Chetopa High School Baseball
My first year of being a Head Coach was a rollercoaster of ups and downs through the season. Chetopa did not have a Varsity baseball program in several years before I became the head coach. Practice consisted of going back to the fundamentals of defensive baseball, "once we have the fundamentals of defense down we can compete with anyone," is what I emphasized to my players. We made a lot of good strides in our first season at the varsity level and built a foundation for Chetopa Baseball.
Chetopa Jr. High Basketball
During my first year at Chetopa I had to opportunity to coach Junior High Basketball. This was my first experience in coaching basketball, we had overall a great season. With Chetopa being a small school at times I only had five players total for a game, one game I started the game with three players and still won the game. This was a great experience for me and I enjoyed coaching basketball. We ended up placing third in the Mineral Belt League.
Baxter Springs Senior League Baseball
During the summer I volunteer to Coach for the Baxter Springs Senior League. The league consists of 4 teams from Baxter Springs, 2 teams from Joplin, MO, and 2 teams from Webb City, MO. This is a very enjoyable time for me, I get to coach baseball over the summer and help the league in anyway I can. The first summer I came in halfway through the season to be the head coach for the Baxter Red Team and guided them to 2nd place in the league. My second summer I was able to begin the season with the Baxter Red Team and due to COVID-19 the season was shortened to just one month. We ended up placing 3rd in my second summer of coaching.
Girard High School Baseball
During my time at Girard High School for my professional semester; I had the privilege to help coach the High School Baseball team. This was my first coaching experience at the high school level. I was able to coach under the guidance of former Pittsburg State University head baseball coach Steve Bever. This was a very trying, but rewarding experience. I was able to learn a lot over the season and put it to use in my future coaching endeavors.
To me, baseball has always been a reflection of life. Like life, it adjusts. It survives everything.”
– Willie Stargell