For high school baseball coaches in Newport News, Virginia, few careers stretch as far as Phil Forbes III’s.

The longtime Menchville High School coach is among six people selected for the Virginia Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame’s 2026 class.

His induction offers Newport News a chance to look beyond the wins and consider what 45 seasons of steady leadership meant to one program.

Forbes retired with 553 victories, a total that reflects both staying power and the ability to keep Menchville competitive across generations.

His final years showed that this was no career sustained by distant memories alone.

From 2022 through 2026, the Monarchs won more than 17 games in four seasons, including two 20-win campaigns.

Yet 2009 remains the season likely to come up first when Newport News baseball fans revisit his work.

Menchville finished 26-2, captured the Group AAA state championship and earned national recognition as the country’s top team.

That kind of run can define a school’s baseball identity for years.

All nine starters from that championship team went on to play college baseball, extending the season’s impact well beyond the final game.

For families connected to Menchville baseball in Newport News, the Hall of Fame honor may stir memories of seasons spent together at the ballpark.

The recognition also puts a local coaching career on a statewide stage.

The association plans to celebrate its fifth Hall of Fame class Dec. 10 during its annual convention in Charlottesville.

Joining Forbes are Rob Hahne, Eddie Icenhour, Ken Moore, Jim Procopio and Gerry Thomas, coaches whose careers reached other Virginia communities.

The gathering will also recognize Coach of the Year Ben Jones and Baseball Impact Award recipient Ben Baltimore.

Those honors share the evening, but in Newport News, the focus will naturally fall on Forbes and the program he guided.

Few high school baseball coaches get to leave with both a state title and a record of success that endured for decades.

For Menchville, this induction is a fitting moment to celebrate both.