Andy Walker named Waterford High School softball coach
Andy Walker has been a fan of the Waterford High School softball team for as long as his sister, Liz Sutman, was the head coach. His daughter, Talia Rickerson, played on one of Sutman's three state championships teams.
Also, Walker, as co-director of the Mohegan Sun World Baseball and Softball Coaches' Convention, a former player, coach and clinician, has a passion for coaching and teaching.
Walker was named Friday as Sutman's replacement, taking over as the Lancers' head softball coach.
“I've been dying to get back on the field,” Walker said Friday. “Taking over for my sister, knowing the program and the tradition and the history that go with it and just the quality kids that come through it, it made the most sense to me.
“… After 50,000 lessons and joint coaches' clinics, this is the best part of it. It's the game, the smell of the grass, balls being hit, the excitement, the enthusiasm, having a team and a program. I'm thrilled.”
Walker is a Waterford resident and physical education teacher at Clark Lane Middle School. He is a graduate of the St. Bernard School and was a two-time All-New England selection in baseball at UConn Avery Point. He followed by playing two seasons at UConn (1987-88), where he broke what was then the program's single-season hit record and served as the Huskies captain. Walker played baseball professionally in Europe.
He was the head baseball and boys' basketball and an assistant football coach at East Lyme High School, as well as coaching a year under former Avery Point baseball coach Roger Bidwell. Walker coached baseball for the New Jersey Jackals and the New Haven County Cutters of the Can-Am independent league.
He served as CEO and director of instruction at America's Game, a former training facility in Waterford, and has been a part of the World Baseball Coaches' Convention since its inception in 2004. The convention, which has grown to include a softball portion of equal billing, attracts more than 1,000 coaches from all levels of play and offers over 30 top presenters annually, including major league players and coaches.
Walker said it was this year's softball coaches' convention, which included presentations from former UCLA coach Sue Enquist, 2015 National Player of the Year Lauren Haeger of Florida and ESPN baseball analyst and former softball gold medalist Jessica Mendoza, that convinced him he wanted to be around the game again.
“Being there with those softball coaches put me over the top in terms of being 100 percent committed to it,” Walker said. “… I've been watching Liz for 15 years. I've seen so much. I've watched her. I know the stuff she's been through, the ups and downs. I love the instructional part of the game, but that's not the game itself. That's where greatness takes place. It's something I've been craving.”
“Andy will bring passion, dedication and knowledge to the student-athletes of Waterford High School and will be a positive role model for the girls,” Waterford interim athletic director Chris Landry said in a press release Friday.
Sutman resigned last month with a record of 275-76 over 14 seasons, including state championships in 2009, 2010 and 2013. Waterford was 27-0 in 2010 and finished No. 1 in the state poll in the midst of what would become a 55-game winning streak.
The Lancers, 15-9 last season, return nine seniors.
v.fulkerson@theday.com
Twitter: @vickieattheday
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