John Raffel
Sports Scene
Ted McIntyre has seen plenty of wins in his 41 years as Mount Pleasant’s softball coach. But a sweep over Saginaw Arthur Hill 20-0 and 6-0 was especially rewarding on May 9.
Those wins put McIntyre at the 1,000-win mark. He’s the sixth Michigan high school coach to hit that mark along with Diane Laffey (Warren Regina), Brad Walraven (Frankenmuth), Tom Kennelly (Swan Valley), Denny Dock and Joe Alsup (White Lake-Lakeland).
McIntyre, 66, started the Oiler softball program in 1975, and except for one season, has been the program’s only coach. He played high school ball at Lincoln Alcona, and after graduating from Central Michigan University, he was hired in 1973 as Mount Pleasant’s math teacher. All of his softball coaching years have been with the Oilers.
“In 1975, there was a threat of a Title IX lawsuit and they had to institute (women sports),” McIntyre said. “Softball was one of the sports we added. There were a few schools ahead of us.”
After the sweep over Arthur Hills. McIntyre’s record was 1,002-375 as of May 19.
“It’s kind of neat, I guess,” he said. “I think more so than the milestone was having all the (former players) come back. They really made a pretty special event out of that. We had kids from the 80s and 70s. We had two kids from the original team in 1975, of course they’re not kids anymore. It was neat.”
A solid summer program has been the key behind that success, as far as McIntyre is concerned.
“It hasn’t been done by me alone,” he said. “This is parents and we have a lady that’s run our summer program since the 1980s.”
In 1982, McIntyre was laid off and went to Brighton to teach. Then he got called back to Mount Pleasant.
2016 marks his first year of retirement.
“It’s nice to not have to rush around and do things, and to have time to set things up and get things organized. I’m adjusting to it,” he said.
The Oilers earned a state title in 1993 under McIntyre’s leadership.
“That was obviously very special,” McIntyre said. “We got to the semis and finals back in 2010. That was special for that team too. There have been special years, but they’ve all been fun.”
McIntyre said his teams work “hard on the fundamentals of the game at this stage and time. You’re working on cutoffs and what I consider technical things. In the beginning, you’re working on fielding the groundballs and the technique of throwing and all kinds of things. It’s a matter of being fundamental on strategic things. It’s a matter now of getting them to execute under pressure.”
It’s a “year by year” deal for McIntyre.
“I’m happy and having a good time,” he said. “Hopefully there’s a message of some type that tells me when to quit.”
His team is 23-6.
McIntyre coached football for several years and his son, Jason, is now the head coach while Ted works with the JV team. He has also worked with the basketball team.