It’s the end of an era for the Jefferson College softball team after the Vikings bowed out of the NJCAA Region 16 tournament May 7, losing 4-1 to Crowder College (Neosho) and 5-0 to North Central Missouri College (Trenton) at Hillsboro.
Head coach Tony Cook is retiring after 15 seasons at the helm. Cook, 56, lives in Herculaneum and teaches at Jefferson College’s Area Technical School in Hillsboro. He posted a record of 605-204 (.748) and took the Vikings to the NJCAA World Series in 2006 (the program’s inaugural season), 2014 and 2015. He informed his players a couple of weeks before the regional tournament.
“It’s been a great run,” he said. “It’s been 15 good years and I couldn’t ask for anything better. Everything the school and program have given to me has been fun, but it’s time for somebody else. Luckily the school had someone on our staff and I think Chris (Starkey) is going to do a great job.”
Starkey, 47, is poised to succeed Cook after seven years as an assistant coach. A teacher at Antonia Middle School, Starkey coached softball at his alma mater, Fox High School, for 10 years and led the Warriors to third place in the state (Class 4) in 2015. His hiring is still pending approval from the college’s board of directors.
“It’s my ultimate goal to coach here,” Starkey said. “Being close to my hometown was important. I left (Fox) so I could be ready for the time Tony does retire. I’m very thankful for the opportunity this position is going to give to me.
“I wanted to dedicate my time to the college side. It was tough to go from high school to Jeffco after each season. I felt like I missed a lot working with the hitters, not being able to join them until the high school season was over.”
With an innate knowledge of the local prep softball teams and having already recruited players to Jeffco with Cook, Starkey is in a unique position to hit the ground running. The Vikings finished the season 29-19 and featured a lineup with several starters who are from the area.
“We put a huge emphasis on local recruiting,” Starkey said. “We want to find the players that are best for the program. I have great connections with high school coaches in the area. We do (also) travel to the Bootheel, Kansas City area and Arkansas trying to find the best players.”
Cook said he wanted to dedicate more time to his family, especially his two grandchildren, who live and go to school in Festus. His granddaughter is just getting into competitive softball.
“I have two grandchildren (10 and 7) and both are active in sports,” Cook said. “Both are at the age they are playing competitively and I was missing a lot of that. I told myself when they got to that age I would hang it up. I was missing my grandson’s hockey games. I didn’t want to hear how they did from someone else. I wanted to see it.”
More than the wins and trips to the World Series, Cook said he’s most pleased to see how his former players have built their own successful lives. Each year, most of the Vikings move on to four-year colleges to further their playing careers.
“All the championships and conference titles mean a lot, but when you look back at it, it’s about the growth of the players,” Cook said. “I’m proud of how many we moved on. In the last week I’ve been reminiscing about things and some are doctors now and have their own families and are coaches. I don’t think there is a thing I would have done different. Each group had their own specialty.”
In the 14 seasons prior to 2021, Cook developed 72 all-Missouri Community College Athletic Conference players, 53 of them first-team selections. Eight of Cook’s players were named NJCAA All-Americans.
Three Rivers Community College won the Region 16 tournament. Counting the regional losses, the Vikings were 1-4 against Crowder and 1-2 vs. North Central Missouri this season. Cook said his team was struggling to score runs before the tournament and star pitcher Kristina Bettis was playing with a sore arm. Bettis was the losing pitcher in the last two games.