Mr. Ryan is sliding into his new home plate.

After nine years of being the freshman baseball coach at Bullitt East, Chris Ryan has decided to take the position as head varsity coach at Doss High School.

Coach Ryan feels like after his years of being with East’s baseball team, it’s his time to step out on his own. Due to this, Coach Jeff Bowles will be taking the freshman team under his wing since he holds the position of head coach. Ryan plans on showing Doss’ baseball team what it takes to win.

There were many contributing factors as to why Coach Ryan decided to become a Doss Dragon, most of them concerning the location of the campus. Ryan said, “Well, I live fairly close to there [Doss], so proximity and just being closer to home, and after practice getting home sooner [drew me to choose Doss].”

As far as the freshman baseball team here at East goes, no extreme changes will be made. After this school year, Coach Bowles will be retiring from his teaching job. Even with this being said, Bowles will remain the head coach, therefore taking the freshman along with him. Ryan says, “Coach Bowles is the head baseball coach. So, I’ve been freshman coach for awhile and I just felt like it was time to be a head coach. In thinking that… he’s retiring from teaching this year, but i think he’s going to be around for quite awhile as the head baseball coach here at Bullitt East. It was an opportunity for me to step out on my own basically.”

The future holds a lot of mystery for Ryan, so he is expected to have some expectations. As of now, Doss’ baseball team is unranked in the state. Ryan says, “The first year, we’re not going to be very good. I’m inheriting a team that’s extremely young and the culture is a little different. Early on I’ll try to get the kids to buy into what it takes to win like we did here at Bullitt East and that’s what I’m working on right now.”

Bullitt East wishes Mr. Ryan the best of luck as he embarks in his new journey at Doss High School.