For coach Jeff Ashen, baseball has taken him right back to where he started, just as he was hoping.
He excelled in cross country, taking bronze at state, but was also an all-state performer as a pitcher and infielder on his high school baseball team. He went to college at Northeast Texas Community College to continue on the diamond. Then, transferring to what is now Louisiana Christian University as an outfielder, Ashen lasted until a shoulder injury ended his playing days. After a few years, he was able to go back to his hometown to coach.
That hometown is Dallardsville, where Ashen starred at Big Sandy. He returned as an assistant coach under Jacob Hooker. There, he experienced a pretty good beginning to his coaching career.
“We had the best three-year run you could have to start a career, I think,” Ashen said of his time coaching the Wildcats. “We lost the first year (in the state championship) to Munster in 2017, then went back-to-back, winning them in ’18 and ‘19.”
Ashen is now back in Polk County and will lead baseball on the county’s north side. Corrigan-Camden has hired the coach away from Hemphill, where he leaves the Hornet program after six years in much better condition than when he started.
A big reason for his return is a desire to be near family. His immediate group has grown, now with four children. A sister is another reason. She is a teacher at Corrigan-Camden, having nothing but praise for the school.
From Big Sandy, Ashen took his first head coaching position in South Texas for a year at George West.
“I actually loved it down there, but that's when COVID hit, and the 2020 season cut our season short and everything. Being six hours away from all your family, it was tough, especially when all that was going on.
“One of my good coaching buddies was at Hemphill, actually was the baseball coach, moved out of coaching into admin. He called me and said, ‘Hey, do you want to come to Hemphill and be the coach?’ So, I came up and talked to them, and it fit.”
Coach Kevin Purvis will not be in the Bulldog dugout for the first time in decades.
“They were in our district the last two years,” Ashen said of Hemphill playing Corrigan-Camden. “Coach Purvis, man, he's been there a long time, and he's done a great job with those kids. Just absolutely great, and playing them, they're gritty and tough. I think that he's laid the groundwork, and it's just going to be building off that and adding my style to it.
“They reminded me of those kids at Big Sandy in those years when we were really winning. They seem to thrive on the competition and just the will to win. I was excited to get the opportunity to come coach that.”
Ashen said what he wants from his team is concentration on each toss from the mound.
“You've got to be able to pitch the ball, and you've got to be able to throw strikes, and multiple pitches in the strike zone. That's kind of first and foremost. That's what we've got to make sure we can do.
“Then (when hitting), just battle at-bats to win every pitch, whether it be a ball, strike, whatever, just win every single pitch. Just being gritty, being able to fight and battle and persevere. That's what I want to see in our guys, just that will to win, to win at everything. I don't care if we're flipping a coin, be the most aggressive coin flippers we can be.”
In Hemphill, Ashen’s squads fought in Class 3A for four years through one of the state’s most difficult districts. The top end featured baseball powers in Central Heights, Diboll and Huntington.
A drop to Class 2A wasn’t much easier. Corrigan-Camden, Groveton, Pineland and West Sabine provided a challenge. Yet, in all six years, the Hornets reached the postseason, advancing to the third round in 2025. That mark hadn’t been accomplished at the school since 2008.
The Bulldogs graduated just two players from their playoff team a month ago. Ashen feels that success could play a big part in getting ahead for 2027.
“Just having those guys there that have experience, it's a lot easier to coach guys into it that know what to expect and know what it's like over incoming freshmen or guys that have been on J.V. I'm hoping, with the bones that we have, with what Coach Purvis left us, I think we can contend right away.”
Ashen will also lead cross country in the fall, as well as help with junior high football. In the classroom, he will be in special education.
