After 19 years at Oak Ridge, Melton steps down as baseball coach

Todd Melton has been a varsity baseball coach for 29 years, 24 of those years as a head coach and for the last 19 years he's been the head baseball coach at Oak Ridge High School. At 64 years old, Melton has decided to retire after coaching 725 games. In his years at Oak Ridge, he compiled a win-loss record of 345-213; his overall record is 457-268, including his five years at Laguna Creek. Melton said his biggest achievement was simply doing things the right way. "I don't know if it was a singular thing or not but we had some great years; I had some 30-win seasons at Laguna Creek," Melton said. "We won some league titles. I think we created a good culture at Oak Ridge for our athletes to play and to thrive. Some years were better than others, of course, that's just the nature of it. I had some good coaches underneath me who went on to become head coaches and some former players who have gone on to coach. I'm proud of doing it the right way." When asked what he liked most about coaching, Melton said being on the field with the players. "Definitely being on the field with the players," Melton said. "I enjoyed not only winning, but also helping individual players reach their own personal goals. There's all the life lessons in there, too. I enjoyed competing in games and watching the kids compete. It's been a lot of fun. We've had some really good parent groups through the years. Generally, they've been really supportive." Over the years, under Melton's guidance he's seen more than 100 players go on to play college baseball and a handful have reached the professional ranks. "That's another thing I'm proud of," Melton said. "The guys who got scholarships and the guys who got drafted and went on to play professionally. That's pretty satisfying just being able to help them out and watch them achieve their goals." Coaching at Oak Ridge, which plays in the Sierra Foothill League, helped Melton's players achieve. "The college coaches like SFL players," Melton said. "That's as close as you're going to get to being ready for junior college. All of those players in the SFL are battle-tested and that's kudos to the league." Like his biggest achievement, Melton couldn't pick a fondest memory. "When you've been coaching for 29 years, you've got a ton of memories," Melton said. "We had so many great years and have had so many great players come through the program." Melton said the middle of the last decade was probably the highlight. From 2014-17, his Oak Ridge teams were 70-23. "We had a lot of great players," Melton said. "We were loaded and they held each other accountable and they competed like crazy. The parents were good. That was a lot of fun. Everyone was on the same page. We had team leaders, plus the talent was amazing. They were all great guys, too." Melton's best team at Oak Ridge was the 2010 team, which posted a record of 27-4.