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Angie Newman Johnson Gallery

Head Softball Coach Kim Adams Wins Elusive Triple Crown

Kim Adams, instructional technology specialist, head varsity volleyball coach, and head varsity softball coach, recently brought home her own national softball title with her Maryland-based softball team, Lew’s Crew.
 
Named after their former coach, Lew Oppenheimer, who passed away in 2011, Adams’s team has been playing together for 15 years. “It’s been the team’s goal to carry on his memory and legacy by winning the Triple Crown,” Adams says, a goal they achieved earlier this month at the 2021 World Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
Despite entering the Senior Softball-USA tournament as underdogs, Lew’s Crew kept their heads down and focused on their end game, something Adams teaches her Episcopal athletes. “We won because we played smart softball; we played as a team; and we never stopped believing we could win,” Adams said. “We didn’t worry about what the other teams did; we worried about what we did.”
 
Adams, who has been playing softball since she was 10 years old, has been a devoted advocate for girls’ sports throughout her career. She won the Virginia Independent School Association’s Division I Coach of the Year award in 2011 and the Marsha Way Leadership “Way to Go” Award in 2018-19, given annually to a varsity coach in the 15-member Independent School League who has made significant contributions to the league. The ISL also recognized her as “a relentless champion of the value of athletic participation for girls.”
 
Assistant softball coach Mike McGowan says of Adams’s coaching prowess: “She is always ready to meet the players where they are in terms of their abilities, but she also never hesitates to let them know that she expects improvement. Furthermore, she strives to make each practice different and fun. Her enthusiasm around softball is the main reason why so many of last year's beginning players have stuck with softball and plan on coming out next spring.”
 
Congratulations to Adams and Lew’s Crew! They look forward to getting back on the field next February to fight for the Tournament of Champions Crown.
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