Jimmy Winterer has been named the new Head Baseball Coach at Salem High School. His appointment was made official by the Salem School Board at it monthly meeting in November. The Roanoke College graduate has accumulated a wealth of playing and coaching experiences throughout the Roanoke Valley in the last 20 years.
After playing five years of baseball for the Maroons, the former pitcher began teaching and coaching at William Byrd High School. He next spent three years as a varsity assistant coach at Northside as a member of the Vikings program that won the Group AA State Championship in 2011. From 2013-2015, he taught and coached at Cave Spring High School before joining the Spartans.
“I pitched at Kiwanis for the Roanoke College Maroons for five seasons, so I was very excited to be able to return ten years later as the JV coach at Salem,” he says. “Now I feel even more fortunate to have an opportunity to lead this program.”
The Front Royal native has been a physics teacher, JV coach and varsity assistant at Salem High School since 2016.
“I'm anxious to get started and to share the knowledge and expertise that I have gained in my career with our talented athletes,” he says.
Winterer worked for seven seasons under recently-retired head coach Wes McMillian and helped the Spartans earn the school’s first 4A state baseball championship in 2018. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, and he also has his National Board Certification credential for professional teaching standards.
“I have lived in Salem since I graduated from Roanoke College,” he says. “I'm very lucky to have found my wife, Shelley, a 2003 Salem High School graduate, while we were at Roanoke College and she is responsible for keeping us in valley.”
The couple has three children who attend South Salem Elementary School.