New Richmond High School didn’t have to look too far to find a replacement head softball coach.
A little over two months following the departure of Jim Reaker to Batavia, the district approved Trisha Payne as the new varsity softball coach.
Payne is a New Richmond Hall of Famer, having been inducted in 2005. In addition to her role as the junior varsity coach, she also served as a varsity assistant under Reaker. She said the transition to head coach has been good so far, and preparations for the 2020 season are in full swing.
“I’m very excited,” Payne said. “We had our first conditioning yesterday for athletes that aren’t in any winter programs, and that was good. We’re working on our pitching and catching programs here soon, so we’re hitting the ground running.”
New Richmond athletic director Doug Foote echoed that excitement in a statement emailed to The Sun.
“We are very excited that Trisha Payne has accepted our softball varsity coaching position. She has been our JV coach for several years and has done a tremendous job. She has been a great role model for our Lady Lions and she checks all the boxes of a coach you would want coaching our team. It’s also special when you can have a New Richmond Hall of Fame Member coaching your team!”
Payne held several records for the Lady Lions. At the time of her induction into the school’s hall of fame, Payne was the team’s all-time career leader in strikeouts (437), wins (31) and steals (54) and her .462 batting average was second in the program’s history.
She was named the team’s MVP each of her final three years as a member of the Lady Lions, while also earning SBAAC all-star and all-southwest Ohio awards those same three seasons.
In Payne’s senior season, the Lady Lions finished with 12 wins and a sectional championship. The team fell to Clermont Northeastern in the district final.
Having both played for and coached with Reaker, Payne is very familiar with New Richmond’s former coach and the impact he made on the program.
“I had a very good mentor along the way with Coach Reaker,” Payne said. “I definitely have big shoes to fill, but he helped me a lot with the day-to-day stuff. He’s been a very good resource, I really appreciate him and all he’s done for the program in the past. I only hope I can do as much as well as he did.”
Payne said she had not yet thought about how it would feel to coach against Reaker in a game, noting she’s working on moving the program forward.
“I haven’t really got that far yet,” Payne said. “The first day I met up with the girls…it was a little bit weird at first. I’m so excited for it and I hope that this season will be a smooth transition and we’ll move forward and not get hung up on things I need help with or whatnot. I’m confident I can do a good job, I learned from the best. It’s going to be a good season.”
Payne added she hopes to continue the New Richmond softball tradition while giving back to the district she called home for quite some time.
“I’ve grown up in the district,” Payne said. “I just recently moved out of the district, but I’ve always lived in the area. It’s a good feeling, knowing that you’re able to help your own district and your own community.”
She finished by thanking New Richmond’s administration for the support.
“I appreciate the board of education and Doug Foote giving me the opportunity,” Payne said. “I’m confident I’ll do well. I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”