The numbers don't lie. Paul VI of Fairfax, Va., has captured the two of the past three Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles. Three Virginia state titles, national rankings in three of the past five seasons and 38 former players moving on to the collegiate level over the past seven years bolster the Panther resume.
Quite simply, Billy Emerson's Paul VI program is one of the best in the United States.
Before making Paul VI's baseball program a local and national powerhouse, Emerson was just a ballplayer from Vienna, Va. He played high school baseball at Madison High School, graduated to Montgomery College-Rockville before transferring to George Mason University to complete his college career. After GMU, Emerson played one season of minor league ball in the Independent Frontier League in 1994. He was offered a contract by the Gray's Harbor (Wash.) Gulls in the AA Western League and was on the verge of becoming a replacement player during the MLB strike of 1994-95. Emerson, however, never took the final step so many young boys dream of growing up.
"Right before the season began, I decided to call it quits and finish my degree at Mason," Emerson said. "I also wanted to get married, so moving on with life in the real world was the best decision I ever made. I was a mid-to-upper 80s MPH right-handed pitcher (so I was a dime-a-dozen type of minor leaguer)."
Although Emerson left the field as a player, it wasn't long before he stepped back on as a coach. He had coaching stints with Annandale and Madison high schools before taking on a fledgling program at T.C. Williams in 1997.
"I was told by many other coaches not to take the job because it was a no-win situation, but I wanted to be a head coach really bad," Emerson said. "In my second year, we fell one game short of the VHSL state tournament and had the best season in school history."
Emerson ended up leaving T.C. Williams because he wanted to get into the Fairfax County School system, which also brought him closer to home. He took a job at Annandale High before leaving the following year to become the assistant athletic director at his alma mater, Madison.
"It was a job I could not pass up," Emerson said. "I really wanted to be back at my hometown school. I learned a great deal from that job, too, in terms of being a better organizer and manager, although the one drawback was not being able to coach full time. I coached in the summer and helped out a Madison when I could, but I missed being a head coach."
It wasn't long until Emerson got his wish. During the summer of 2002, just weeks after he helped guide Madison to a 29-0 season and a No. 3 ranking nationwide as an assistant, Emerson began thinking about quitting his job as an assistant athletic director so he could become a head coach.
"On July 3, 2002, I was rushing around Vienna, running errands and picking up items for my family’s Fourth of July party when I was pulled over by a Vienna cop. It was an officer that I had known for years, and in lieu of giving me a speeding ticket, he wanted to talk a little baseball."
Emerson learned that Madison's coach, Mark "Pudge" Gjormand, was going to leave the school for a job at Paul VI.
"Pudge told me that he had been approached and while it was tempting to look into coaching in the private school arena, he was staying put," Emerson said. "Knowing how I felt about coaching again, he suggested I look into it and he put the PVI search committee in touch with me. When they found out about my baseball background, they became very interested."
Emerson saw untapped potential at Paul VI and interviewed for the job.
"I really thought with the right approach, the right people and a lot of hard work, PVI could be a really competitive program," Emerson said.
He couldn't have been more right. Despite being the fourth baseball coach at Paul VI within a three-year span, Emerson went to work in hopes of turning around a program that finished six games under .500 the year before. He preached accountability, discipline and organization and discussed his intentions of building a powerhouse baseball program that produced championships, college players and excellent young men.
"Parents were rolling their eyes, as if to say 'we’ve heard all this before.' You really can’t blame them after the inconsistency they had been through," Emerson said. "We had to draw a line in the sand with some players and although we all hate having to cut kids, the old way had to go. Our guys were held accountable for everything on and off the field, and it was a bit of a culture shock at the beginning."
It didn't take long for the results Emerson promised to start appearing. In 2003, Emerson's first season under the helm, Paul VI finished 17-12. The following year Paul VI finished with the same record, but they were also VISBA state champions.
In 2005, Emerson led PVI to a 26-win season, which was the most victories any Panther baseball team since the program's inception in 1984. The Panthers finished second in the WCAC and made it to the state semifinals. In 2006, Paul VI won 24 games, reached the WCAC finals and the state finals. The following year, Emerson finally took Paul VI to the next level, winning the WCAC as the team won a school-best 27 games.
In 2008, Paul VI won 27 games and the state championship, which was followed by both the WCAC championship and the Virgina state championship just last week.
Despite being the obvious reason for the program's success, Emerson is quick to deflect any credit thrown his way. He points to great baseball families, great players, a supportive administration and coaching staff.
And just because Emerson has led Paul VI to back-to-back Virginia state titles, two WCAC championships and an outstanding reputation in the high school baseball world, doesn't mean he's going to stop any time soon.
"Until we go unbeaten and win the national championship in some poll, we can always get better," Emerson said. "My plans are to be here for a while. I’ve looked into coaching in college and even working full-time as a pro scout, but being close to home, being able to spend time with my family and not uprooting them are all really important to me. I see more great things to come at PVI."
Todd Bradley is the Editor-in-Chief of DCSportsFan.com, which has covered high school athletics in the Washington, D.C. area since 2005.
