After leading the Emporia AAA Legion team to a runner-up finish at this summer’s state tournament, Ryan Oden has stepped down as coach of the squad.
Oden, who replaced Steve Schlup as the AAA skipper last season, has accepted an assistant coaching position on the Emporia State University baseball staff.
“I really just want to focus in on what I’m doing at Emporia State and help those guys win as much as possible,” Oden said. “It’s a tough decision. It’s something I sat on for awhile. I toyed with it and went back and forth.”
With his college duties extending from September to the middle part of June, Oden said the summer months would be spent getting some much-needed rest.
“I’m a big family person,” Oden said. “I just needed some time off to spend time with my family.”
Oden led the AAAs to a 39-10 record this season, advancing the team into a second championship game against the Lawrence Raiders in the 2006 State Tournament.
Emporia fell in the final title match, 13-6. The AAAs have finished runner-up or better in three of the last six seasons.
“He did a wonderful job with the team,” said Terry Krause, Emporia baseball club president. “He had a lot of talent to work with, but I think that he took it to the next level.”
Oden, who played for an NCAA championship team as a pitcher for Central Missouri in 1994, was an assistant coach at Baker University in Baldwin City last year. He also has served as a pitching coach for many baseball academies.
Oden also achieved his goal of helping players continue their baseball careers. Each of the team’s seniors signed on to play at a junior college or university this fall.
“I know the program, the players, everyone involved is really going to miss him as a coach,” Krause said. “We wish him all the success in the world.”
Krause said the baseball club would begin its search for a new coach in the coming weeks.