West resigns at C.B. Aycock

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 20, 2007 2:12 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- David West flipped the light switch one last time on Charles B. Aycock softball diamond late Friday evening.

Misty-eyed, he silently stared as the rain-soaked field faded into darkness.

"It's been a great ride," said West.

Indeed.

West's stellar career came to a close as South Central eliminated the Golden Falcons from the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoffs. The shutout loss ended a magnificent run which included five Eastern Carolina Conference regular-season championships and four appearances in the NCHSAA final four.

West will remain the varsity boys basketball coach.

"The main thing, with two varsity sports back-to-back like they are, I don't feel like I can give as much as I need to either one of them," said West. "The softball program is in great shape and whoever takes this over, is going to have some great girls coming up.

"The basketball program needs some work. That's the next challenge for coach (Patrick) Reynell and I ... to get that going in the right direction."

West tendered his resignation nearly three weeks ago before the Golden Falcons' regular-season finale against archrival Southern Wayne. He revealed his decision after the 1-0 victory over the Saints, which gave Aycock sole possession of the ECC title.

"It's tough to find class, quality individuals and David was a class act," said Davis. "I understand his reasoning behind it. One thing I did not have to worry about during baseball season was our softball program because David does such a great job.

"That's the part I'm going to miss about it and hopefully we'll get another quality individual in here."

A competitive spirit and love for softball drew West to the diamond. He took over for Al Yelverton, who established the program in the East Central 2-A Conference. Yelverton guided Aycock to the playoffs when it returned to the Big Eight 3-A Conference in the late 1990s.

West continued the tradition.

"Al got this program established and did wonders with it," said West, who compiled a 143-37 record. "All I did was pick up where he left off and I was very fortunate to have the players that I've had here.

"I appreciate the chance of even being out here and doing what we've done the last few years. I am not a technical-minded softball coach. I just love being in the mix."

Davis said a search for West's successor has started and he hopes to have the position filled in June.

"The thing about Aycock is we're a great community and we need to find the right person," said Davis. "We need a quality individual who can keep doing these great things that Al and David did here."