Pleasant Valley softball coach Steve Caffrey retires

Steve Caffrey has been the longstanding figure of Pleasant Valley softball, but after 30-plus years at the helm, the Bears' head coach has decided it's time to retire.

"It was just time for me to move on," Caffrey said. "I've been there long enough, and I can see things have changed. It's kind of moving away from my beliefs as how to do certain things. And my thought is maybe somebody younger with different beliefs could take the program in a different direction."

Caffrey began his coaching career at Pleasant Valley in 1991, finishing with a 394-251 record, nine Mountain Valley Conference titles and was also a three-time District 11 runner-up. He was also named Pocono Record Coach of the Year twice in his career.

"I've been really fortunate to have a group of people that served as my assistant coaches," Caffrey said when asked about people he wanted to recognize. "As the head coach, you get the accolades and your name in the papers. The assistant coaches don't really get to share in and they're working just as hard as myself and everyone else. And I was fortunate enough to have a great group of people help me out over the years."

Caffrey also thanked his family for being there for him as he endured the less glamourous parts of coaching. He also let his players know about his retirement, and as expected, some did not want to see their coach go. But he ends his career on a high note, making a Cinderella-like run to the EPC tournament championship.

"When I took the job, I just did it because when I was younger, played sports, I had fun with it. I was hoping I could instill that in some kids," Caffrey said. "And my my goal was to make Pleasant Valley relevant as far as a softball team, you know. And over the 32 years, I think we had some pretty good runs with things.

"I have a family now that I want to spend some time with, and I have grandchild who I really enjoy being around. And you know, it's if I can do things with them. You know, that's, I put in my time as a coach. Now it's time to move on."