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By BONNIE PRICE LOFTON
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If you’ve felt pleasure noticing the buds trying to burst from lilies at this time of year, you’ll understand the pleasure Donn Hackney feels these days 3s the new baseball coach at Rappahannock County High School.
Where others may see only closed petals — a team that has consistently lost over the last three years — Coach Hackney sees the bud. He sees a team that will blossom given the right gardener.
And he intends to be the right gardener.
This week, a third of the way through Rappahannock’s 18-game schedule, the Panthers have moved from a couple of horrible early losses, 12-1 and 9-0, to a 7-7 tie against Luray on Monday and a 3-1 win against George Mason on Tuesday.
“Every game represents a huge leap forward in our playing ability,” says Coach Hackney. “Look at our errors on Monday. We had two, the fewest we’ve had this year. Luray had six. We had 10 hits, our highest this season. It’s the direction that counts.”
Coach Hackney takes his baseball seriously. Some high school coaches are teachers who happen to coach. Coach Hackney is a former semi-pro baseball player who happens to also have the patience and devotion necessary to be a special education teacher.
Coach Hackney turned down a contract with the Orioles after high school because he wanted to attend college. He attended Howard University on a baseball scholarship, where he played shortstop and was team captain.
In his senior year, he was offered a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he again passed up the offer to finish his college degree. Late that year, he had an arm injury that knocked him out of the running for the pros.
After graduation in 1981 with a degree in therapeutic recreation, he played in-the Maryland Industrial League for 10 years, the equivalent of playing at the Single A level.
“When my son (Ben, now 7) reached 2-years-old, I hung it up. I had been playing four nights a week and on weekends. I had been traveling all over the state and even further for tournaments. I didn’t want to miss him growing up.” ,
Befort coming to RCHS, Coach Hackney directed a 12-bed facility for troubled teens in Fairfax County, which included an alternative school.
On the baseball field, Coach Hackney’s counseling skills show. He
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