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What does it take to craft a winning baseball program in a rural school district? How do you navigate the unique challenges and rewards that come with it? As your host, we're bringing you an in-depth conversation with three highly experienced baseball coaches - Travis Church, Randy Leach, and Buck Workman. They share their journey of building and nurturing successful baseball programs, the struggles they encountered, and the triumphs they cherish.
From forging strong bonds with players to instilling a robust sense of camaraderie, we explore the intricacies of coaching in rural districts. We discuss the pressures of playing against other league teams, maintaining a competitive spirit, and of course, the mutual respect these coaches share for each other. Building a strong baseball program isn't just about the game; it involves shaping the character of the players, setting high expectations, and teaching them the value of a solid work ethic.
As we venture further into the conversation, we delve into some personal experiences, such as the challenges of coaching one's own children and the pressures that come with it. We also shed light on the significance of good sportsmanship, the necessity for correct calls on the field, and its impact on players. Join us as we recount cherished memories of successful coaches Randy Leach, Travis Church, Buck Workman and host Ken Carpenter, and their lasting impact on their teams. This episode is an ode to their unwavering dedication, humor, and commitment to their players and fans.
What's it like to coach baseball in a rural school district? Four coaches who battled against each other look back on great games, funny stories and memories of Hall of Fame umpire Joe McWilliams I can't believe I waited 87 episodes to relive these memories. Travis Church, randy Leach and Buck Workman next on the Athlete One Podcast.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Athlete One Podcast. Veteran high school baseball coach Ken Carpenter takes you into life's classroom as experienced through sports. Go behind the scenes with athletes and coaches as they share great stories, life lessons and ways to impact others.
Speaker 2:Today's episode of the Athlete One Podcast is powered by the Netting Professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The Netting Professionals specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, BP turtles, screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches and cubbies. The Netting Professionals are not limited to just baseball and softball. They also work with football, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. You need to contact them today at 844-620-2707, or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom, or check out Netting Pros on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Hi, my name is Ken Carpenter and welcome to Athlete One, a podcast for athletes, coaches and parents. My mission is to bring this group together and learn from those who were successful and failed as a player or coach. Thanks for joining me as we learn from some of the best athletes and coaches around the country. Now to my interview with Travis Church, Randy Leach and Buck Workman. Hello and welcome to the Athlete One podcast. I'm your host, Ken Carpenter, and joining me today are three coaches. I had an opportunity in the challenge of coaching against going from top to bottom. Buck Workman from Northmore High School, Randy Leach, who was at River Valley at the time and now is at Bridgedale, and Travis Church, who's been at Highland High School here in Ohio. Guys, hey, thanks for taking the time to jump on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thanks for inviting us, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2:Well, guys, when we first tried this last week it didn't go off too well. But when I first texted you about joining me on the podcast, travis asked what would the topics we'd be discussing, and before I could even answer, the comments started coming in and it hit me instantly. One of the things I really missed are the banner, the conversation between coaches, the stories about the umpires, and what memory comes to mind for you guys when you look back on your high school baseball coaching career. And let's start with you first, randy.
Speaker 3:I agree with you. One of the things I think was really great is we were all very competitive as coaches but we also had a respect for each other and it was always good when you went to Highland or Buckeye Valley or Northmore or wherever, that you knew the coach and you could talk and usually there was a few jokes, stuff like that but once the game started it was 100% serious. But you also knew that when the game was over with that we would talk, whatever. And I really appreciated that, all the friendships that I made. I thought we had something special in MOAC great group of coaches and guys that really loved the game and had respect for each other and I thought that was really something special, travis.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I just kind of piggyback and echo off of what Randy said. I think that, first and foremost, I think the relationships that you make with your players is something that can be missed when you're not coaching anymore. And then, from a coaching standpoint, just the fraternity it really is a coaching fraternity the relationships that you build that end up being lifelong. I mean, bucke's family and mine have been on family vacations together because of us first meeting on the baseball field and we knew that every season at Highland we knew that for the most part the league championship was going to go through Buckeye Valley, river Valley or us, and we knew that that Red Division we were going to have to really play well on those games. And, as Randy said, after those games we had a great respect for each other as coaches and as friends and still get to hear about games today from Bucke, how games of Northmore against Highland too. So a lot of great memories.
Speaker 2:And Bucke. What do you think?
Speaker 5:With that the relationships that you build with these guys I mean the kids and the coaches it goes a long way and it makes it enjoyable. It's what's kept me around this long, because the kids make me feel young and the relationships that we go to the clinics and things like that with the other coaches. It's just a good time. I mean my first year at Northmore I got to know Travis because the coach says, younger brother, that he was a senior. That year. I had him and I had that team and I'm going into this first year MOAC. I'm like we're going to be pretty good. But then, like he said, I had to play Buckeye Valley and River Valley and Highland. It was like going into a gunfight with a butter knife. It's like geez, these guys are pretty good over on this big side. But that whole, just the relationships that were built up over time, is why I've stuck around this long. It's been awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, the thing that sticks out with me is one I knew every time it was going to be. There was never an easy game it seemed like, and you know, with you in particular, randy, to this day I have not figured out one of your signs, and I was always good at figuring out at least something. Never could figure it out and I would just throw things in the dugout and I'd be like what it's? A fun sign. I know the fun's coming. I couldn't see what it was. So, oh, one of the most frustrating things in the world for me. Would you like to share what it is now that?
Speaker 3:If I was still retired I would, but I can't divulge that.
Speaker 2:Well, what made you guys get into coaching and when you know obviously you probably had a good high school and you know possible college experience what made you, travis, jump into the wanting to be a coach and you do both baseball and football- yeah, I mean, without a doubt, it was Jim Stoyle.
Speaker 4:For me he was my football and baseball coach when I was in high school and all of you guys know Coach Stoyle and he just was really a father role to me and it really was that moment in which I figured out that I wanted to be able to make an impact on kids' lives the way he did mine, and so you know, and then it's really neat how you know God works and I was able to get the opportunity to follow you know him here at Highland and it was strictly because of him. You know I had this opportunity to Highland because of Coach Stoyle and you know that relationship continues to this day and so, but really it, and I think that probably for a lot of guys too, right, it's a teacher and educator or coach that drove you kind of to this path. But yeah, for me it was Coach Stoyle.
Speaker 2:What about you Buck?
Speaker 5:I was kind of fortunate in that same respect. I mean I was sitting at home, I was going to the branch with the Shelby and Rob Howerton I don't remember if any of you remember that name, but he was the head of an athlete at the Shelby, he was the head coach. And he calls me up out of the blue hey, you're an interesting coach and freshman, or JV. This was back in 90 and I graduated in 89. And I'm like my brother, my brother, youngest brothers, but they were still coming through, and I'm like, yeah, that sounds interesting and I went and did it and enjoyed it. But then I kind of went off and did my own thing. I ended up going to Toledo and played softball for years. We were big in the softball, Me and my brothers would play like really competitive softball. But I'm sitting at home one night with my wife and guy and then Dan Gorbitt calls me up. He's like, hey, this is how coaches do it too. Dan Gorbitt calls me up on the phone. He said, hey, I see your names on the sub list. Didn't you play baseball at Shelby? You're an interesting coach in my JV team, I'm like sure. Next thing I know two years under Dan and then Dan's wife from Northmore. She's a guidance counselor. She calls out there and says, hey, we got a social studies opening and I've been at Northmore for 24 years. So it's just weird how that worked out for me, but I didn't even know what Northmore was, but it ended up being a great thing for me.
Speaker 2:And what about you, Randy? What got you into coaching?
Speaker 3:Probably the teachers that I looked up to the most were the guys that also coached and coached me, and I got to know them pretty well and they told me that, hey, you'll never be rich, but they're like it's a pretty good life, and they always told me how much they enjoyed it. And so I still talk to them to this day. I mean my entire career I still stayed to my former coaches, still stayed, you know, close to them, you know, even asking advice and stuff. And it was funny because when I interviewed for the job at River Valley for a teaching no-transcript, you know, we were always told in college hey, if you want to coach, let them, let the superintendent know, because they're always looking for coaches. And I said that in my interview and Superintendent looked at me and was like, here we hire teachers, we don't hire coaches. And I was like, okay, I just sabotaged myself. I ended up getting the job and the guy that was at River Valley was the head coach. He found out that I, you know, had interest in coaching baseball, so he got a hold of me first week there and so I was the JV coach for three years and then he ended up leaving and took the head coaching job at Indiana Wesleyan. And you know, I applied and got it and and I I'm still teaching at River Valley 35, 35 years now.
Speaker 2:So that's impressive. Now Let me ask you this I've had 85 episodes and you know it ranges from high school coaches and athletes to all the way up to the pro ranks and you know I've had some big-time suburban school coaches on and, but I wanted to have you guys on. I Wanted to talk about this specifically. It talk about what it's like to coach at a rural school where you know you don't get all the the big-time amenities like you see at some of these these big high schools that are around the country but you know your parks are are really nice places despite that. But talk about your experience just coaching kids that when they started in kindergarten you they came all the way up through the system and let's go with you first on that one.
Speaker 5:But I Mean that's kind of a two-parter for me. First of all, when I first got there, I mean you could talk about that whole Travel wall scene and then the kids that come up through your county ball program. Well, for the first I don't want to say ten years that I was there from 01 to 11 I probably had just a handful of those travel ball kids. But Then I got involved because my own sons were coming through. So I got into the county thing and you get, and we did it, we had input and would try to help out as much as we could as a program with the County ball program early on. But until you get your own kids in there and really get more invested, I mean you have to put the time in to start that feeder program. Because I mean I've seen in the Highland and River Valley and Buckeye Valley, I mean we've seen those kids come up through the rakes, their studs and and I feel like we know we're a little bit smaller, more, you know, probably even a little bit more rolled in River Valley I would say, but In Buckeye Valley, for that matter. But the those kids once they buy in and they understand, hey, it's about competing and it just becomes about that. I Think we kind of turn the corner in terms of, in terms of all that. I mean Northmore's had some good teams for the years. Even before I got there, travis was on a final four team. I mean he knows what it's about, but it's tough. I mean everybody's trying to accomplish the same goal, but Just just bringing those kids up, as you know, it was fun. It was fun.
Speaker 2:Travis.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, for me on this one it, you know indifferent than Buck, because I mean kudos to him. I mean what he's been able to build us as far as a program is is is Wonderful and it's great to see as my alma mater. But for me I was very fortunate Because coach Stoll really kind of he had things rolling before I got here and I just had to come in and make sure I didn't screw it up. And really that's the philosophy that I took, the respect that I had for him and knowing that we had, you know, blue collar kids here at Highland and continue to that just really want to get, get to work. And you know we've built, it's been able to sustain a program now and Donnie's doing a great job as well here at Highland. That you know we're 20 plus going on, 20 plus seasons of no losing records and you know I think that it just goes to say for our community that how important baseball is. And, like I said, I think that started probably in 99 when coach got here and the vision that he saw. You know they built the, the quad park across the road and then you know, with the new high school state or field, and and so when you make something important and and everyone kind of buys into it, and that's what we definitely have here at Highland is the importance of what baseball is and the commitment to continue tradition and, and you know, something that we Remind our kids of of a on a regular basis is, you know what tradition comes, responsibility, and, and so you know, I don't think I've really had to build a whole lot here at Highland. I just had to sustain and know that there's our expectations that were set before me and and and our kids are our hard-working kids and you know they nothing was really given to them. They just knew that they had something to uphold and they didn't want to let down the past classes that had had graduated.
Speaker 2:Well you're, you're definitely. When you took over for coach still, there was definitely no drop-off, that's for sure. You kept the train rolling. And Randy, what about you? I?
Speaker 3:Was. I was real fortunate, like at River Valley, they always had, you know, a pretty well organized baseball for youth program and you know, at the old high school we had several fields on the grounds there, you know, and then when we had to move high schools they built an entire complex and you know, it's nice when you've got that going for you because they've got a level of commitment you know to. You know, having the young kids learned the game of baseball, you know, and it's also very fortunate that I had kids, you know, kind of like what Travis was saying, kind of the blue-collar. You know work ethic and you know, no matter what I demanded out of them, you know they, they, you know, wanted even more and they worked hard and and it was, you know, and it's kind of neat that you know kid that you started playing t-ball with. Now you're a senior in high school and you guys are on the same you know baseball team and your goals are winning the league, you know, winning the district, things like that. And Now that I'm at Ridgedale it's we're trying to build that. You know, their baseball for youth kind of. You know, like we're trying to build up the youth program. We had a big youth camp this summer. Try to get some excitement. We had a lot of kids, you know, which was good. You know Buck was talking about travel ball. This past year we didn't have any kids that had played travel ball and you really can tell you know a big difference. There's kids that play travel ball, you know. They've got you know a Different level of polish, you know, with it. So we're trying to get you know some kids into travel baseball so they get some more Experience in the summertime. But yeah, it's, you know you got to lay down the foundation in order to, you know, reap any Benefits down the road with it. So you know it's. It's kind of weird because it's, you know, it's almost like starting all over again, you know, with it definitely.
Speaker 2:Well, I the best I can count is I've probably coached 75 or more games against you, the three of you guys and in something that stood out to me was when I was a volunteer assistant, just a few years back at Dublin Jerome, we hosted a district tournament game and Randy, your son, was playing for the team. That was playing at it and you know I watched the game. I actually helped announce the game but the thing that stood out to me was you know, I kept looking down at you and you know I'm saying, all right, he, he's got his son on the mound. It's a district game. And she were the, the ideal parent. You supported everybody on the team. You didn't go after the umpires. You know exactly how parents should be and I know Buck and Travis, you guys, you you've had kids come up and play and You've had to watch them play and what what's. It seems like it's on every Twitter page you look across this lately parents that are out of control in the stands or at the basketball game or the the wrestling match. And you know, is there any way to get this under control, or is that just how it is, and not Travis?
Speaker 4:I'll start off with you Well, I think you know when I think of you, know what you were saying about Randy, and I know that I've gotten to watch Buck watch his boys play and I'm sure you were the same way watching Jake and, and for myself, you're really wanting your kids just to be kind people, right, and so if, if you can't model that as a parent, how can you have those expectations for your child? And so I think, as a parent, you know, and as a coach, you know, we obviously all of us got heated right and but I think that as a parent, I've really gotten to Enjoy watching my kids Compete and really soak it in and understand that it's. It's really for a very short season when we think about life in general and and if we put things in perspective like that, I think that you're able to enjoy, you know the game, you're able to enjoy just life more and I don't know I that's something that scares me a little bit as to. You know where our society is and you know, I guess I hope that we continued educators like ourselves Getting to be involved in kids's lives on a daily basis. Hopefully we have enough of us that are making the difference to To hopefully get this things turned, turned around.
Speaker 2:Now, randy, you're you know I use you as the the example there. You're now in a situation where you decided to be the assistant coach for your son, who's now the coach at Ridgedale, and You've had a lot of experience with parents over the year. What, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 3:My thing is like I wanted to be the parent, you know, like if I, if I want parents to be a certain way, I have to act that way when I'm watching my kids game too, you know, and I've, I've seen some Bad things, you know, through the years, not just at baseball games but a football, basketball, things like that. And you know, and I, my thing was I didn't want to be that parent. I didn't want to, I didn't want to embarrass my own son, you know, because I've had players that have told me, you know, coach, my dad embarrassed me or my mom embarrasses me, you know, by their behavior, and so that always stuck with me. I didn't want to be, you know, that type of parent. And you know, and I want my son to be respectful on the field, to the umpires, to, you know teammates, to the opposing team, and you know, and and as a as his dad, I've got to, you know, be that way as well, you know, and so I think that's what I think is the best way to do it, and so that for me it was, you know, I, I swear I I got more nervous whenever I'd be at his games and he was pitching. That I ever did when I was coaching a game. You know, and because you always you, you know, you know the pitcher it's kind of like the quarterback and football. You know If things go great, all the pitchers wonderful. If something happens, you know, oh, why they pitch that bump. You know that type of stuff, and so I was. I don't know. I was always nervous and I got. I was fortunate, I got to coach him and travel ball, and even in travel ball when I pitched him I was always so much more nervous than I was for anything else. So but yeah, it was, it was a great experience and it's a great experience getting to coach with him now too.
Speaker 2:Yeah and Buck. How about you?
Speaker 5:OK with your own kids. What I remember about that is ever since they were four, five, six. I'm coaching them on up through baseball and wrestling and, like you guys said, I was more nervous when they were out there performing when I wasn't coaching than when I was coaching, because it kind of takes that part out of it because you're so focused on trying to help them out. Some of the most enjoyable experiences I had was watching my son play for Travis, when I was just sitting out there being a dad and watching him have to worry about all the umpire's calls and the kids doing foolish stuff. So I had a really good time doing that.
Speaker 2:Every coach could probably write a book about their experiences on and off the field, whether it's at coaches' clinics or whatever it may be. What's the story? That throughout your career you look back on it and you either tell it to another coach or the clinic, or it just brings a smile to your face.
Speaker 5:So Joe and Merle used to be a duo and we were over at Cardington one time and it was an overcast day early in the season. 4.30 start, it's overcast and we start playing as cold games going along. I think Cardington was up 8-0 or so. They were putting it on pretty good, and so I'm not in a real jovial mood as it is. And I walked by Joe at home plate and Joe says hey, coach, this is going to be the last inning, regardless. It was the top of the fifth and I looked up in the sky and, looking around, I'm like I was like Joe. It's no darker now than it was when we started. It's just one of them days he said well, another word and we'll end it right now. And I was like, oh OK. So you know, joe, you can't really. You can't really. You can say some things to Joe, but at the end of the day, when he draws a line and said, you better just stop. So I knew better and I was like I'm just going to go out third base and get this over with. So I'm walking him halfway there, I'm like don't do it, don't do it, don't turn around. And I couldn't help myself. I turn around and I ask him well, what are you waiting on, joe? Sure enough, he takes all the balls out of his bag, drops them on home plate, motions to Merle, they're out of there. And Nubra was the coach back then and Nubra was just beside himself. He's like Joe, what are you doing? What are you doing? And we ended up finishing that game on a later date. That was the end of it.
Speaker 4:Well, I got one for each one of you. So I think that that might have been the only game that we lost. The Northmore and my tenure and I'm still not over it For now with that umpire that he's talking about goes to the story with Randy. It was the same umpire that we had. It was a windy day at River Valley. The ball his kid hits a ball to dead center. It bounces over Well, at least that's what the initial call was by the same umpire that Buck was referring to and then Randy proceeds to go out with that he finally, randy, they get rid of his batting gloves during the game, so he goes out to talk to the umpire. The umpire actually goes out and asks my center fielder if the ball bounced over or went over. My center fielder says oh, it was a home run and he changed the call and gave the kid a home run. Now I may have lost my mind a little bit on that situation and told the umpire that if we're going to ask kids to make calls then we don't need them at the game. The other one for Ken was it was freezing and we always had a rule here at Northmore or at Northmore at Highland. Like Coach Hoyn, he was a big sickler on 40 degrees. So, it may have been 40, but it felt like 25. And it was one of the first years at the new field at Buckeye Valley and I called Ken and I said I don't know if we're going to be able to play Like Coach Hoyn isn't letting us come over and he goes. We're playing and I'm like OK. So I was able to talk Coach Hoyn into letting us come over. We show up to Buckeye Valley. There's no one out there, Ken's got his guys in the school somewhere taking batting practice in their infield and everything it's freezing. My guys are wanting to keep their coats on and stuff. I'm like no, we came over here to get your stuff off, we are going to get warmed up and we're going to be ready to go. But those were ones that kind of stick out in my mind right from the get go, as far as the three of you guys, that it was always, like I said, always great to compete against your guys' programs and we always knew that we had to play well to be on the winning side or give ourselves a chance to win.
Speaker 3:Ken, I have a good memory of you. It was down at Buckeye Valley and I forget what the call was, but it was a bad call by the umpire. We were hitting and you had been sitting on a bucket. You were up and down off a bucket and you popped up off the bucket to yell at the umpire and you went to set back down and the bucket came out from under you and all the balls started rolling out in the dugout. It was hard not to laugh on the third base Because I knew how mad you were. But it was like that kind of came out. So I remember that one, but probably one of my funniest memories. I about got thrown out and I had nothing to do with it. We were playing at, well, let's just say, an inner city Columbus team and their third baseman had made two errors in the inning and their assistant coach yells out at the third baseman. I mean and yelled something and the third baseman didn't like it. So he yells cuss words back at the coach. Pretty soon the coach is cussing at him, the umpire thinks I'm cussing at the third baseman and he's yelling at me and he's like you're going out. I was like it's not me, said it's between these two and finally the field umpire had to come in and it's like, yeah, it wasn't the River Valley coach, he goes, it's the assistant coach in the third baseman. But I mean, I was right in the middle of this, this F-bomb war between the third baseman and the assistant coach, and I'm like you've got to be kidding. I thought they were going to fight and I was like that was probably like. I remember after the game the kids are like we thought you were getting thrown out and we didn't even know what you did and I said I didn't do anything. I just happened to be there and I was like, yeah, I'll never forget that that was an interesting one.
Speaker 5:One year we played them at our place and it was. I mean I promise you he could tell you the specifics more than me I know. We had bases loaded and we were down one like the bottom of the sixth. He brings in one of his better pitchers who had a nasty curveball. He's dropped off the table. My kid that was hitting, he told me while they were warming up and he said you know, I can't hit this kid's curveball. I said, well, we don't got any other choice. I'm looking at the bench. I was like we don't have any other choice. I said get up here and swing three times to do the best you can. Sure enough, curveball and a dirt swings over the top. Curveball and dirt swings over the top. Travis yells out to his catcher after strike two. He's like just step on home plate. Because he knew this. Next. Everybody knew it was going to be a curveball and the dirt. Sure enough, curveball and dirt. My kid swings over it. His kid blocks it, takes about a half a step towards home plate and starts. He rolls the ball out to the pitchers mound. By this time his pitcher was halfway into the dugout and he never stepped on home plate. So my runner on third scores while that ball's rolling out past the pitchers mound my runner on second scores. It's just a merry go round and Travis is coming on, coming on. Clutie's more upset about his catcher not, you know, doing the right thing, but then he ends up getting into with the catcher or the umpire and I was like, oh, and we ended up holding on to beating him. So I know he's not. He still probably has sleepless nights. What do you think about that one?
Speaker 2:Did you have ever any stories that you remember with Randy?
Speaker 5:Once. The stand on my mind with Randy was the first year when they had their new field. It wasn't really to do with Randy, it kind of had to do with another umpire. And the first year they played over there it was really the infield wasn't really smooth yet, I mean, it was real choppy. And River Valley had a kid hit a ball. The first bounce was foul territory. Clearly it was way out there. But you know it went plank, plank, plank and worked its way back into fair territory. But our first baseman picks it up, steps on the bag but on that first bounce the umpire had yelled foul ball. So at that point in time, you know, the runner stops, the hitter stops, running ends up being a fair ball and I obviously I'm going to go out to talk to him. I just slowly am walking out there and he meets me halfway. He doesn't even let me get out there and he just gets right in my ear. He says I messed it up, all right, but it was explicative laced. He was that upset at himself, you know, and as a coach I mean, what do I say to that? He admitted he made a mistake and we just it's not that we could change at that point. I'd rather have they do that than act like they're right all the time.
Speaker 2:So I scouted a game one time for the tournament and I think we may have been the one or two seed and you know, of course get one of the real low seeds and I was always worried. I said I got to go at least see a team. And I went first inning throw to the first baseman and if he was a wrestler he would have been wrestling heavyweight and he didn't even make an attempt to jump and get the ball and it rolled the defense and the coach yelled at him to go get the ball and he turned and yelled at the shortstop and told him to go get the ball because he threw and I closed my book up. I said I think I'm good and I said OK, I'm done. But you know, looking back on it, we all probably have a great story about Joe McWayams and Joe. He was a legend when it comes to umpiring and he did all the big time games, the state tournament games, regionals and everything. But I would imagine every one of us had a run in with him. What is your best Joe McWayams story and Travis? I'll start with you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, probably the best one was at playing Buckeye Valley at your place and it was another probably early April cold day and Joe, for whatever reason, didn't have gloves on. And then he's behind the plate and he takes a foul ball off of his hand and I mean you could hear a crack from third base off this baseball off of his hand and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's broken. And he jumped out and does one of these and both Ken and I go up and check on him and he said just give me a minute. And I asked him if he wanted gloves on and his hand, I mean it had doubled in size by the time I got into home plate to check on him, Like it was incredible, but he's still back in there. Gave him about five minutes and he was back in there and getting after it again. But just always the comments. And Joe was a lot of fun to have out there too. I mean there were times, obviously, that all of us had our run-ins with him, but he was a lot of fun to be out there on the field, I think of him. And Jim Newcomb was another one, and these guys were just you know, yeah, just great guys and and but could definitely get your blood boiling at times too.
Speaker 3:I just remember how, like Joe would like, he kind of he reminded me of a professional wrestler in some ways, because he kind of liked it when the crowd got on him, because then he would play to the crowd, you know, or he would talk back to them, you know, or he would like, you know, kind of egg them on a little bit. And one night this was at the old High School, river Valley he had a game and it wasn't one of his better games and fans were all over him and everything. So I, you know, after the game, stay down there, drug the field, got the field already, you know, did all that type of stuff. So I come up in the parking lot and there he's sitting in a lawn chair eating popcorn from the concessions. You know, this has got to be 45 minutes after the game. And I was like, what are you doing here? And he's like well, I've decided after the game, since the fans wanted to talk to me all the game, thought I'd be a man of the people and I would just pull out my chair, out of my trunk, I'd sit here and if they had something to say to me, they can come up and do it, you know, and you know that's just like you guy he was, you know, and it was. It was always funny because you know it didn't bother him. You know if fans yelled at him, anything like that and he's like you know what I've been yelled at by some, by better people than that, you know, and he would always have that kind of attitude.
Speaker 2:There's a couple of stories with Joe that I remember and I had a ton of just run ins with him. I mean, he, he came through the handshake line one time and I, you know, and I was frustrated with him and I, you know, you're shaking everybody's hand and then it was him. I was like Joe, what are you doing? You know, he's like he just shaking everybody's hand. But you know, I I remember he was doing a regional game down at Dublin Kauffman, and I went down to watch and I remember looking at Tim Saunders who was the host for the field that day, and and I said, tim, don't we usually have a three man crew for the, for the regional games? And he's like, yeah, we, there's a three man crew. I checked them in when they got here. I said, well, I'm looking out the field right now it was like before thinning and there are only two guys out there and and, and. I looked around and I looked to my left and standing in the line up by the portage on there was Joe just standing in line waiting to go to the restroom. Tim, I was laughing. I said that's Joe, right there for you. He just he does it his way. Randy, what about you? Was there a game that you look back on, or situation? And you thought, man, I wish I could get that one back.
Speaker 3:A lot of them. You know, I, I used to tell my kids like we would have a tough game and you know, and be rough and and you know I eat. You know how it was. It always seemed like it was a hundred times worse for the coach, a lot of times than the players, you know, and for me, I would always, I would always be like I gotta go home and watch a war movie. You know, I gotta go watch things get blown up, you know, whatever, just to try to get that out of my mind. You know, but you know it's like they. You know there's always those games and and you know, in hindsight, you know you're like man should have done this or should have, should have pitched him, you know, or whatever. But you know, yeah, I mean you, you can't coach and not have this type of feelings, you know, and but you know, I realize that you know you can't do anything about it at this point. You know with it. But yeah, you know there's things that you know stick out. You know with it and but you know it, you know it's, it's bound that. You know whatever's going to happen, happens, you know with it.
Speaker 4:So well, I think for me, I always took, took a. I really looked at one run games a lot. I always felt that I could have done something in a one run game if we got beat. So that reflection on one run games was what has always been a tough one for me. But I think, probably I wish I would have enjoyed the wins more than what I did. And yeah, and I think that that's a good one, maybe kind of a double-edged sword, of having so much success early in my career. You know my second year here at Highland we were playing in the state semi-final and from that point on it was that feeling of what that felt like and remembering what it felt like as a player and one, every one of my players to have that opportunity. I just feel, like every kid now, obviously not every kid does, but man, to have a kid's opportunity to make deep tournament runs with your high school teammates is just there's no feeling like it and so, but with that I think that I really grinded myself way too much and didn't enjoy the wins. So I think that's probably if I had a regret, that would probably be it, that I didn't enjoy the wins as much as I should have, but at the end of the day I know that I gave the boys everything that I possibly had.
Speaker 2:You know, I that probably sticks with me more than anything because, you know, probably the reason I'm not able to coach today is I have no large intestines, no colon, and I didn't enjoy the wins as much as I probably should have because I was always worried about the next game and the next season. You know, I was never satisfied and that was probably it ain't at me and it's probably part of the reason the way my health is to this day. But you know, I wouldn't give it up for anything because it's it was my life and that's part of the reason why I kind of started the podcast, you know. But if I were to pick something that, you know it for someone who wasn't a part of it probably thinks it's hilarious. But my last game as a head coach. We're playing against Gahanan and we were up on him in the bottom of the seventh by three runs and we we counted there were six or seven calls that didn't go our way, whether it was a throw to first strike three call and to end the game with the bases loaded, full count, a pop up and our first baseman comes over to catch it in a right on the edge of our dugout and one of our guys was on the bench and he had his glove on and he reached up and knocked the ball out of his hand and I was. I was stunned because that I mean we really have a chance to go Now if we win that one and next pitch base hit game over and so you know I just you just think back on those days and you know I I'm glad I'm able to talk about it because I got a chance to live it. You know, winter lose, it was fun. But there are so many great experiences in baseball and I want to try to do something today that I've I've never done on the podcast. I want to give each one of you guys a chance, if, to ask me one question and I'll do my best to be on the other end of it and answer it for you. And I'll start with Buck. You go first.
Speaker 5:Now that I got to see you inducted into the Central District Hall of Fame, I thought that was really cool that your son was able to introduce, we introduce you and talk about you and that was that was awesome. I mean, I coached my kids of Travis's, coach his kids. You know, randy coach his kid. Did you feel like there was added pressure when you're coaching your own kid versus the other ones and the success that you were you wanted to do? Did you ever hear any rumblings that he's only playing because he's coaches kid or anything like that?
Speaker 2:I, you know, I guess, yes, it you know, and I've talked to several other coaches and they talked about their stories with their kids and two of them were all state players my son wasn't an all state player and they said that they took grief because their son played. And yes, with Jake there were, there were some parents that that you know complained or you know, they said some things and you know I, I did my best to do what I always try to coach it like what is best for the team. And Jake knew that going in, and so I, you know he was a player that you know he had the second highest on base percentage and probably more. And he, you know, he was a guy that you know was solid in defense and he, in the the three years he was with me, he never missed a workout, never did missed anything. He was at everything and you know. So you know I felt like I had things that backed it up and you know it was tough, though Anybody that's coached our kid knows that, you know it's. It doesn't matter how you could have your kid to be Shohei Otani and you're going to hear, you're going to hear somebody.
Speaker 5:It's not happening. I went through. I never really heard it directly to my face, but you hear it behind your back and it's kind of disheartening, because I don't think there's any coach out there that I know that would do that, to put himself in a situation where it's going to make their team worst by playing their own kid. I don't, I don't understand that. That philosophy just blows my mind. But I never really had to deal with anything, I just heard little rumblings and it's like you know that's too bad that people would even put that out there, knowing that if they knew me or knew you or they know we would never do that.
Speaker 2:Right, and you know it's funny. You say that because you you saw how good Ty Harry was the four years that he played for me, buckeye Valley. I had a parent that thought he shouldn't be playing, you know, and he hit 41 home runs in his career, never hit under 400.
Speaker 5:I mean I'm guessing that this parent, that parents kid, played the same position as him. I don't like it bigger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, and I just shut my head. I was like you know there's nothing you can do that I mean, as good as he was, it never. Still, you know, I've been unhappy.
Speaker 5:I've been in Northmore 24 years now and he's arguably the best hitter I've still ever seen. I mean he's he's right up there in the tops. The kid was amazing.
Speaker 4:So maybe just to piggyback off a question that you had talked or you'd asked us about, you know Cochran and a rural school district, and so for you you've done kind of both, you know at Buckeye Valley and and then you know going to Sayoda. What did you, what did you see as being the big difference? I guess you know, because that's something that I've often wondered Not really, I guess, desired, because I just love small school myself and I think that's where my calling was but I've always wondered, like what is, is there a big difference? And what did you see in your experience?
Speaker 2:A lot of times the players were very similar. It was just that the thing that stands out in my head is that the parents kind of let you know where they stood when I was at Buckeye Valley. You know if they liked you, they liked you. If they didn't like you, they had no problem telling you that. And the administration, the athletic director, was up front and gave me evaluations and told me hey, we like what you're doing here, we don't like it. And so that meant a ton to me because you knew where you stood and you know as far as small school to big school, you know it's all the same, it's baseball and you guys know from when you guys take the and go out and try to play the bigger schools and you compete with them. So it's really not a whole lot different. You know you got a lot more players to choose from but because you get a lot more involved. But I was fortunate when I was at Buckeye Valley it there were years when I had 70, 75 guys coming out of baseball and the. I can remember being a football coach and at halftime the head coach yelling at the football players about baseball and I was like one of the assistants and I'd be like, oh my God, you know. But yeah, I mean, I really really enjoyed my opportunity. I got at Buckeye Valley because I grew up in a rural I wouldn't say it's rural, it's just, you know, eastern Ohio so there were no big towns around anywhere where I was really.
Speaker 3:When you coached at ammo AC was there a particular team or a coach that you know. You always were fired up for every game but it was a little bit more personal for you. That you know on that day, you know when you woke up you were thinking about that game and you know because of that school or whatever, I kind of to be honest with you, I felt like that every game.
Speaker 2:But you know, just because you know you guys were in that red division. I knew when I was playing you guys, you know it wasn't gonna be easy and you know so I did everything I possibly could think to get us prepared for those types of games. And I'll share a story here. I think you may have been coaching at the time at Highland. You guys were way better than us, but I think we ended up having to play back to back at the end of the season and we had to win both games to either get a share or win the league. And somehow we won the first one and we had to play again the next day and I was like what can I do? Because we probably shouldn't have won the night before and you know, coach has talked about having these great speeches and I got the guys around and I said, guys, this one's on me. I said I'll do whatever you guys want. You guys go out and get a W tonight and you know one. I can't even remember the player. But he says, coach, I'll go find the biggest night crawler worm that I can find and you got to eat it if we win. I said deal, and we ended up winning. I was like we had no business winning. I think they just wanted to see me do that and I got to say it was the closest thing I've ever done. I could have never made it on one of those shows. I was willing to do anything to win. That was my mentality and you know and that kind of leads into my rapid fire question that I want to jump on right now. We'll finish up with these and then we'll let you guys go and name two players that you coached during your years as coaching that you wish you could have on your team every season that you coached Randy.
Speaker 3:And you know I'm going to do, I'm going to slight somebody because I was lucky. I had some great kids, but Nick Bailey, you know, he was the. He ended up with a River Valley career hits leader and but he was the best competitor I've ever coached. I mean that kid, the kid would chew your leg off to win. And probably another one would have been Danny Taylor. Danny finished as the career wins leader at River Valley and that kid, you know, when he took the mound, you know, you knew he was going to give you seven innings. You know, night in and night out and you were going to get his best. You know, each time, you know and I said that leaves out a lot of other good kids, but those, those two come to mind.
Speaker 2:Okay, those are two good ones. How about you, travis?
Speaker 4:Yeah, same with Randy. I'm going to leave a lot of dudes out of this that I've been blessed to coach, but two for me is Garkeen and Danny Hughes, and the cool thing is is both of them got to play together and you know, I had an opportunity to coach both of them at the same time on the field. And, man, you know, danny and those six through 110 innings and and if, if we had more games to play, he would have, he would have pitched more.
Speaker 2:So how about you, Brooke Buck?
Speaker 5:Like we said. I mean there's a lot of these. I think I would choose. Zach Wiseman is one because his pitching ability number one, but number two, he's hands down the best fielder shortstop anywhere you put him in for that I've had to this day he just did it all. Sean Lord, probably the other one. He was a. He was a kid. Who he came up? He was a played freshman. He played shortstop for me as a freshman. Then he heard his rotator cuff and ended up playing second base his last three years just shot putting the ball over, but he was still one of the slickest fielder and leadoff guys you know I've ever had. Leaving a lot of guys out of there. Man, I just going through those lists I mean in the spring when I compiled the school records and stuff and see, you know these kids, I mean I got several that are. I got a couple of seniors this year that have been starting since freshmen that are absolute studs and after they graduate they might be on that list because they've had phenomenal careers, you know.
Speaker 2:I had a ton of guys. I was going through a list when I was writing that question down and I, you know, like you guys, I hate leaving somebody off, but to the jump out to me probably be Ty Harriet and Ryan Heath, and you know they both went on to play Division one baseball and and and Ryan Heath did something that I don't think has ever been done in the history of baseball. I believe he hit three, three grand slams and a solo shot and a double header in college at the Division one level. And what's funny is I try to get the Columbus dispatch to put a little blurb in there about that and they kind of just blew me off. So I reached out to sports illustrated and they put him in that. They did a little article like faces in the crowd about it and he got to throw out a pitch for the Detroit Tigers. So it was. That was a problem, but he had, he had played with basically like a broken thumb and senior year and he was, he was a stud and and Ty Harriet just hit monster home runs. I mean he was ridiculous. But so you're. I always like to put this question out there. You're coaching a major league baseball team and you can have these three players on your team. Pick group A or group B, randy, your choices are. You got one team with Babe Ruth, ted Williams and Randy Johnson, where you have the other team, hank Aaron, mickey Mantle and Roger Clemens. What team, what group, would you rather have on your team?
Speaker 3:I think, I think I would go with the, the Babe Ruth team, with Randy Johnson on the mound. You know, prime Randy Johnson, you know that doubt one of the best intimidators you know ever on the mound. You know, babe Ruth was, you know, more than just a home run hitter. And the other guys that you said on the, on the, on the, on the, on the, on the mound, ted Williams, I mean you're talking about, you know, probably the smartest hitter. You know, I read a thing once where you know his eyesight was so good. You know that he, like you know, he was a combat pilot in both World War II and Korea and he was a really good, you know, combat pilot because his vision was so good and it was. It was something crazy like 2010 and one eye and 2015 and another eye, and he claimed that he could actually see the stitches of the ball. You know, and you know. You look at some of his numbers and they're insane. You know, with what he was able to do as a play and you think, if he hadn't lost all that time to his service in the war I mean he lost several seasons to that you know what could he be accomplished. You know that. So Travis.
Speaker 2:I'll read them off again for you Babe Ruth, ted Williams, randy Johnson or Hank Aaron, mickey Mantle and Roger Clemens.
Speaker 4:Well, I was going with Hank Aaron and his group there and then Randy throws out all of this research that he did on the guys and I probably got to go with Babe Ruth now and Ted Williams and Randy Johnson. I did see something neat on Hank Aaron just a couple of days ago was that if you took his 755 home runs away, he still hit, still had over 3000 hits, which is just incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right, bokku, what group are you taking?
Speaker 5:I'm going with that first group. I just thought it was more diverse. With the you got a little power, you got a little average, you got an absolute beast on the mound. I mean the other group's not bad by any means, but I just lean a little bit towards that first group. Was what they bring to the table?
Speaker 2:Okay, and a final question, and this covers any sport what's the toughest coaching job in America? Randy, you go first.
Speaker 3:The toughest coaching job in America. I would almost think it has to be like right now. It almost has to be like at a, a powerhouse division, one college football team. You know, because you know use a high of state. Ryan Day's lost what? Six games in his career and people wanted him fired last year because he lost to Michigan two years in a row. I mean, you know how many schools in America would kill to have a coach that had that record that he had. You know, and you hear that all the time. I mean whether you know DiBoswini? You know he used to be the wonder God. Now people, oh, he's lost it, get rid of him. You know, and those college football coaches make a lot of money but boy, the pressure cooker is always there. And now, with the transfer portal and everything, I wouldn't want that. I wouldn't want that job, you know, because it's just crazy. You know how things go with it.
Speaker 2:You know it's crazy about that. You said transfer portal. I saw a thing on Instagram in the University of Utah's football team gave, through their NIL collective, gave every scholarship player a brand new Dodge Ram truck, wow, and I was like that's not for our players like they're doing here in Columbus, it's the whole, entire team.
Speaker 3:I was like wow, that is.
Speaker 2:Well, let's go with you, Travis. Toughest coaching job in America, regardless of the number.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, I think. For me I probably maybe NFL head coaches, and I think it's just when you look at the turnover rate and these owners who think that you know, having a new coach every two years is the quick fix and if it doesn't happen in year one, then you know they're giving them an axe pretty quick, or mid season, or so you know. I think that would be pretty difficult to live through.
Speaker 5:I think I would say, just because of the big market and the amount of money they throw on anything in New York, I think it's tough because they're expecting immediate success. There's no time to build there for the Yankees, for the Mets, for the Knicks Jets you know, giants, you name it. They want immediate success, like a lot of people do, but it's just magnified in that big city market. Places like that.
Speaker 2:It's taken us a couple of weeks to pull this off and you know I never really got to say this to you as a coach coaching against you. But you know I look back on it now and for me as a coach and as a person, it was just such a great thing for me to be able to give a chance to coach against you guys and to be able to talk to you guys and for you to take the time out of your day to join me here on this podcast, and you guys are great examples of what the state of Ohio puts out across the state when it comes to great coaches and you know I totally respect everything you've done and the careers you've had and thank you so much for taking the time to join me here on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Well, I really appreciate you having us and you know it means a lot to this day. You know, I run and see Travis, or I see you Ken, or I see Buck, you know, and I don't know, it's just, it's something. It's great. You know, it's like seeing an old, you know college friend. You know something like that, you know, and because we did, we shared a lot of stuff, you know, and so it's really been great to be on this and I really appreciate you asking us to be on here. And it's so good to see all of you guys too, because you guys mean a lot to me.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks, ken. I sure appreciate you having us on and you know always great seeing all of you and, like Randy said, I mean it's neat. You know that you got a true friendship when you haven't seen each other or talked to each other in a while but you run into each other and it's like you seen each other yesterday and you know that's a true sign of friendship and something that coaching fraternity brings to the table. And you know we just greatly appreciate all of you and the friendships and the competition, the memories throughout the years.
Speaker 2:All right guys, take care. And thanks for being on the Athlete One Podcast. It's Travis Church, Randy Leach and Buck Horkman. If you enjoyed today's show, don't forget to hit the subscribe button, rate the show and leave us a review. It helps us to grow the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at Athlete One Podcast. And thanks to our sponsor, the Netting Professionals, Improving Programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or visit them online at wwwnettingprosecom. And, as always, thanks for listening to the Athlete One Podcast. Tiger Mommy personalized music.
