NCTC squad gets 1,000th win for Hedrick

Apr. 17—The North Central Texas College softball team secured Coach Van Hedrick's 1,000th career win Wednesday at Cisco.

Hedrick has been the only head softball coach in the program's 25-year history, starting it from scratch in 1999 after serving as an assistant baseball coach.

Hedrick has won more than 65 percent of his games, making him the winningest active junior college coach in Texas, and 10th among all active NJCAA Division I coaches. His teams have won two NTJCAC Championships, three NJCAA Region V North Championships and have advanced to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament three times in a span of nine years.

A bus accident claimed the lives of four of his players in September 2014, but Hedrick and his team came back strong for the Spring 2015 season. The Lady Lions finished with 30 wins that season, qualified for the NJCAA Region V North tournament and even won a regional tournament game.

That final win of the Spring 2015 campaign season gave Hedrick his 700th career victory.

Hedrick is married to Robyn Ruzicka Hedrick and they have three daughters: Ashley, Allison and Autumn. Ashley signed to play with her dad in 2017.

Hedrick has served as Athletic Director at NCTC since 2005. Each year, NCTC teams donate the proceeds from gate admissions to local organizations including the American Red Cross and local animal shelters and food pantries. Tens of thousands of dollars have gone to local nonprofit organizations because of this program.

Check Saturday's edition of the Register for more about Hedrick's milestone.