Semoball Awards: Jackson’s Josh Roach takes home SEMO ESPN Coach of the Year honors

Of the countless coaches that operate across 56 coverage schools in southeast Missouri, Josh Roach of Jackson baseball received the SEMO ESPN Coach of the Year award at the 2023 Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH on July 14, 2023.

After guiding the Jackson Indians baseball team to its first final four in club history and a third-place finish in MSHSAA Class 6, Roach’s squad put together a record of 33-7 while shattering the club’s single-season wins record in just his first season at the helm.

Roach got the nod as an award finalist among a handful of local coaches, including Jackson boys’ basketball coach and colleague Kory Thoma, and received the award on-stage at La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau.

“It's been an incredible journey, an incredible ride,” Roach said. “But just like how baseball is a team sport – I mean, this is an honor to get this for sure – but there are a lot of people that were with me the whole way that supported me.

“We have phenomenal athletes that have worked extremely hard and are committed to the program and the pursuit of excellence all the time. We have a fantastic varsity coaching staff with Jeremy Smith and Jason Chavez and our lower-level guys with John Schumer, Jason Bruns, Corey Adkisson and Drew Brown. It was a team effort.”

Unknown to the team at the time, baseball’s final four run was a quintessential factor in Jackson’s run to the 2023 Semoball Cup, taking the top spot for the second time in three years.

With the extra points in the postseason, as well as the points awarded for their win percentage of 82.5%, the Indians took home yet another award on a night in which nine different awards went to Jackson High School.

“Jackson is a special community,” Roach said. “I've lived in several different places and I've taught at different schools. The support that I have felt, that our team has felt, that my family has felt, it's not a common thing from my experience.

“It's a special environment there in Jackson. They love their athletes, they love their sports, and our athletes feed off of that and they almost want to push themselves as high as they can possibly go because of the support that they feel from their community.”