Yorktown High School hired one of its own as the new head coach of the varsity baseball team.
Josh Cook, a 2013 graduate of the school, will be the new skipper when the 2024 spring season begins.
Cook comes to Yorktown having spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Oakton High School varsity team under head coach Justin Janis. He succeeds John Skaggs, who stepped down after nine seasons because of a new job.
“I am super-excited about this,” Cook said. “My goal was to be a varsity high-school head coach somewhere. I saw the Yorktown job was open and I’m lucky to have this opportunity.”
Janis is confident Cook will do a good job at Yorktown.
“Two things stand out about Josh. He works so hard and he absolutely loves baseball, being around the game and working with the players,” Janis said. “He’ll stay late, go out on the field and catch fly balls or whatever is needed.”
Yorktown director of student activities Mike Krulfeld said Cook will provide the energy and leadership to maintain the team’s status as a perennial contender in the Liberty District and region-tournament participant. Yorktown won district tourneys in 2018 and 2021 and had two runner-up finishes under Skaggs.
The team finished 13-8 this past season
“Josh has a lot of energy and he’s a baseball rat,” Krulfeld said.
Cook was an outfielder for two seasons of varsity baseball at Yorktown under then head coach Mike Ruck, playing on a district-championship team in 2012. As a senior, Cook received the team’s annual Lou Serpa Scholarship Award for leadership.
As a coach, Cook’s philosophy is to have strong baserunning and defensive teams to go with good hitting and pitching.
The new Yorktown coach has other Arlington baseball connections. He played Babe Ruth baseball in Arlington and played three seasons of American Legion summer ball for Arlington Post 139 under manager Bob Romano.
In college, Cook was a student-manager and student coach for the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team.
