Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — In 2014, with his son Gunnar beside him, Ron Free reached the pinnacle of his coaching career.
Free and his Adena Warriors had just polished off an 18-win season that included sectional and district championships, as well as a regional final appearance.
He was, rightfully so, on top of his own baseball world.
But just over a year later, it felt like the rug had been pulled from underneath him.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
After leading his program to 19 victories and its first Gold Ball since 2007, Free and the Warriors were knocked out of tournament play by an underseeded, and underestimated, Southeastern Panther ballclub.
And, because when it rains, it pours, Free’s coaching contract was non-renewed in June and the school — for whatever reason — decided to leave it be.
It wasn’t expected. It wasn’t what Ron wanted. It was, however, the hand he was dealt.
But instead of harping on the negative, he quickly changed gears and looked towards the future. For the next two years, he watched Gunnar’s career pan out at Adena — which included two additional district final appearances.
And shortly after, baseball gave him another chance.
At the time, Free stated that he was wanting to get back into coaching, specifically in the SVC. So when Southeastern came calling, it was the perfect fit.
He was set to coach the very same program that ended his last season at Adena. But he was thrilled to be back in the dugout.
“I’ve been wanting to get back into things,” Free said in 2019. “I had a couple of job opportunities and [Southeastern] seemed like it fit me. I wanted to get back in the SVC and the kids down here are tremendous. So I’m excited to be back.”
Make no mistake about it, Free’s first five seasons at Southeastern had their ups and downs. But slowly and surely, the program has started to transform into what he envisioned.
And when the Panthers captured their first-ever district championship this past weekend with a 2-1 win over Waterford — with Gunnar beside him as an assistant coach — it was surely a full circle moment
“What happened at Adena has set me up for what I’ve done here,” Ron said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here and I’ve made a lot of friends. We have some kids that want to play some ball. They’re hungry to win. At Adena, I had coached those guys up all the way through. You pretty much didn’t have to give them signs. A good Southeastern team beat us [in 2015] and then all hell broke loose. But I’m here now and if all of that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be here.”
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“I can’t describe this honestly,” Gunnar said, following the district title win. “I wanted this for him, more than anything. A lot of stuff happened and that’s alright. It’s cool to see him win a district title [at Southeastern] for sure.”
Gunnar, who spent a good bit of his high school career in the two-hole for the Warriors with his dad standing at third base, has played an important role in getting Southeastern’s program to where it needs to be.
He knows the game because he’s played countless innings. And after all of those years carefully observing his role model in the coach’s box, he’s the perfect assistant
“He’ll come down and say, ‘What are you calling?’ Then he automatically says it because he knows what I’m calling,” Ron said. “But to win a district championship with these guys, with Gunnar on board, it’s just special. It is.”
“We think exactly alike,” Gunnar said. “Since I was able to walk, we’ve eaten and breathed baseball. We always talk after games about if we could have done something different or not. But we think the same.”
Ron, a two-time SVC Coach of the Year and the 2015 District Coach of the Year, says that no matter what happens in the team’s looming Division VI regional semifinal matchup, his time to hang up the cleats is “near.”
That doesn’t mean he won’t be in Southeastern’s dugout next year. But it certainly means that he’s entertained the thought of calling it a career.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“I coached Gunnar all the way up and we’ve won a lot of ball games together,” Ron said. “I’ve enjoyed this, coaching together, and I’m hoping he’ll take it and run with it as well. He’s got the same mentality as I have. Coaching is getting harder to do for an old man like me. But to win a district championship with these guys, with Gunnar on board, it’s just special. It is.”
Gunnar isn’t opposed to being a skipper, either.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m open to it. Honestly, carrying on his legacy … I’d like to do it for him. He doesn’t want to just leave, either. He’ll be around.”
No matter what the future holds, Ron can say he’s helped two programs capture district championships — not an easy task in the least bit.
At one point, he was down and out. But life threw him a curveball and he hit it out of the park.
Now, he’s assisting the Panthers in rewriting school history.
“It’s amazing the way things have worked out and, honestly, I wouldn’t change it. Not one thing about it,” Gunnar said. “He’s won a district [championship] at Adena and he’s now won one here. That’s not easy to do. I’m just proud of him.”
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