St. Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown has a new leader for its softball program, tapping a coach with more than a decade of experience building competitive teams across the region.
Who’s taking over the program
The Leonardtown school announced Charles "CJ" Jones as its new head softball coach. Jones has spent more than 10 years coaching, most recently leading a competitive travel team under the VA Glory Softball Organization since 2019, where his teams compiled a 193-85-11 record and won more than 20 tournament championships, including two national titles. For the past five years he also served as an assistant coach at Calvert Middle School, a program that reached four championship appearances in five seasons under his tenure. Across his career, Jones has coached more than 320 games. He is also a local business owner.
Why the school made the hire
Principal Tom Campbell said Jones’ mentoring background and coaching record made him the right fit for the program, pointing to his experience developing high-level players and building a championship culture. Jones has already shown an interest in the school beyond coaching: he previously helped recruit two student-athletes to St. Mary’s Ryken who went on to earn All-WCAC honors, the conference in which the school competes.
What Jones plans to do first
Jones said his early priorities are physical improvements to the softball facilities, including completing the dugouts and scoreboard before the school year begins, along with standing up a softball advisory committee to support the program long term. He also outlined plans for year-round player development, including strength and conditioning work, optional offseason skill instruction, specialized coaching and opponent scouting.
The program’s direction under Jones
Jones described wanting to build a program grounded in "faith, character, and personal growth" as the team competes in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. He takes over the role in August, ahead of the coming school year.
Reporting based on an announcement from The BayNet. Quotes attributed to Principal Tom Campbell and Coach Jones come directly from that announcement; only one source outlet had reported this story at publication time.
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