(Neola) A state baseball tournament appearance with most of your lineup set to return for next season would have most coaches hungry for more. Instead, Walnut native Josh Abel resigned from his post as Tri-Center’s head baseball coach after the Trojan’s outstanding 2016 season.
The decision was simple for Abel. He couldn’t continue missing out on his own children’s games. “After the season I did a little soul searching with my wife and realized I only got to about five of my boys games. We decided the program was in a good place and I had a couple of good assistants that could take over. I moved on and right now I’m coaching 12U and 10U baseball and flag football in the fall and in the winter I do basketball. Even though I’ve left the high school ranks temporarily I definitely haven’t left coaching.”
One of Abel’s main goals was to leave the program better than when he found it. He’s confident he accomplished that. “I hate when guys come in and a program is struggling and they get away from it at that point. I thought it was a great time with the majority of guys that carried us to state being sophomores and juniors. I knew the program was going to be successful and I new it was a good time for me personally to step away.”
Abel grew up in a baseball hotbed in Walnut. “We had some great coaches. It started off with Larry Jacobsen. He did the A-Cubs for the Walnut program for years and years. He’d line up 40 or 50 games a summer to play. He did a great job of coaching the game and teaching the game and holding guys responsible. Then moving into high school we had Denny Book and Bob Gross. Both were fantastic coaches and did a great job of being mentors. Then my senior year Jason Book came around and really showed me the nuances of hitting. It all starts from the experiences you have as a player whether or not you want to become a coach.”
Admittedly his approach to coaching has had to change now that he’s working with a much younger group. “I went from varsity athletes that know the game of baseball and you’re just trying to tweak their fundamentals to make them a better baseball players to trying to teach a kid to throw a baseball and catch a baseball and not play in the dirt. That’s something you don’t anticipate as a high school coach that you’ve got to spend ten minutes saying ‘Hey don’t play in the dirt.’ It’s been great. You can see improvement from year-to-year from all the kids. It was a big transition at first, but the benefits have outweighed some of the negatives at first.”
He was a great player in his own right. After starring at Walnut he continued his career at UNO. Abel was asked to compare the biggest thrills of playing to the highest highs of coaching. “I think it’s much better being a coach, honestly. The individual accolades last a short amount of time. To be able to make an impact on kids and hopefully I have. Coaching wise I think going to the state tournament as a coach meant a whole lot more than going as a player.
Don’t be surprised to see Abel serve a 2nd stint as Tri-Center’s varsity baseball head coach. “It all depends. It depends on what Max (Kozeal) is going to do and what is happening with my kids. To say if and when it’s hard to say a date. I still enjoy coaching. It may happen again, you just never know. We’ll have to see how things progress.”
Abel is in his 17th year as an educator at Tri-Center.
https://soundcloud.com/hyoach/josh-abel-why-i-coach
Previous Coaches
John Kesselring, Adair-Casey alum
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Dick Strittmatter, Atlantic native
Chad Klein, Audubon Native (Kuemper Catholic and Boone)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Monte Riebhoff)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Steve Ahrendsen)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Scott Weber)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Curt Mace)
Chris Stimson, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Jan Jensen, Elk Horn-Kimballton alum
Seth Poldberg, EH-K grad and Guthrie Center coach
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Angie Spangenberg, Harlan and Red Oak
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Lanny Kliefoth, Nodaway Valley
Chad Harder, (Walnut Grad) Tri-Center
