The Shadow
Gary Rice coached his 839th varsity high school baseball game back on May 17.
It was his last.
And fittingly it ended his career with a victory — win number 565.
Rice’s resignation was accepted by the Alleghany County School Board Monday night, ending a coaching career that started way back at Valley High School in 1969.
Rice, 74 years old, coached varsity baseball for 40 years, compiling a record of 565-269-5, trailing only Tom Harding (633 wins) and Mack Shupe (631) on the Virginia High School League’s all-time win list.
In addition, he was a varsity assistant at Bath County High School for one year and the junior varsity coach at Alleghany County High School for 10 seasons.
All told, 51 years coaching high school baseball and a lot of fond memories.
“I had said I was going to stay for my 50 years and I went one year over that,” said Rice Monday morning. “You think what you want to do in life and all I ever wanted to do was be a PE teacher and a baseball coach. And I had that opportunity.
“I was blessed to be around an awful lot of outstanding young men and outstanding athletes,” he added. “They say that time flies when you’re having fun.”
Coach Rice has been the only baseball coach ever at Alleghany High School since consolidation in 1984.
In 36 years as a Mountaineer, the Covington High School graduate won 511 games and had just five losing seasons.
Rice directed Alleghany to the state championship game in 2008 and a state semifinal trip the year after.
He is a member of the Alleghany High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the Covington High School Hall of Fame and the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame.
Combine the win total to his much-deserved reputation as a disciplinarian, to a teaching career that spanned 36 years, and you have Gary Rice in a nutshell.
“It’s not often that you play for a coach and then get to coach alongside the same man — that’s what I was able to do with Coach Rice,” said Gary Burdette, Alleghany football coach and a 16-year assistant alongside Rice on the diamond. “He taught me so much. I am in debt to him forever.
“Really, the first thing that comes to mind for me is that he is just a tremendous person along with being a Hall of Fame coach,” Burdette added.
David Groseclose was a four-year player at Alleghany (1988-1991) in an era when very few freshmen were brought to the varsity.
“His overall level of consistency was amazing,” Groseclose said. “From field preparation to off-season workouts. He was precise with fundamentals.
And he brought those same things in the classroom — it all carried over.”
Groseclose went on to play in college at VMI and professionally in the Colorado Rockies organization.
“Playing baseball at Alleghany for Coach Rice led to so many things for me,” Groseclose said. “I am most grateful for the opportunity to learn from him at such an early age. Although a legacy of coaching is ending, so many of us players and students of Coach Rice have taken the lessons and commitment to excellence that he conveyed to us each day and have tried to apply them in our lives forever.”
Current Alleghany boys basketball coach Nolan Caldwell played for Rice in 1993 and 1994 and was the winning pitcher in his 200th victory as a head coach.
“It’s a sad day in my eyes,” Caldwell said. “I was hoping my son would have the opportunity to play for him.
“He’s one heckuva coach and even a better man,” he added. “He has taught so many young men in our area not only the game of baseball but he has instilled in all of us the traits and characteristics to become successful men, husbands and fathers.”
Rice has coached numerous players that went on to play in college. Kent Rooklin is a rising junior at West Virginia Tech who graduated from Alleghany in 2017.
“What a great career,” Rooklin said on hearing Coach Rice’s retirement. “One of the best to ever coach the game of baseball and I can’t begin to describe how fortunate I was to spend my four years of high school playing for him. He is a big part of the reason I was able to play at the next level and I can’t thank him enough for that.”
Rice even gained respect in the dugouts of his opposition. Long-time William Byrd head coach Gary Walthall became friends with Rice and his late wife Bonnie.
“During the time that I coached, Coach Rice and I were fierce competitors on the field,” Walthall said. “I feel we have matured and gained much respect for each other, especially off the field.
“Coach Rice was the fiercest competitor in the Blue Ridge District when I was coaching,” Walthall continued. “And he demanded respect and the best from his players.”
Rice coached against his own son, Chris, and son-in-law, Alex, who both played at Covington, and coached his grandsons, Ryan, Kendall, Christian, Michael and Cooper at Alleghany.
And the influence he’s had over hundreds of young men is immeasurable.
Well done No. 11. Mountaineer Field won’t be the same without you!
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Alleghany baseball coach Gary Rice has resigned after 36 seasons in charge of the Mountaineer baseball program and 40 years overall as a varsity coach. Rice compiled a 565-269-5 overall record and is the third winningest coach in Virginia High School League baseball history. Pictured is Rice talking to Tucker Keener. (Lesley Nickell Photo)
