Softball | General | 3/31/2021

Coffey Family Sharing Diamond Dream

Jerry Miller

Photo: Perfect Game

The vantage point has changed some for Todd Coffey. Instead of peering through a bullpen fence, staying mentally locked into the action and waiting for his number to be called in the latter innings of a ball game, the former Major League relief pitcher now keeps the scorebook and mans the scoreboard controls at the R-S Central High School (Rutherfordton, N.C.) softball field.

Todd’s daughter, Haley, is a junior reserve first baseman for one of the more traditionally successful 2A softball programs in the western North Carolina region. Todd, a native of nearby Forest City, N.C., and a 1998 graduate of Chase High School, attacks his new duty with the same focus, energy, and attention to detail he brought to the mound.

It doesn’t take an observer long to see the same enthusiasm and approach in his 17-year-old daughter. Haley is a “team first” individual. She hustles, she does what is needed, and is a key member of a program that could compete with any interscholastic team, at any level. To say that Haley is a great teammate would be an understatement. She is obviously well-liked by her coaches and Hilltopper friends. And she can swing the bat. If anyone knows her dad, she comes by her joy for playing honestly. That particular apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

When asked about having a father who is a local legend and former big leaguer, Haley answered quite simply.

“He’s just dad to me,” she said. “Dad always acts the same. He always has included us and made us his priority.”

Haley also talked about Todd’s disposition with her long-time involvement with softball. She plays because she loves it.

“I have a great friends and teammates and I just love playing the game,” she said. “Dad never, ever pushed me to play. He supports what I do and always has.”

Todd’s long and successful career started in Forest City at Chase HS. He graduated a couple of years ahead of Hilltopper softball coach, Melvin Digh, who also played baseball at Chase. Digh, alongside his trusted veteran assistant Todd White, has built a program that is structured and fundamentally sound. These two team qualities, more than anything, makes it is easy to see why this RSCHS team is so very successful.

The Hilltoppers, led by seniors Emma Rogers, Maddie Summers, and Farryn Smith, as well as gifted and talented sophomores Abby Pringle and Kadence Hopper, play the game the right way. The young athletes who don the royal and white are obviously having fun on the field. Their 11-1, five-inning run-rule victory over South Point HS out of Gaston County, was rather pedestrian. Haley is in the middle of that joy of playing, too. She is involved with each pitch and consistently in tune to the action. When she gets her opportunity, she produces, too.

Haley really doesn’t know a spring and summer that is not built around being at the ballpark. She was born in February of 2004, just a few months shy of when Todd made his Big League debut with the Cincinnati Reds in April of 2005. With stops in Cincy, Milwaukee (where Todd says his biggest joy in baseball happened in watching Trevor Hoffman pick up his 600th career save), Washington DC and Los Angeles for the Dodgers, Haley has seen a lifetime of games and watched her dad excel more times than not.

Todd says his most memorable time, however, occurred during his last season in pro ball. In 2016, Todd signed and pitched for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. As part of his contract, Todd was allowed to bring Haley and his son, Harrison, Haley’s younger brother, to every game. They dressed in uniform and sat in the bullpen with dad. Haley even had her own private locker room!.

“It was awesome to have my kids with me all the time,” Todd said. “They really loved it, but I loved it more.”

Todd’s trademark sprint from the bullpen is now long gone. When not keeping the book or running the scoreboard at R-S Central HS, Todd serves as a National Scouting Supervisor for Perfect Game working out of his home in Forest City. Haley also does some part-time weekend work for PG in the local area. The Perfect Game connection helps the pair strengthen their already noticeable bond.

The beaming smiles from both indicate that life is good. Todd, at 40, can probably still get big league hitters out. He threw some this winter and was “only” throwing 90, he says.

“I could get loose and get a hitter or two out, but I probably wouldn’t be able to pick my arm up for three or four days,” he joked.

Todd then smiled, chuckled, and walked up the stairs to take care of his assigned duties in the press box. He has no regrets as he truly enjoyed his time in ”The Show”. Like every ball player, however, careers end and the rest of life begins. Todd is more than good with that. Should anyone, anywhere, talk to Todd, they would never know he played an inning in the Big Leagues. He is comfortable in his own skin. He is all about paying the game back, too.

Todd’s life now centers around his four kids, Hannah (20), Haley, Harrison (12), and Declan (8). He was off to help with Harrison’s practice following the Hilltopper softball victory on Monday night. With a smile, a hardy handshake and a true, enthusiastic tone for another day and night spent at the yard, Todd is obviously happy. As the daughter-dad combo headed towards the parking lot, Haley had a question for her dad.

“Dad, can I come and practice, too?”

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