Wallace's road to becoming the youngest softball coach in Texas to reach 100 wins

When Trevor Wallace graduated college, he had no idea he would end becoming Como-Pickton’s head softball coach. It wasn’t even his first choice for a career. But little did he know that he would ultimately become the youngest coach in Texas high school softball history to reach the 100 win milestone.

Wallace, a Mount Vernon native, was a multisport athlete at Mount Vernon High School, participating in football, basketball, baseball, tennis, and golf. He was instilled by his parents to try hard and be successful in every sport he played.

After graduation, Wallace attended Bacone College in Muskogee, Ok. On a baseball scholarship, where he was a pitcher. After two years there, he transferred to Texas A&M University-Texarkana to continue his baseball career. He even played for a Canadian travel team.

An accounting major in college, he had every intention on having a career as an accountant.

“I got my first job at Jordan’s Health in Mount Vernon, and that didn’t last, when I got a call from Kelly Baird, who was both my junior high and high school principal,” Wallace said. “He offered me to teach and coach at Como-Pickton, and I was like ‘I wanna give this a shot.’” He acknowledged that there aren’t many times where someone can just step into a head coaching position and still wanted to be around sports.

In his first season, 2018, Wallace was instrumental in helping spark a turnaround in Como-Pickton’s softball program, leading them to an 11-14-1 record, which was the first time they had won a district game and had a double-digit win season since 2005.

“From what I was told, there was a four-year drought where the team only won one game,” said Wallace “My biggest goal going into that season was not to win, but to make them believe that they were winners.”

“I would tell them positive and negative things after every win or loss,” Wallace added. “I was very proud of that season and I saw a change in the girls.”

The 2019 season was another breakthrough season for the Lady Eagles. The team improved to 19-13, which was good enough for second place in their district. It was also their first winning season since 2003.

They also won their first playoff game since 2003 as well, after defeating Simms Bowie in the Bi-District round before falling to Beckville 10-0 in the Area Playoffs.

“The Beckville game was a good wake-up call for us, because the girls knew they could’ve played better,” said Wallace. “They got too satisfied with winning a playoff game, which was our biggest goal for the 2019 season. I also had a lot of buy in from the players.”

Wallace’s third season as Como-Pickton’s head coach was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Before the season was cut short, the Lady Eagles stood at 14-4 through the season and were on pace to do big things.

“I believed we were on a path to making it to the third or fourth round of the playoffs. We were sitting at first place in the district and had already defeated the toughest teams,” Wallace said. “Despite this, we still had to learn the path through the playoffs.”

The 2021 season was one to remember for the Lady Eagles. Wallace helped guide them to a 31- 3-1 record, and finished as undefeated district champions for the first time in over 20 years.

The Lady Eagles met Maud in the Bi-District round of the playoffs, beating them in a two out of three series by scores of 17-0 and 12-0. Their season continued after a 24-0 shutout against Kerens in the Area round.

Their season continued after beating McLeod in the Regional Quarterfinals by scores of 14-1 and 10-0 in a best of three series. The season ultimatley came to a close after losing to Lovelady in a best of three series by scores of 7-6 and 18-7.

“The first game against Lovelady, we were leading most of the game, until Lovelady hit a walk-off tworun home run to win the game,” said Wallace “The next game, we were leading 5-2, and then it started pouring down rain. After that, our pitcher walked 15 batters in a row due to not being able to grip the ball. We could’ve won that game, but it shouldn’t have 18-7.”

Entering the 2022 season, Wallace had racked up 75 wins in his career, needing 25 more to reach the milestone of 100 wins.

After starting the season with a 4-0 loss to Winnsboro, the Lady Eagles would then embark on a nine-game winning streak, where they outscored opponents 77-14 in that span. This year also saw the addition of five freshmen girls joining the team.

“I graduated seven girls last year, five of which were starters,” Wallace said. “I knew coming into the season we were very young.”

Wallace also revealed that he didn’t originally plan to play Winnsboro this year, because he anticipated that the girl’s basketball team would make a deep playoff run.

“After the basketball game ended, I called Winnsboro and asked if they wanted to schedule a game, and they said ‘absolutely,’” Wallace said. “When I was talking to the girls, one of them said 'You know Winnsboro is pretty good right?’ and I said ‘What I need to know right now is what we are and aren’t capable of.’ The Winnsboro game was able to show us exactly what we needed to work on.”

Wallace also noted that the freshmen that came in this season each made an impact on the team in multiple ways.

“Bella Romero kind of grew up with the team, because her sister graduated last year. When her sister graduated, I put Bella in her spot and she ended up winning Offensive Player of the Year,” said Wallace. “Judah Van Rijn was an absolute game changer. She had the mindset that she wasn’t going to get a lot of playing time, but she stuck with it and ended up winning the Game 2 of the Cross Road series.”

“Sanay Diaz is the player that everyone wants to coach,” Wallace added. “She completely bought in and was very respectful. Maggie Brown came in a bit later in the season and did an amazing job. Fernanda Palacios, a strict base runner, worked extremely hard and played her role very well.”

After a 7-4 loss to Quitman to follow up the winning streak, a seven-game winning streak followed, which also saw the Lady Eagles win a tournament.

“It was one of our first tournament wins in a long time,” Wallace said. “It was a tough tournament against a bunch of Metroplex teams, and that was a turning point in our season, because we found out just how good we were.”

The Lady Eagles rounded out the non-district portion of their schedule with a 6-0 win over New Boston and a 12-2 loss to Mount Vernon.

“Me and the Mount Vernon coach are really good friends, and I called her and said that I wanted to schedule a game,” Wallace said. “My reasoning was that I needed a challenge to show the team what they needed to improve on.”

After the tough loss, the Lady Eagles then embarked on a nine-game winning streak through district, finishing as undefeated district champions for the second year in a row.

Despite rolling through district, the Lady Eagles faced their share of adversity. The biggest loss of the season was first baseman Hannah Pegues tragically losing her life in a car accident.

“At first, we didn’t know how to respond, we just cried. The day after she passed, we all went out to the softball field and just sat there,” Wallace said. “She passed right before the Detroit game, and I told them we can do three things: We can reschedule the game, we can forfeit, or we can play, and whatever we decide will stay among us. When I said, the girls immediately said they wanted to play. Hannah would’ve wanted us to play if someone else was in the position.” The Lady Eagles would go on to win that game 2-0.

After Pegues’ passing, Alyssa Corona stepped up and filled her role. Wallace stated that Corona played a wide variety of positions throughout her high school softball career.

“Alyssa has always been a player that works every position during practice,” Wallace said. “Her freshmen year, she wasn’t very good, but she told me ‘I’ll play wherever you want me to.’ Her sophomore year, she played second base and her junior year, she played in the outfield. This season, she saw action at second base, centerfield, and first base.” Corona would unanimously be named Utility Player of the Year for her performance this season.

After that win, the Lady Eagles continued to cruise past their district opponents, culminating in an undefeated 9-0 district record, culminating in Wallace reaching the 100-win milestone.

“I knew where I was in win totals, but I didn’t tell anyone. It was senior night and we were still recovering from Hannah’s passing, so I didn’t want to make the game about me,” said Wallace. “But ultimatly, people found out because my mom ended up telling other moms, and they presented me with a gift basket, a plaque, and a picture after the game. It was a shock because I didn’t know other people knew.”

With the win, Wallace became the youngest coach in Texas high school softball history to reach 100 wins, doing so at just 27 years old. The previous record holder was Brittney Batten, who reached 100 wins at 30 years old.

Once the Lady Eagles reached the playoffs, they cruised past Maud in the Bi-District round once again, defeating them in a best of three series by scores of 11-0 and 10-0.

In the Area round, the Lady Eagles faced Cross Roads. For the first time since the Mount Vernon game, the Lady Eagles would be battle tested. Despite this, the Lady Eagles bested Cross Roads in a best of three series with scores of 5-3 and 6-4.

“In the first game, we started strong early, but they started shutting us down later in the game,” said Wallace. “Despite this, the girls didn’t get discouraged. They battled and ultimately managed to win the game.”

In the second game, after both teams were tied at 1-1 through four innings, Cross Roads pulled ahead in the fifth inning, 2-1.

“It was very shocking when they pulled ahead, I told them that we still have a chance in this game,” said Wallace. “It was a real test, because we never had to wonder if we could be a comeback team. Ultimately, we were able to win that game thanks to a walk-off inside-the-park three-run home run from Van Rijn.”

Following the Cross Roads series, the Lady Eagles faced Union Grove in the Regional Quarterfinals. They would win that best of three series with scores of 5-1 and 5-4. The second game was another test for the Lady Eagles, as they fell behind 3-1 early on.

“I remember calling the girls in and reminding them that they had just went through something similar just one week before,” Wallace said. “The girls just had no quit in them, and they battled through the rest of the game.”

After that, the Lady Eagles pulled ahead 5-3 and ultimately held on for a 5-4 win. Wallace revealed he employed a unique strategy when trying to get the final out of the game.

“After an intentional walk, I decided to battle with a batter that throughout the series had either an out or a ground ball to the pitcher. Sure enough, she hit the ball to the pitcher, resulting in an error,” Wallace said. “After that mental error, we faced their second-best batter. After a 10-pitch at-bat, we were able to strike her out and cap off the win.”

“During that sequence, I was talking with Mattison Buster, our pitcher. This batter was an inside hitter, and I knew that she wasn’t fast enough to catch up to Buster’s speed,” Wallace said. “I told Buster to watch her hands, and when she opened up, throw a changeup, but be patient. After a foul ball that could’ve tied the game or put them ahead, Buster threw the same pitch and she was too late on the swing.”

After that, the Lady Eagles faced Lovelady in the Regional Semifinals for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, the Lady Eagles would lose that best of three series with back-to-back scores of 10-0, ending their season with a record of 31- 5.

“After the second game, I just told the team how proud I was of them,” Wallace said. “I reminded them of how much they had to deal with this year: losing the first game, losing Hannah, and playing from behind in the playoffs. They gave me 100 percent this year.”

With the successful season, the Lady Eagles racked up numerous all-district awards. The most notable ones were Buster being named District MVP and Addi Monk winning Catcher of the Year.

“Buster was very deserving of MVP. It was great having Monk as my cleanup hitter,” said Wallace. “It was even better when Buster, who bats in the three-hole, was intentionally walked most of the time.”

The superlative awards didn’t stop there, as Romero won Offensive Player of the Year, Corona won Utility Player of the Year, and Makensa Morris won Designated Player of the Year.

“Makensa and her sister Cali moved in from Saltillo this year, and they had never really played softball in Saltillo,” said Wallace. “They came in with fresh mindsets, and Makensa has a great personality. She had no intention of playing defense, but she earned that role and did an amazing job at it.”

Also, Wallace was named Coach of the Year. He also won that award last season, giving him back-to-back years winning the award.

Rounding out the all-district selections were Lauren Lewellen and Cali Morris making first-team all-district, Brown and Van Rijn making second-team all-district, and Diaz and Annie Franklin earning honorable mention all-district recognition.

“Franklin was my 11th person this year, and she didn’t receive a lot of playing time until Hannah passed away,” Wallace said. “After that, she was a base runner during a lot of the district games.”

Even though the 2022 season didn’t like he had hoped, Wallace has high hopes going into the 2023 season, bringing back most of his players.

“With all the players coming back and the girls I have coming up to the high school level next year, I think next year will be a great opportunity,” Wallace said. “Also, Lovleday graduated seven starters this year and they’re losing their coach, so hopefully next year will be our opportunity.”

Wallace also stated that he isn’t disappointed in how the 2022 season ended.

“Como-Pickton went through some long years back in the day,” said Wallace. “The group of freshmen that started the year I took over really bought in and helped turn the program around. I have no regrets of taking the opportunity and I wouldn’t change it.”

Through his first five seasons, Wallace has an overall record of 106-39- 2 (.728). Wallace will look to increase his win total in the coming years, help the Como-Pickton Lady Eagles soar to higher heights and continued excellence.