The 2008 all-area baseball squad, from left to right: Brock McGinnis and Broone Heston, Oskaloosa High; Matthew Abel and Chad Krutz, Eudora; Joe Kombrust and Aaron Rea, Lawrence High; John Wilson, Jordan Dreiling, Cody Kukuk, Caleb Gress and coach Mike Hill, Free State High. Mark Steward, McLouth High, is not pictured.

He has guided the Free State High baseball team to six Sunflower League championships in the school’s 11-year history – including an undefeated run through the league in 2008 – and not once has he changed the way he does things.

That was the vision Mike Hill had for the Free State baseball program when he took the reins in 1997, and that is the way he approaches each season.

“As a coach, what you try to do with consistency is have expectations,” Hill said. “Whether the talent is there or not, you can expect kids to work hard, to give maximum effort and to do things the right way. You have to set the bar high and expect the kids to get there.”

So far, that philosophy has worked to perfection, and the 2008 season was no different.

Hill guided the Firebirds to a 19-3 record, regional and league championships and a No. 1 seed at the Class 6A state tournament.

Those who played for him said Hill brought the perfect mix of discipline and fun and never wavered from what he expected out of his players.

“He’s always business-like,” 2008 FSHS graduate Hunter Scheib said. “And this year was no different. He didn’t change his coaching style much at all. He’s always the same coach no matter what the team is like.”

That’s saying a lot, considering Hill remained the same while imploring the Firebirds to change the team’s style of play better to fit the athletes he had this season. Gone was the power approach at the plate. In was a run-first and run-often attitude.

“In the past we could ‘Earl Weaver it,’ get a couple on, and then someone would lose one over the fence,” Hill said. “But this year we ran a little more than we had in the past and took advantage of the attributes of the players we had.”

The change in style did nothing to temper Hill’s expectations.

“I think it’s a good kind of pressure,” 2008 FSHS graduate Alex Hardman said. “Everybody wants to win, and he really emphasizes that if you expect to win you’ll be more likely to do it.”

Even with all of the runs, the astronomical batting averages or the chokehold his pitching staff had on opposing hitters, Hill’s most memorable moments of 2008 came behind the scenes.

“The daily interaction with the players was the most satisfying thing,” Hill said. “Seeing the improvements they made on a daily basis was awesome.”

With another successful season behind him, the challenge for Hill now becomes keeping the program among the elite.

“The day-to-day stuff didn’t change,” Hill said. “And it won’t. We’ve had a great run in the last few years, and we’ve been real lucky to have great kids, great parents and great assistant coaches. Our program is successful first and foremost because of them.”