By Matt Browning
Neither Conway Springs and Argonia had ever had a baseball program, despite the communities clamoring for one.
The timing was just never right, according to coach Chase Boyd.
But then Boyd was asked to look into what it would take to get baseball and softball going.
“There was a lot of planning that needed to happen before the USD 356 BOE even voted on starting two new programs,” Boyd said. “Throughout the planning process, the council met with the Superintendent several times and Argonia High School was also contacted about the possibility of Co-oping in order to make the teams work for both schools. Once it was board approved to start the two teams, baseball and softball, there was an announcement and publication the CSHS was accepting applications for both head coaching positions. The applications were taken, interviews were conducted and then a head and an assistant coach were selected and then approved by the BOE.”
Now heading into the third year of existence, the two schools have leaned on each other in making the programs competitive.
“This will be the third season for both the baseball and softball teams,” Boyd said. “We have had a great coop with Conway Springs High School and Argonia High School. In our first season, baseball had five student-athletes come over from Argonia. I’m not sure how many softball players there were. Last year baseball had four and we look to have at least that again this year. Most of these young men have been starters for the baseball program as well.”
Due to the size of the schools, there is a dual-sport policy that allows athletes compete in multiple sports per season. This has been significant for Conway and Argonia.
“This allows all sports programs to try and succeed while sharing the same athletes,” Boyd said. “There are some rules and stipulations that come into play but we feel that it is important to do this for the betterment of not only one program over another but for what we’re really here for, and that’s the students themselves.”
