The Cassville baseball program will have a new skipper come spring, current softball coach Shawn Trent.

An Ash Grove graduate and baseball player at Evangel University, Trent was the head baseball coach at East Newton for 5 years before moving to Cassville, where he has been the high school assistant softball coach and junior high head softball coach. He was also the high school assistant baseball coach for two years.

“I’m going into my fifth year at Cassville, and [becoming the head baseball coach] wasn’t at the forefront of my mind, but I always thought I’d be interested if it was available,” Trent said.

Trent said he was not even aware former coach Ron Hudson had resigned.

“I didn’t even know the position was open, but when they called to ask if I was interested, it was a definite yes,” Trent said. “I have three sons, including 10-year-old twins, who I know will be coming through the program in a few years. This is a great opportunity for me to get to watch them, because coaching junior high softball in the spring, I would miss a lot of their games.”

Doug Martin, Cassville athletic director, said hiring Trent was a no-brainer.

“Shawn is a high-character, high-morals guy with a good family,” he said. “His wife works in the district, and his three boys are coming up in the schools so that will motivate him to do well because they will likely play.”

Since his hiring, Trent said he has worked with the team in some summer games.

“We were in this league for the first time, and we went about .500,” he said. “It’s different now because I don’t know a lot of the kids yet, and it’s tough to get kids there because of all the sports activities in the summer.”

Even though it was a short period, Trent was encouraged by what he saw.

“We have a lot of ability, especially with our younger kids,” he said. “We lost, I think, 11 seniors, so one thing we lack right now is a couple guys to step up and be leaders.”

Trent said he hopes to utilize young talent by encouraging his players’ drive to be competitive and continue to grow.

“I want us to be competitive and put the best product on the field,” he said. “On the softball side, I have seen with what Coach V has done with the culture, and I want to bring that to baseball. We will push our guys to a point they have not been pushed before, challenging them mentally and physically. We may even cut down a few to really focus on getting in more reps.

“I say to the kids, to be a winner, it takes two things — talent and hard work. It takes both, so if we take our talent and work hard, by the end, we should have a successful program.”

Part of that success begins with age, which is why the Wildcats are also starting a junior high program.

“We are focusing on our young guys not only in high school, but by starting a junior high program to develop our youth and be competitive down the road,” Trent said. “You see how football and wrestling do it on the youth level, and we want that, too.”

Cassville posted a 10-16 record in the spring, falling to Monett in the district tournament, 9-1.