CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Preston Shepherd is the Coach/Manager for the “CASTLE ROCKIES”, a Senior Softball team in Castle Rock. A lifelong softball enthusiast, he has coached this team for the past 7 years and played on the team for 14 years.

Though the team does enjoy practicing, Preston says that the biggest key to their success is their camaraderie.  “Our team is very close and we love to go get pizza after the games and we even have a pre-season and post-season party with our spouses with games, fellowship and food! We also try to have a team golf tournament after our season. We just like to have fun together!”

This team isn’t easily discouraged by loss, as the majority of their games end in a loss. It’s more about the time spent with friends, doing what you love. The Castle Rockies’ best season was in 2019 with a 28-2 record and “…we were unstoppable,” Preston said of that particular season. “We don’t take things too seriously. We have some players in their 50s and others in their 80s, so we try to encourage everyone and don’t take it too hard if someone makes an error and strikes out.

I’ve asked our team to make “sportsmanship” one of our biggest goals. We always give our opposing team an “after game” cheer. We have rules for no foul language and no arguing with the umpire or the opposing team. If a player slips and breaks that rule, they usually get to sit the bench for a while.

When asked about his most memorable game Preston shared a story about one of our players that fell over after scoring.

“He stopped breathing and was totally unresponsive. Luckily we have a retired doctor on our team that performed CPR and got his heart beating again. 3 days later that guy had a double by-pass. Then he was back on the field with us in just a few months.”

In closing, Preston said “I hope that I’m remembered as a good competitor, but mostly for building a team through sincere friendship. My proudest moments are when I receive the sincere “thank you” from my players at the end of the season for being their Coach. I’m just happy to serve in that role and to provide some structure and organization to our group.”

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