Old Rochester Regional High junior Emma Collings unwrapped a can of tennis balls, dumping the sleeve of neon green spheres into her arms.

It was minutes before her squad’s Division 3 South tennis quarterfinal matchup against visiting Norwell on Monday evening. But Collings was very loose.

She tossed the empty can into the trash a few feet away, celebrating with a fist pump.

“How about that range!’’ Collings yelled to coach Bob Hohne, who has coached basketball, soccer, and tennis in a storied 47-year high school career.

“You’ll have to get closer than that in a game,’’ quipped the 68-year-old Hohne to Callings, also a forward on the girls’ basketball team.

Jokes permeated the pre-match warmup. But as Collings and freshman Delaney Pothier battled through a 6-2, 6-3 victory — contributing a point to a 4-1 team win — Hohne was there, fingers curled around the black fence, giving advice.

“He’s definitely more hands-on in basketball than in tennis,’’ Collings said after the match.

“But he does a good job with tennis because he gives us our space to work on things when we need to work on them by ourselves.’’

Hohne is just one of a number of veteran coaches in the area, all with 25-plus years on the job, that were back at it for yet another season this spring.

Pat Cronin worked the dugout at East Bridgewater for 35 years before returning to his alma mater, Whitman-Hanson, as baseball coach this year. George McCabe has defeated all kinds of foes, including a case of skin cancer, in his 44 years at the helm of East Bridgewater track. Jack Olson is the father of Brockton boys’ volleyball, starting the program over 30 years ago.

“We’re always competing with proms and kids who start thinking about graduating too soon,’’ McCabe said.

“[But] it keeps me young.’’

A week ago, the seniors on the Hingham High boys’ lacrosse team scurried away from their D2 South quarterfinal win over Oliver Ames to prepare for prom. But the Harbormen hung around long enough to celebrate the 406th career win for coach John Todd, the state record for victories in lacrosse. That celebration included a framed team photo, complete with a signature from Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

“Twenty-seven years as a head coach requires excellence, resiliency and the ability to adapt to changing situations,’’ Athletic director Margaret Conaty said of Todd, who helped Hingham to its first Patriot League title since 2000.

“Throughout this season, he has received many congratulatory emails from former players going back as far as the early ‘80s.’’

Fred Jewett, who has coached track & field and football at Hingham for 25 years, is also on the staff.

“I was fortunate to inherit a very successful and veteran coaching staff,’’ said Conaty, in her eighth year on the job.

“It made my transition very easy.’’

Transition was a buzzword for the Whitman-Hanson baseball program this year.

Pat Cronin guided East Bridgewater to 26 tournament appearances from 1981 to 2015. He retired to give his assistant, Jeff Ghiloni, an opportunity to be head coach (he guided the Vikings to the Division 3 South semifinals ).

But when the Whitman Hanson coaching position opened up after a 6-14 season, Cronin accepted the challenge, returning to a program where he had won a state title as a player in 1965.

“It was something that I’ve always had in the back of my head,’’ he said.

Cronin’s blueprint focused on pitching and defense; the Panthers (16-6), reached the D2 South quarterfinals thanks to an airtight D and a staff ERA of 1.47.

“Playing EB, we dreaded it years before because you’d go in and they were just amazing teams with amazing players,’’ said senior pitcher Brenndan Rogers.

“Knowing he was coming to coach us was just awesome.’’

Cronin made a few tweaks defensively, making six position switches, including Massachusetts Maritime-bound Nick Haley from the outfield to first.

McCabe directed the East Bridgewater track team to its 10th straight South Shore League title this season.

But his biggest victory game off the track.

After he was diagnosed with skin cancer in his ear last September, he underwent chemotherapy. He missed several practices, but assistants picked up the slack.

“It would have been easy for him to say ‘I’m retired,’’’ said former East Bridgewater AD Tom Kenney.

“He showed up [most days] and never complained.’’

McCabe has been cancer-free since February.

“As long as I’m physically able and I’m still effective, I’m going to keep on coaching,’’ McCabe said.

“I can’t imagine not doing it.’’

Olson has shown a similar level of dedication on the volleyball court at Brockton.

The Brockton native played football for the Boxers and Northeastern in the early 1970s. As an adult, he disocovered volleyball and was determined to bring it to his hometown. He started the boys’ program in 1987 and is still on the bench. This season, senior Ryan Clifford departed as the program’s career leader in kills. Olson also coached the girls’ program from 1985 to 2012 before taking over as the girls’ coach at Cardinal Spellman.

Bob Hohne has compiled a pretty impressive resume at Old Rochester too.

He has coached freshman boys’ basketball (1970-78), boys’ soccer (1972-1994), and boys’ tennis (1978-98). He has been the girls’ basketball coach since 1978 and girls’ tennis since 2000.

Hohne maintains that he doesn’t coach for numbers. His role is to help young people grow into adults.

“He can call out the bull,’’ Collings said as she iced her ankle after Monday’s victory.

“The way he carries himself and carries the team . . . he always just doesn’t take excuses.’’

Matt MacCormack can be reached at matt.maccormack@globe.com.