Vandals baseball coach stepping down after re-establishing program

Eureka County High School will be looking for a new baseball coach for the 2017 season after the resignation of former head coach David Hicks. Hicks moved back home from Las Vegas in 2011 with his former school lacking a baseball program for a number of years. Hicks re-established the program for Eureka baseball and has left it with a lot of great memories and a bright future.

When asked about the reasoning to step down from coaching, Hicks simply replied, “ I have two young sons that need my time now more than anything and I would like to be there for their activities and childhood.” Hicks seemed very grateful for achieving his goal he envisioned years ago, to kick start baseball and bring the sport back to the community.

When asked what was the key to the success in bringing back baseball to Eureka, Hicks said, “ I want to definitely give credit to the parents, players, and all my assistant coaches over the years because without them, this wouldn’t have been possible.”

Hicks had his work cutout for him as fairly low numbers of male students at ECHS and the fact that baseball hadn’t been around, at least the high school level, in years around Eureka. Hicks had to promote the sport and get parents and student athletes excited about the game of baseball again.

Eureka began its re-emergence to Northern Nevada baseball having to start as an independent school to regain eligibility into a league. After the 2011 season, Eureka made the regional tournament two out of the four years they were eligible and coming within one strike in 2013 of making the state tournament. The Vandals missed out on the regional tournament this year, but beat two of the south region tournament participants in non-league games.

It was evident while talking to Hicks that his decision was tough as he has watched the program gain steam over the years, but family was ultimately the deciding factor in the decision. Congratulations to reviving a program and everyone involved should feel proud to have brought baseball back to Eureka.