After a lifetime in education, Matoaca's softball coach is still treasuring a season to remember
Three weeks have passed, but the novelty remains.
So, too, do the excitement, joy, and unmitigated pride in accomplishment.
Who could blame the Matoaca Warriors softball players, coaches, and their ever supportive legion of fans for being giddy still?
After all, on June 13, Coach Scott Driskill’s crew defeated previously unbeaten Lightridge in a 2-1 walk-off thriller at John Champe High School (Loudoun County) to claim the VHSL, Class 5 state championship.
The victory was the crown jewel in a dream season during which the Warriors went 26-1, won their first-ever Region 5C title, and became the first Matoaca girls team in any sport to win a state title in the school’s 63-year history.
So yeah, it’s perfectly understandable if their exuberance remains front and center.
“I just came back from vacation (at Nags Head),” said Driskill one recent morning. “I wore Matoaca softball shirts everywhere I went. I got three or four comments from people down there who knew about it. They were like, ‘Congratulations!’
“Every day I go to the gym, I wear a Matoaca shirt. People there are congratulating me. That’s very cool. I’ve had a bunch of friends call and say, ‘Hey, State Champ, what’s up, man?’ It’s been awesome. I still go to bed every single night saying, ‘Lord, thank you.’”
Life will go on, of course, but the memory of the Warriors’ historic title run, including their made-in-Hollywood final half inning, will no doubt endure.
Weldon Bradshaw
From the outset, the Lightridge game was a classic pitchers’ duel pitting two stellar junior righthanders: Matoaca’s Kaylee Hodges, the two-time Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year who will take her prodigious talents to Tennessee, and the Lightning’s Peyton Robinson, a Georgia Tech commit.
Entering their final at-bat with the bottom of the order due up, the Warriors, who had mustered just three hits off Robinson, trailed 1-0.
But they rallied, culminating in senior Raven Crabtree, a quintessential competitor, stroking a two-out, waist-high 0-1 fastball over the backpedaling left fielder’s head scoring Zy’Aisha Marbury and igniting a spontaneous celebration amongst the ecstatic Matoaca faithful.
Driskill, coaching third base, followed the path of the ball and thrust both arms high into the air in exultation when it hit the ground.
As Marbury touched home plate, he quickly assembled his assistants — Denise Manuel, Berkeley Driskill Medrano (his daughter), Sam Denny, and Elisia Gonzalez-Pettus — and celebrated with a group hug.
This was a team championship of the highest order, Driskill said. It didn’t occur just because of one ultra-talented player – Hodges – who finished the year with an .538 batting average, 0.39 ERA, and 301 strikeouts. For the seniors, it was a stupendous conclusion to a four-year career during which the Warriors had amassed a 77-13 record.
“The kids wanted to win for each other,” he said. “Everyone contributed. They realized a couple of years ago that they were going to be really good. They hung together and believed in each other, and in the last inning of the state championship game, with 6-7-8-9 coming up against a Division I pitcher, who thinks we’re going to score a run? Guess what? They did their job.”
Driskill, of all people, knows a thing or two about doing a job and doing it well.
You see, he’s done his for 35 years both in the athletic arena and his government classroom with dedication, loyalty, and excellence and has long since earned the admiration and respect of the Matoaca community and the Warriors’ competitors as well.
There’s a tradition at graduation that when seniors cross the stage, they’re handed (in addition to their diplomas) a yellow rose. Afterwards, when they recess en masse through the hallway behind the auditorium where faculty and staff lined up on both sides greet them with applause, they give their rose to one who’s made a significant impact on their lives. Suffice to say that Driskill often ends up holding a bouquet of yellow roses.
“Scott is definitely a presence in the school,” said Tiffany Anglin, Matoaca’s athletic director. “He’s a good mentor for the girls. They love him.
“He’ll tell you it (the Warriors’ success) isn’t him. It’s the girls, and they do everything, and he’s just there to make sure they do it right. He’s nothing but smiles and positivity.”
Driskill is Matoaca through and through.
He grew up in the community and graduated from the old Matoaca High on Hickory Road back in 1981.
He was a star football (tight end) and baseball (first base) player who earned post-season accolades in both sports and selected James Madison from 22 offers to continue his football career.
College football didn’t go well for him at first. On the third day of practice, he suffered an injury to his left Achilles tendon and missed most of the season.
He persevered, though, and ultimately played on special teams before earning a starting spot as a 6-2, 230-pound tight end as a redshirt junior.
After graduating in 1986 with a political science degree, Driskill sold cars for three-and-a-half years before Alenia Wilder, his principal at Matoaca, recruited him to return to his alma mater in 1991.
He first worked as a security officer and then as a teacher at Matoaca Middle School before moving to the high school and serving as JV football and baseball coach.
In 1993 when Pat Manuel became head football coach just before the season began, he promoted Driskill to varsity defensive coordinator.
“I’d only known him in the preseason, but he seemed very genuine, and I liked the way he related to the players,” Manuel said. “I told him, ‘If I’m going to do it, you’re going to be with me.’”
They remained together until their retirement from football in 2014.
“It was a match made in heaven,” Manuel said. “He still has the same qualities he had when we started together. The kids respond to his style. He loves what he does, and that shows, and he’s extremely loyal to the school. You couldn’t ask for a better person to get that first championship.”
Driskill’s softball journey began in 2004.
“I volunteered for the job,” he said. “I knew my daughter (a standout catcher who played from 2009-2012) was coming. I wanted to build a program, then step back. When she got here, I couldn’t leave. Once I got started, I’ve been going ever since.”
Driskill’s life journey hasn’t been without its challenges.
In late December 2024, he was diagnosed with B-Cell Stage IV lymphoma, underwent six rounds of chemo, missed most of the second semester, and stepped away from the softball team for most of the 2025 season until he received medical clearance to return in mid-May.
Dealing with cancer was a roller coaster ride even for the preternaturally upbeat Driskill.
The competitor in him quickly kicked in, though, and he embraced the struggle. He drew strength from his faith, family, and friends. Sherry, his high school sweetheart and wife of 37 years, provided constant emotional support. And he stayed in daily contact with his coaches and players, who donned t-shirts emblazoned with the words, “Warrior Strong.”
Denise Manuel, who coached at Midlothian from 1989-2010 and let the Trojans to the 1994 state title, served as interim head coach, and because Driskill had always empowered his staff, the transition was seamless.
“We all have roles,” Manuel said. “We give feedback, and Scott makes the final decision. That’s what makes it work really well. And the girls are so invested. He has really good rapport with them. It’s really cool how it all comes together.”
As it did that glorious afternoon on the diamond at John Champe.
Some things, you see, just seem meant to be.
“What happened this year puts last year in perspective,” Driskill said. “This year is laughing at last year. It’s basically saying, ‘Ha, ha, I beat you. Look what happened.’ That’s how I feel. I’m going to treasure this forever.”
