After a seven-year career with Mt. Hebron as the head coach of the varsity softball team, Coach Chuck Struhar has achieved one of the highest honors for a high school coach: having the most wins in Howard County softball. On April 18, a 9-2 victory over Glenelg marked his 330th coaching win. Despite such an accomplishment, Mr. Struhar remains humble.

“Well, it’s a great honor, but I must admit that I had great athletes who worked hard,” said Mr. Struhar.

Mr. Struhar’s Howard County career started long before he became the head coach of the Lady Vikings. He previously coached softball at Long Reach and Glenelg.

At each school, Mr. Struhar found hardworking athletes who wanted to play and improve. He claims that is what “made it easy” to win so many games. This same attitude towards working hard made the “no shortcuts to success” coaching method so effective. Mr. Struhar firmly believes that the only secret to becoming a winning team is hard work. He explained that as long as each member of the team is able to stay highly motivated during practice and in games, victory will be had.

Big wins over Centennial and Atholton earlier in the season helped to make each member of the team realize that they were vital to the winning dynamic as well as to show the true potential of this year’s Vikings. Having teams who see a goal they can strive for has helped Struhar to achieve 330 victories, so clearly the hard work has payed off.

While the girls have worked hard to win games, a dedicated team of assistant coaches has worked just as hard to train them.

“Over the past seven years, I have been fortunate to have great assistants,” said Mr. Struhar. This star-studded roster has been comprised of former athletes Amy Guyton, who worked with Mr. Struhar during his Long Reach days, and Mt. Hebron softball alumni Lauren and Mike Lettieri.

“They know how to do things right,” said Mr. Struhar.

Even with a dedicated coaching staff and players, the team would never have come this far without assistance from Athletics and Activities Manager Ms. Jeannie Prevosto, who has helped supply the team with all of the necessary equipment as well as a few big ticket items like the new dugouts that were added earlier this year.

Even as Howard County’s winningest coach, Mr. Struhar does not plan to hang up his hat just yet. “At my age, you coach year to year,” he said.

So Mt. Hebron can definitely look to see this legend back on the diamond again for at least one more season.

Before we can start worrying about the future of Mt. Hebron softball, Mr. Struhar said, “No matter what the future holds, I am satisfied with what I have accomplished, and I hope that during my coaching career I was able to help a few athletes achieve their goals.”