Boedeker is happy to be back in Shiner
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Mike Forman, Victoria Advocate Sports Writer
Shiner Comanche Baseball | Return to Shiner Home Page
WEIMAR - Daniel Boedeker won a state baseball championship as a player and an assistant coach at Shiner. His next goal is to win a state title as a head coach.
"It's not very often that people get the opportunity to go back home as a head coach," Boedeker said before Friday night's semifinal game of the 27th Annual Weimar Veterans Tournament against La Grange. "It happened to me sooner than I thought."
Boedeker became the head baseball coach when Steve Cerny decided to relinquish the duties to devote more time to being Shiner's athletic director and head football coach.
Cerny and Boedeker discussed the move last summer, and Boedeker decided to return to Shiner from Gonzales, where he had been an assistant football and baseball coach for one season.
"It was kind of his turn," Cerny said. "He was definitely ready to be a head coach. Daniel and I confide in each other and we trust each other. We have a lot of the same philosophies. That was important because if I was going to get out, I wanted things to be in the same mix."
Cerny hasn't stopped coaching baseball, he's just switched positions and become Boedeker's assistant.
Boedeker is happy to have Cerny around. He not only coached with Cerny at Shiner for three years, but he also played for him for three years.
Boedeker was a member of Shiner's 1992 Class 2A state championship team. He threw a perfect game in the playoffs against Kenedy, was the winning pitcher in the state semifinal and earned a save in the final. Boedeker pitched in college at Sam Houston State.
"I'm comfortable around him," Boedeker said of Cerny. "I played for him and coached for him for three years. A lot of what I know about baseball, I learned from him."
Boedeker makes out the lineup and decides when to change pitchers, but not much else has changed for the Comanches this season. Boedeker works with the pitchers and catchers, and Cerny spends most of his time with the infielders and outfielders.
"I know what we've done in the past and I was not going to change a whole lot," Boedeker said. "The kids are used to it and comfortable with it. I also knew the kids from when I was here before so I didn't have to learn about them or them about me. We were able to hit it in full stride from day one."
Shiner's players were anxious to welcome back Boedeker, who was an assistant when the Comanches won the 2002 Class 1A state championship.
"We know his baseball history, that's for sure," said senior Garet Pustka. "Everything has been pretty much the same. Our practices are the same, our drills are the same and our fundamentals are the same. It hasn't changed much."
Boedeker's desire to return to the state tournament remains the same as it's always been, and he's excited about the opportunity to attempt to do it as a head coach.
"Coming back to Shiner as the head coach is something that I thought about," Boedeker said. "I was happy as an assistant coach. But this is more of a dream job."
© Copyright
BaerCom - Shiner, Texas 2004