For those who think after 35 years of coaching – and 36 if you count the COVID-19 year that never took place – that you may soon be seeing a resignation letter to the Harrison County School Board from Robert Shields, your thought process is wrong.

 

“I was approached, and have heard it, about if this was it for me. Anybody thinking this man is going to retire, you should know I’m not going anywhere,” said Shields. “I plan on being here a while.”

 

All things being equal, Shields has earned the right to be “here” as long as he wants. For those who think he does not, let me reiterate what I said last year after he won his seventh-straight state title – you could not be more wrong. You could try to be more wrong, but you would fail.

 

You know why? I have about 900 reasons why on top of nine other rather good ones.

 

After 35 seasons, Shields has a record of 896-262. That comes out to a win percentage of just over 77 percent. Those seasons include nine state championships, including a streak of seven that was halted by the slimmest of margins this year to eventual state champion Hurricane in the Class AAA semifinals in Charleston.

 

Being extremely competitive, Shields certainly wanted nothing more than an eight-straight title and 10^th overall for Bridgeport. He also, however, wanted it for his team and, in particular, his seniors. And he had special praise for this year’s group.

 

“We had 11 seniors this year and there were times five or six of them didn’t start and you didn’t hear them moaning, and you didn’t hear them squawk when we would take them out to get other younger kids at-bats,” said Shields. “This group was conditioned to see not just the present of the program, but the future. They were special and you didn’t hear the complaining from them, which is all I care about.

 

“With that many seniors you have to have some chirping from the outside about who’s playing and how I’m using the players, but I’m past the point about being overly concerned about what people are saying,” he continued. “I’m so much more concerned about what the kids are thinking, and this group thought about team.”

 

Still, Shields managed to juggle a roster with 11 seniors quite well. In fact, he had just three seniors make appearances in less than 10 games and two of those were pitchers. Everyone else was in double digit appearances.

 

“I would have liked one more game with this group, that’s for sure,” he said.

 

Without this group, as my colleague Chris Johnson eloquently pointed out last week, they would not have gotten the previous state championships. And moving ahead, they have continued to build on a foundation already arguably the strongest in West Virginia for the possibility of additional state championships.

 

Of course, it is Shields leading the way. The numbers may not always paint the entire picture in sports, but they certainly do here.

 

Want something else other than averaging more than 25 wins per season during a career? Here you go.

 

In 35 years, Shields’ teams have won 33 sectional titles. In 35 years, Shields’ teams have won 22 regional championships. In 35 years, Shields’ teams have had 10 seasons of 30 or more wins – including eight in a row. The last time the team did not win 30 games was in 2012 – they finished 29-8. For good measure, the Indians under Shields have had 26 seasons of 20 wins or more and not once had a losing season.

 

Make no mistake, Robert Shields has had talent. He will be the first to tell you that. You do not have roughly 50 first-team all-state selections, nearing 100 kids that have signed to play college baseball and a handful that have played some level of pro ball including Harrison Musgrave actually making it to the big leagues without a cupboard of quality athletes.

 

The thing is, there are other coaches and programs statewide with talent matching Bridgeport’s over the last 35 years. And they just are not winning to the same level. That is not slight to those other programs and coaches, but rather a tip of the cap to just how impressive what is taking place in Bridgeport.

 

The program is also not on cruise control as some may believe. It cannot be because Shields is driving it with a veteran staff that never takes their foot off the gas. The only thing the BHS baseball car is lacking is a rearview mirror because the Tribe is always in the moment or looking ahead.

 

Need proof?

 

Knowing this year’s squad was heavy on seniors with 11, Shields kept a whopping total of 23 players on the varsity roster. And collaborating with the school’s administration, they were able to keep a massive total of 41 players to man a deep and talented junior varsity squad.

 

“We had 18 full-time jayvee players and a pretty good season,” said Shields. “(Assistant) Coach (Chris) Colombo and a more involved (Assistant) Coach (Pete) Iquinto did great, and the team went 18-6. We will have guys coming up that have had a lot of game experience under their belts next year.

 

“The formula with jayvee has worked,” Shields continued. “It’s really paid off when we’ve graduated a lot of seniors in the past, and hopefully that will be the case next year.”

 

It is hard to argue the results. Want another statistic that should silence any critic?

 

Over the last eight years, which included the seven-straight titles, the Indians have a record of 259-49, which comes to an impressive 84 percent winning percentage.

 

For those who think the wins during the run came against inferior competition, the Tribe when Class AA played the state’s top Class AAA programs annually along with their nearly annual trek into Virginia to play some of that state’s top programs. As for the two-year move to Class AAA, the Indians are 1-for-2 in state title runs and 2-for-2 in state title appearances.

 

As for their record since the switch to Class AAA, it is 68-10. That, if my calculator is correct, comes out to a winning percentage just above 87 percent.

 

If you have not figured it out, the point of all this is to show just how dominant the Indians have been during their latest run and under Shields. The secondary point is to show the naysayers who have been critical of Shields – fewer and fewer each year – just how wrong they are about what is taking place.

 

If you want to know how well Shields is respected, consider this. This past year, Logan’s Kevin Gertz was named the coach of the year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association for winning a state baseball title and a girls hoops crown in the same school year. Among the things he said was this:

 

“The fact that Robert Shields has never won this award is crazy,” said Gertz.

 

In the midst of his moment of deserved glory, Gertz felt the need to address what he felt was a slight to a coaching friend. Gertz is right. It is kind of crazy; almost as crazy as Shields winning his first-ever Big 10 Coach of the Year award this season.

 

All that aside, if you do anything as a Bridgeport fan or even a fan of baseball in general, savor the run. Savor the moments. Savor the effort put in by players and coaches.

 

It is a three-and-a-half decade run of dominance that is still going full throttle – even with the recent end of the streak. While the state titles may not come in droves as they have, the winning is going to be like Shields. It is not going anywhere.

 

Editor's Note: In the top photo, Bridgeport's first of nine state title teams is shown, and it is the 1993 edition. Shields, far right, is surrounded by Scott Limber, Mason Jacobs, Ricky Johnson and Eric Hutson. The second through fifth photos, all by Joe LaRocca, are from this year's state semifinal team. The bottom photo is from 1992 and shows, from left, Joe Pecarro, Tommy Brown, Stephen Hall, Bill Spatafore, Coach Shields and Matt McKinney after winning the regional title. The team lost a 2-1 title game contest to Wayne that year.