BonnerSprings.com

Last May Rick Moulin decided he had coached his last baseball game for Bonner Springs High School at the end of the baseball season.

Moulin cited professional and family obligations as the reason and said it was the toughest decision he had ever made.

“I was missing more and more of my kids games and I didn’t think I could do it (coach baseball) again,” he said. “I have been thinking about it since the beginning of the school year and just had to make the right choice for me and my family.”

Somewhere between that day and this fall Moulin has had a change of heart. He will be back in the dugout this coming season for the Braves and will guide a very experienced team.

“My decision to return came down to some variables changing,” Moulin said. “Originally it looked as if I was not going to be available to coach, but an online course for my administrator’s license is going to make it possible to coach for one more year.”

Moulin is on the brink of finishing up his administrative license that will allow him to pursue a principal’s position. That type of position will no doubt increase his daily responsibilities, and with two kids of his own that are active in sports, time for coaching baseball has become slim.

“I guess it’s kind of like buyer’s remorse I was experiencing,” Moulin said. “The kids started to twist my arm about coming back to coach them one last time. I was having too many second thoughts about resigning to not give it one more go at it.”

Moulin, along with his players, think they have unfinished business on the field. The 2009 Braves should be very competitive after losing only one starter to graduation. In addition they have a talented freshman class.

The team’s goal is always to compete for the league title and win the regional championship, and in 2009 those expectations will be no different.

“I always say to the kids that they should have ‘no regrets,’ that’s our motto,” Moulin said. “I was having regrets. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life thinking I walked away from something special I had a chance to be a part of. I also always tell the kids to ask their uncles, dads, moms, cousins, brothers, whoever has played sports in the past what it would mean to them to have just one more meaningful practice. The answer is always that they would give anything for that chance again. Well, we all have one more season to do this together. And I know this may sound cliché but it is true — we are going to leave it all out there.”

The players were elated about Moulin coming back for one more season.

“It was a real heartbreaker at the end of last season to hear that he was retiring,” senior shortstop Isaac Mills said. “There were a lot of tears in guys’ eyes. It’s great to have another chance with coach. He is like a second dad to a lot of us. He is just such a great communicator to all of us. I’m really excited. “

The seniors were all brought into the counselor’s office this fall for the coaching announcement. They were unsure who it was going to be, not knowing that Moulin had decided he was giving it one more year.

“I stood up from the table and let out a scream when I found out,” senior catcher Stephen Call recalled. “Personally, it made me really happy to hear he was coming back. We will all be very comfortable together and it will be that much better to have experienced all of our success together with coach Moulin. He is a great person as well as being a great coach.”

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