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Coach William Tompkins and his Walpole Rebels Baseball team played a great game against the Natick Red and Blue on, April 9, 2012, winning the game 15-5 after just seven innings. The Rebels won by the slaughter rule and walked off the field with their coach getting his 500th career win. Junior Mike Gaughan got the start and threw a great game. Senior Captain Mike Baryski pitched one inning closing out the game. Coach Tompkins, as always very humble, did not tell his players until the end of the game in the dugout that this win would make it number 500. When he told his players, they responded with spontaneous applause and a congratulating cheer of gratitude for their coaches time spent to achieve such an honor. Only 11 other baseball coaches in state history have ever accomplished such a great feat. Tompkins said, “In all my years of coaching, it was the nicest thing that I’ve ever had any of my players do for me, I was honored”.
Not too many students at Walpole High are aware of what an interesting person Coach Tompkins really is and just how long he has really been here. Growing up in a small town known as Boothbay Harbor in the beautiful state of Maine, Coach Tompkins discovered his love of baseball and other athletics at a young age. Tompkins was a three sport athlete as a teenager, playing football, basketball and of course, baseball.
On the diamond, he played middle infielder and played varsity all four years of his high school career. As a senior he pitched for his team. With his school being so small, with a total student population of 250 and a senior class of 50, Tompkins excelled in all of his athletics.
Becoming Head Coach of the baseball team in 1974, succeeding Coach Ralph White, of whom he had been assistant to, he started what has become known as an era. Countless hard fought games resulting in wins, and long, tough practices for the boys who made up his teams have been the trend since the beginning of Coach Tompkins’ time.
Baseball is not the only sport that Coach Tompkins has coached though. He has been coaching at Walpole for 39 years with five of them being JV head coach and 34 being a varsity head coach. Tompkins coached girls varsity soccer for 22 years of his career and 10 years of boys basketball.
Coaching is not the only thing Tompkins has done with his career in athletics and physical activity. Coach Tompkins has refereed for 40 years, all of which he has been coaching or attending school. Coach Tompkins attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he majored in physical education.
Coach Tompkins became athletic director in the fall of 2009, making this his third year as athletic director. What is it that he really does, you might ask. Tompkins’ main responsibilities consist of coordinating the times and places of all sports of all seasons, while being associated with the student athletes and communicating with their parents. All the while operating the budget of the athletics at Walpole High.
Coach Tompkins is quite an impressive man as you can see. He has achieved many great things while coaching here at Walpole. When asked about his career here Tompkins said, “I am lucky to coach at a place like Walpole where the kids just love to play the game of baseball”. This much, has proven true.
