Coach Kim Covington, obviously you are a passionate and caring coach when it comes to your team. I admire that in a coach, I have coached some young folks in the community and they need to know their coaches care for them and will stand up for them. Aside from that I have to take exception to some of what you wrote in the Sept. 26 letter to the editor "Coach irate..."

Without going in to a lot of detail I simply felt that the difference in the game between Richmond Hill and Bryan County softball that day was the fact that the Lady Wildcat pitcher did not give up any walks, while the Bryan County pitcher gave up seven - hit a batsman in the final inning and allowed the winning run to score on a wild pitch.

Had those stats been even somewhat reversed it is my opinion that Bryan County would have won - hands down. Richmond Hill had been struggling at the plate; had only one hit - as I reported - and could not have won without help from Bryan County. Which leads me to my next point.

Had Richmond Hill lost that game I would have reported it in the same factual way.

You mentioned that it is mine and the newspaper’s job to "uplift" our student athletes and to help make "growing young athletes into productive, caring, and proud citizens of our great country." I always felt those kind of things were best left to parents, teachers and coaches, but as a hometown newspaper journalist and as a resident I rarely miss an opportunity to provide an "uplift" in one of my articles when I see an exceptional play on the field. But I also won’t hesitate to point out our shortcomings.

I do not believe that we should sugar coat our downfalls, especially in front of our young people. I feel it does them no harm to see their failures with the same clarity as they see their success.

I am not a professional journalist and have no doubt that there was probably a better way for me to have written the article in question. I started this job, really more of a hobby, when my children were involved in high school athletics and there was little, if no coverage at all in the news. I like to think I have helped improve that over the years.

I hope my response does not upset you - as your letter to the editor has not angered me. I appreciate the feedback, and hope I will become a better writer because of it. I wish you and your exceptional team the best of luck the rest of your season, and I appreciate all you do as a coach. Too few in the community are aware of the sacrifices our coaches make for our children.