A man of many hats: Southern Boone's resilient baseball coach

ASHLAND — Brian Ash is a force in Missouri baseball not to be trifled with. He’s best known for wearing a baseball cap as Southern Boone’s coach, leading the Eagles to the 2022 MSHSAA Class 4 championship and unprecedented, consistent success since 2018.

But this season, Ash has had to wear a few different hats simultaneously: coach, dad and grieving son.

Ash doesn’t really like doing interviews.

“I actually get really embarrassed,” he said. “I don’t like the limelight, because I still consider myself as just an average-Joe person. I’ve got a son, I’ve got a dog, I’m married. We live a pretty simple life, pretty humble life.”

Ash started coaching college basketball in 2001 at NAIA Baker University before realizing the collegiate level wasn’t his favorite. So, he started a baseball program at a high school in Baldwin, Kansas, and coached the team to the best record that program has ever had.

“It’s not that I haven’t had my moments,” Ash said.

In 25 years across four schools, he’s only had two losing seasons. He’s a four-time Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year winner, a two-time National Federation of State High School Associations state Coach of the Year winner and the only Missouri high school baseball coach to win a state championship at three different schools — doing so at Blair Oaks in 2006 and 2007, Jefferson City in 2017 and Southern Boone.

And yet, Ash said he “gets a little hesitant” to talk about his success.

“I just don’t like talking about myself,” he said. “I’d rather talk about my players. It’s all about their successes, not mine.”

His players find success in what Ash calls an “extension of the classroom” — the baseball field. This classroom has four pillars, which are embroidered as an acronym on the back of the Eagles’ caps: ETDS.

“The ‘E’ is for always giving great effort. ‘T’ stands for toughness, to be tough-minded. The ‘D’ stands for discipline, which means getting homework done, showing up on time and putting in the extra work. The ‘S’ stands for selflessness,” Ash said.

Ash said it’s important for coaches to tell their players that they love them.

“I do tell them that,” he said, “and I don’t say it a lot, but I think it’s important they know that. Because I do.”

One varsity player needs no extra convincing that Ash loves him. Nolan Ash, the coach’s curly-haired, 15-year-old son, is wrapping up his freshman year while playing for his dad.

“Having him as a coach is something that I’ve kind of wanted to have for such a long time, with how much success he’s had,” Nolan Ash said. “Growing up and seeing it, it’s kind of unreal to think about.”

Nolan will be traveling around the country playing baseball this summer, and his father is excited to swap out his coaching hat for his dad hat.

“Even though (we’ll be) on the baseball field, I don’t have to coach him,” Brian Ash said. “I get to sit in a chair like a parent, and I get to watch my son. To me, that’s the coolest thing ever.”

But despite delighting in the opportunity to coach his son, this season has tested Ash like no other.

His mother, Linda Kay Rubin, was put on hospice in October. Rubin was an interior designer and artist whose work is still for sale at the Columbia Art Institute. On Dec. 22, she passed away due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 78.

Ash said he got lucky that the worst parts of dealing with her death fell during winter break, but wearing multiple hats was not easy. Practices and games were “a good, healthy outlet,” but he knew his patience ran thin during the months of emotional turmoil.

“Things were collapsing in. I felt like I was being pulled in a million different directions,” Ash said as he fidgeted with a loose screw he’d found on a table in the coaches’ office. “I had to be here for the kids, but I needed to be with my mom, also trying to be present for (Nolan). Trying to find that balance was very difficult.”

Ash is one of South Boone athletic director Trent Tracy’s best friends, and their friendship goes beyond that of the average administrator and coach.

“In the coaching world, we have a thousand acquaintances,” Tracy said. “But it’s actually a small circle of people you can call and say, ‘Hey, man, I’m struggling,’ and actually get into more than just, ‘How’d you do tonight?’ ‘Oh, we won.’”

“I have a big fear of failure,” Ash said. “I think everybody does. I mean, I’m not immune to any of that. Like, I just feel like there’s something in me that I just … can’t fathom not succeeding.”

But the stats don’t lie: Ash is rarely forced to consider the possibility of not succeeding. His has a career record of 463-170, with 151 of those wins at Southern Boone. Tracy thinks the reason for his success is because Ash personifies the "E" in ETDS.

“People don’t always get to see all the preparation that he puts in. They see the results, but they just think, ‘Well, he’s just really good.’ But you don’t get really good by just showing up,” Tracy said. “You get really good by putting in the extra work. I think that’s what separates Coach Ash and puts him at the top of the best coaches in the state.”

The Eagles are 23-9 this season but have a tough road ahead in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 8 Tournament.

Southern Boone is No. 7 in the latest MHSBCA Class 4 rankings and received the No. 3 seed in the district tournament. The Eagles will face second-seeded Fulton — which is tied for fifth in the MHSBCA rankings — in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday in Ashland. The winner will then likely face top-seeded Tolton, which is fourth in the MHSBCA rankings, in the district championship at 6 p.m. Thursday in Ashland.

Southern Boone has not played Fulton this season and capped the regular season with a 12-10 road loss to Tolton last Thursday.

To Ash, success isn’t always winning a championship or a game. Sometimes, success is just learning something new and improving. While the baseball field is a classroom for his players, Ash spends substantial time off the field trying to gather as much information as possible.

“I always try to pick something up yearly, picking my friends’ brains, other coaches, like, ‘Hey, what would you do during this?’” he said. “If there’s something I can take from it, I’ll implement it.”

No matter what hat Ash is wearing, he is authentic — even with no hat on. Maybe that’s his greatest career win: No matter what cap he wears, he’s the same man underneath all of them.