Tough-love baseball coach gets results with Okanagan A's

There are a mittful of terms one could use to describe Evan Bailey, but “right man for the job” is probably the most accurate when it comes to characterizing his performance as coach of the Okanagan Athletics midget baseball club .

After coming on board as head coach and program director of the Kelowna-based A’s organization in 2010, Bailey has converted the former Kelowna Cubs from a team on the brink of being dismissed from the B.C. Premier Baseball League due to perennial poor records, into a team that has finished in the league’s top-five four times, and won the league championship in 2012.

“I knew I was walking into a challenging situation,” said Bailey, a Kamloops product who migrated to Kelowna after coaching the BCPBL’s Abbotsford Cardinals. “The challenge of trying to get this team to a competitive level was appealing. We went from worst to first in two years. I’ve had phone calls from coaches and teams all over the country asking me how I did it.

“Basically, the team needed a culture change. I inherited a program that was used to losing. I needed to instill good habits in our guys, and develop hard-working players who played the game the right way, believed in one another and held each other accountable. We developed a wolf pack mentality – if you slack off or don’t give 110%, the wolf pack chews you up and spits you out. New players coming in figure out in a hurry what the expectations are. I set the bar high. Now we have a culture of players who are hungry to win.”

A former draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the current A’s skipper has proven himself more than worthy of leading his pack of wolves since coming on board six years ago. His mandate since then has been to lead his team not only to more wins, but also to mold his players into honest, hard-working persons, capable of succeeding both at higher levels of the game, and in life. Bailey is admittedly not one to mince words though, and can be a very demanding coach to play for and tough to hear criticism from in his pursuit to cultivate the best from his personnel.

“I used to think about whether I wanted to be a player’s coach, or a hard nose guy – the answer I came up with was that I don’t really care what I am,” Bailey said. “What I care about is knowing that I’m doing everything that I can to make these kids better and to move them on to the next level. I’m pretty tough on guys, but it’s all for good reason.

“I want to get the most out of their abilities. I’m very honest and upfront with the players. I always tell people not to ask for my opinion unless they really want it. I don’t believe in sugarcoating things. I tell them how it really is. Sometimes that’s not easy to hear, but it’s what they need to hear.

“It’s a tough-love mentality. I’ve told them from day one, I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to make them better players. These kids have made a commitment to try to play at the highest level they can. I know what it’s like to go on to the next level. College baseball is such a competitive atmosphere. When you get into professional baseball, it’s a meat market. You’ve got to be mentally tough. I’ve had a lot of players come back after their first year of college or pro and thank me for preparing them for it.”

But the tough-love style certainly does not suit everyone. Bailey knows each of his players respond differently to that motivational style, and in order to reach them all, he has to approach each one of them uniquely.

“You get so many different personalities when you’re dealing with teenagers,” Bailey said. “Some of them need a kick in the pants to get them going, and others shell up if you do that to them. You’ve got to get to know each individual kid and how they need to be pushed. Kids nowadays need to see results, and once they do, they buy in. Once they buy in, things go smoothly.”

Results are exactly what Bailey was produced. And as his team’s record has improved, so has their ability to keep good local players at home, rather than losing them to one of the BCPBL’s other 11 teams, which are all based in either the Lower Mainland, or on Vancouver Island.

“Since I’ve been here, we haven’t lost a player to the Coast,” Bailey said. “They used to lose a lot, and the players here were not really being moved on. Once people saw that players here were moving on, they realized they could stay home to play, sleep in their own bed, and still have that same chance.”

Bailey has managed to move no less than five players onto collegiate baseball after each season he’s coached the A’s, and 2016 is no exception. Sam Avila (Otero Junior College), Matt Brodt (Odessa College), Brendan Coulter (Southwestern Oregon Community College), Sean Haylow (Okanagan College), McCoy Pearce (New Mexico Military Institute), and David Tongue (Otero Junior College) are the latest crop of Okanagan Athletics who will be shipping out to teams in the NJCAA, NWAC, or CCBC next season.

“The main priority is moving players on,” Bailey said. “In my mind, a successful season is advancing as many players as you can. That’s really what the whole program is about. I firmly believe that teaching kids how to play the game the right way -- playing aggressively, playing hard, playing smart, taking pride in the small things -- develops the players further, which makes the team better, and makes the players more likely to advance because of it. Through team success comes individual reward. What I think about most is the amount of players who have graduated from our program and fulfilled the dreams they’ve had since they were kids. That’s why you do it.”

Bailey doesn’t recommend just any player to schools though – his reputation is at stake every time he recommends someone. He has built trust with his connections over the years and remains a dependable source for teams who come calling for talent that can better their program.

“Moving players on is a crazy thing to do,” said Bailey. “There are so many ins and outs of it. The key to it is honesty. I’ve told my players that I won’t lie for them. If a guy doesn’t want to work hard and a school calls me and asks about him, I’m going to tell them the honest truth. I’m not going to put my reputation on the line if they can’t get the job done. When you’re on the phone with a coach and you’re telling them about a player, you’d better be spot on, because if you send him somewhere and he isn’t what you said he was, that kid will probably get sent home, and you just burned a bridge.

“I’ve always taken pride in sending the right players – strong players who I know can get it done in the classroom and on the field. I know my phone’s going to ring every September. Teams ask me for players for the next year because they loved the guys I sent them before, and because they were exactly what I told them they were. You develop trust, and once you have that, you’re the first person they’ll call.”

But not every opportunity fits every player. Bailey knows to set graduating players up in situations where they and the team they go to will have the best chance at success.

“It’s not just about sending them on, it’s about sending a player on into the right situation,” Bailey said. “It’s not about a piece of paper that says how many guys I’ve moved on. It’s about how many of them go on to have success, graduate, and get degrees. You’ve got to find them the right fit.”

But while Bailey’s ability to turn his team’s record around and consistently spawn collegiate level players is undeniably impressive, it does come at a price. It requires his presence at the ballpark for countless hours each day, and costs him time away from his wife and daughters.

“It’s really tough,” admitted Bailey, who oversees the A’s senior, junior, and bantam teams, as well as the Rutland Secondary School and Vernon Baseball Academies. “It’s a lot of hours and time. Some people might think it’s a job where you’re only there while the guys are practising and playing. It’s not a nine to five job. I can’t even explain how many hours I spend on the phone with colleges trying to move guys on, doing administrative stuff, working on league schedules, booking hotels, and recruiting players. Beyond that, I have all our players to make better. It takes a lot of time and energy, and it has been difficult.

“Anyone else who works in baseball full-time understands the grind of it. It’s a big challenge. It goes everywhere with me, even if I’m on vacation. I have a hard time not sneaking away to my computer or my phone because there’s always something going on. It’s very tough to separate myself from it. It’s tough to leave baseball at the park. I’m really trying to get better at coming home and focusing on family time.”

The second-place A’s -- who currently boast a 28-12 record (one game behind North Shore Twins) and a 12-game winning streak – will round out their regular season in Victoria this weekend after sweeping North Shore on the weekend at Elks Stadium on the past weekend. As one season ends, another begins, and as such, the club is beginning to shift their attention towards their latest playoff appearance and quest for a second league championship.

But before they arrive at the post-season, the A’s first have four games left to focus on to build confidence and playoff momentum for themselves. Bailey feels like his squad has a number of positives from the season to glean from, but knows it’s about staying consistent, and peaking at the right time -- and getting a little lucky too.

“There have been a lot of positives this year,” Bailey said. “Our pitching has exceeded expectations to this point. It’s always nice to do well in the regular season and position yourself well for the playoffs, but it all comes down to a couple of games and getting hot at the right time. It’s like a coin flip when you get into the playoffs.

“In a best-of-three series, it could be all over in a day. You’ve just got to play better than the other team for a number of hours. There have been years where I didn’t think we’d go too far and we ended up winning it all, and there’s been other years where I had higher expectations and we were bounced out in the first round. Playoffs are really anyone’s game.”

Okanagan Athletics' alumni
Year	School		Location		Division
2010
Graham Drope	New Mexico Junior College		New Mexico		NJCAA Div 1
Brandon Klym	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Todd Leavitt	Mayville State University		North Dakota		NAIA
Kyle Monster	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Danny Stearns	Mayville State University		North Dakota		NAIA
2011
Jeff May	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Tanner Morache	Southern Idaho College		Idaho		NJCAA Div 1
Dixie State University		Utah		NCAA Div 2
Ryo Shishido	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Mike Tongue	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
2012
Nathan Ackerman	Southern Idaho College		Idaho		NJCAA Div 1
Wayne State College		Nebraska		NCAA Div 2
Joey Fraser	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Nolan Handley	Douglas College		New Westminster		NWAC
Mayville State University		North Dakota		NAIA
Kody Smith	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Brandon Sonnenberg	San Jacinto College		Texas		NJCAA Div 1
2013
Josh Croft	San Jacinto College		Texas		NJCAA Div 1
Cumberland University		Tennessee		NAIA
Morgan Lofstrom	Drafted - Cincinnati Reds		Arizona		MLB
Will Russell	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Dallis Senger	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
James Ward	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Dawson Yates	Texas A&M University		Texas		NCAA Div 1
2014
Davis Todosichuk	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
James Walker	Niagara University		New York		NCAA Div 1
Jared Young	Minot State University		North Dakota		NCAA Div 2
Connors State College		Oklahoma		NJCAA Div 1
Old Dominion University		Virginia		NCAA Div 1
2015
Chase DeCosse	Utah State University Eastern		Utah		NJCAA Div 1
Trevor Lofstrom	El Passo Community College		Texas		NJCAA Div 1
Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
Trevor Mlait	Utah State University Eastern		Utah		NJCAA Div 1
Alex Russell	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
2016
Sam Avila	Otero Junior College		Colorado		NJCAA Div 1
Matt Brodt	Odessa College		Texas		NJCAA Div 1
Brendan Coulter	Southwestern Oregon Community College		Oregon		NWAC
Sean Haylow	Okanagan College		Kelowna		CCBC
McCoy Pearce	New Mexico Military Institute		Texas		NJCAA Div 1
David Tongue	Otero Junior College		Colorado		NJCAA Div 1