not yet determined.”

For now, Caffrey continues to coach the game he loves and build more memories with student athletes that come through his program - just like he has done for the past 31 years.

“I love the interaction I have with my players,” he said. “There are no words to describe what I feel when they come by my room in our high school to speak with me and I remember the experiences we have shared. You can’t put a number on any of that.”

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EXTRA, EXTRA … Read all about it. For one of the many times in the past few seasons, Palmerton and Northwestern played another softball thriller. The battle of Colonial League unbeatens on Monday needed a couple of extra innings to decide. Eventually, Northwestern prevailed when Rylee McGinley raced home with a run in the top of the ninth inning and the Tigers made it stand out for a 5-4 victory.

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RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY … Mother Nature played the role of spoiler across the coverage area last week as the combination of rain and unplayable conditions caused multiple postponements. Between Monday, April 1 and Friday, April 5, a total of 74 events were schedule, and 58 of them were postponed. The first three days of the week turned out to be totally unplayable as all 39 scheduled events were postponed on those days.

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BIG GAME FOR KELLY … Marian softball player Morgan Kelly had a day to remember on Tuesday, April 9 against Shenandoah. Kelly tossed three innings of one-hit ball, and was the winning pitcher as the Fillies blanked Shenandoah, 15-0. She had six strikeouts to increase her career total to 602. Kelly also made a big contribution offensively as she belted a triple, a home run, scored three runs scored and knocked in three runs.

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TAKE FOUR ... Palmerton’s Nataly Walters is off to an impressive start to the Colonial League track and field season. In the Bombers’ league opener on Tuesday, April 9, Walters grabbed four first-place finishes in a tri-meet with Pen Argyl and Notre Dame of Green Pond. Walters won both the 100 and 200 meter dashes on the track, and then switched over to the field events where she captured the long and triple jumps.

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OFFICIALS HONORED ... For the third consecutive year, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) has dedicatied three weeks during the scholastic sports season to recognize and show appreciation to the nearly 14,000 PIAA registered officials across the state. The fall sports officials were recognized Oct. 1-7, 2023 and the winter sports officials were honored the week of Jan. 7-13.

The Spring Sports Officials Appreciation Week will begin on Sunday, April 14, and will continue through April 20.

“For the third consecutive year, PIAA member schools are happy to celebrate and recognize the important part that PIAA registered officials play in the education of Pennsylvania students,” said PIAA Board of Directors President and PIAA District 2 Chairman Frank Majikes. “The efforts of all PIAA registered officials are under-appreciated by many. Through these three weeks of recognition our member schools are able to thank officials for their efforts.”

Those considering becoming a PIAA official may visit http://www.piaa.org/officials for more information.