Inside the coaching carousel for SW Indiana high school baseball programs

EVANSVILLE — The coaching carousel has been spinning this offseason for high school baseball programs across Southwestern Indiana.

Boonville, Vincennes Lincoln and Tecumseh all have new head coaches while Gibson Southern's longtime leader has decided to take a backseat as an assistant. Let's take a look at a handful of recent coaching changes.

Gibson Southern's Chris May will now be an assistant coach

The Titans' program has been led by only two men since its inception in 1975. Chris May, who graduated from Haubstadt High School the year prior, is one of them.

After spending a year as an assistant coach for Jim Reid, May took over in 2008 and over the past 16 years, compiled a 195-204 record with two sectional titles and a Class 3A state championship appearance in 2014.

At this stage of his career, May no longer wants to deal with all the headaches that come with being a head coach. It's one of the reasons he recently decided to step down, but he will remain in the program as an assistant.

He still enjoys coaching a variety of sports, including football and basketball, and taking care of the baseball field. That's what the school administration wants him to keep doing, and it's one less thing the yet-to-be-hired coach doesn't have to worry about.

May looks forward to the future of Gibson Southern's program and assisting the new coach in any way he can.

"I think we're in good shape right now with what we've got coming back and the young kids coming up," May said. "It's going to be exciting, I think. Hopefully, I can be a part of it for a few more years."

Former Boonville coach Eric Barnes moves on to Tecumseh

Eric Barnes made history when he was hired by the Pioneers in 2017.

The 2007 Bosse graduate and former Courier & Press All-Metro Player of the Year became the first Black coach of any sport in school history. Boonville went 55-63 with Barnes at the helm and appeared in two Class 3A sectional championships. The first appearance came in his debut season.

He was announced as Tecumseh's newest coach in early July.

Barnes is plenty familiar with Lynnville; he and his wife built a house there before COVID. He admires the Braves' school spirit and hospitality around the community. And while he was also excited the opportunity of coaching Tecumseh arose, he admits making that decision wasn't easy.

"The most deciding factor was to just have more time with my family and really feel more present at home," Barnes said. "After a few days of sitting on it and talking to several people and other coaches in the area, I decided this was the opportunity I needed to pursue. I'm happy I did, and I'm extremely happy with where I am now."

Tecumseh is two seasons removed from a Class A state championship appearance. It appeared in another sectional title game last season but fell to Evansville Christian 3-2.

Boonville's Ryan McKinney to lead his alma mater

Taking over for Barnes' former position is a familiar face.

Ryan McKinney, a standout at Boonville, also pitched for Purdue from 1994-96. He started coaching at Bosse in 1997, then served in a variety of roles at Castle, from being the freshman baseball coach to leading the girls basketball team for six seasons with three sectional titles.

While the Pioneers job has opened a few times over the years, McKinney was waiting for the right time. He finally decided to apply as his two children are now in college.

One of McKinney's biggest goals for his program is stringing together a consistent run for the postseason. He also hopes to build the Pioneers' youth program and get more multi-sport athletes to join the team.

There was a large turnout from underclassmen at a recent call-out meeting.

"That's a good thing for Boonville to have that many people be interested for right now," McKinney said. "We have some very good talent coming back at certain positions. We had three freshmen last year that played a good bit. I think there's some experience there that we can hit the ground running."

Vincennes Lincoln's program will be led by Daniel Ashby

Ashby has been around Alices baseball for as long as he can remember.

After graduating from Vincennes Lincoln in 2011, he coached the middle school team. Then when he graduated from Indiana University four years later, he returned to Vincennes and was the JV coach under Chris Clements.

Ashby was announced as the Alices' new coach on July 19 and credits Clements for giving him his first start. To lead his alma mater means everything to him, he said.

"I developed my love for the game of baseball because of Lincoln baseball," Ashby said. "Luckily, I kind of got to grow up and see the program at its highest days when (it) won the state championship and were very successful under Coach (Brandon) Pfoff. He built it into a very respected program."

While Vincennes finished 11-17 and seventh in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, Ashby remains confident in his returning players.

"We have a solid core and good senior leadership," he said. "I truly believe we can be competitive in every game we play."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Twashington490.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Baseball coaching changes for Gibson Southern, Boonville, Tecumseh