South Johnston High School has announced that veteran Lady Trojan Softball coach Mickey Bridgers has retired, according to a press release from the school.

     Bridgers’ career spans four decades and multiple sports.  He has coached football, baseball, slow pitch softball, and fast pitch softball.  He has also served as physical education teacher, math teacher, and athletic director during his career in high school education-based athletics.

     Bridgers guided the 1987 Northern Nash Lady Knights to the 4A slow pitch state championship.  He took over the South Johnston Lady Trojans program in the spring of 2006 after the untimely death of his good friend and long time South Johnston coach, Gary Blackmon.  Coach Bridgers led the Lady Trojans to the final four in the 3A fast pitch playoffs in 2010 and 2014.

    “Mick” as most of his former players call him, dedicated his career to being a positive influence in the lives of young people.  He has coached many great athletes and mentored many young coaches that moved on to successful careers of their own.  His legacy is the number of young people that he touched during those 40 plus years on the sideline and in the dugout.

     South Johnston will promote current assistant coach Amanda Smith to the position of head coach for the 2014-2015 school year.  Smith has been a valuable part of the Trojan coaching staff the past two years.  She was a talented multi-sport athlete at Triton High School, where she graduated in 2007.  She went on to be standout on the softball field at Campbell University, where she graduated in 2011.