Shope Heads to Boyle After Titans State Run
After 13 years of being in the Mercer County dugout, with his first regional championship and postseason run that ended one game shy of a state championship, it seems coach Jeremy Shope has finally decided to move on from Mercer for good.
Shope and the Boyle County athletic department made the news official Monday night via their twitter account.
“Coach Shope has demonstrated that he has the ability to continue the strong baseball tradition at Boyle County High School,” said school athletic director Chris LeMonds. “I am very excited to work with Coach Shope as he works to complete his staff and to see what plans he has in store for Boyle County baseball.”
While Coach Shope said he was approached by Boyle County Principal Will Begley shortly after the state tournament in late June, he said he hadn’t officially made up his mind until late Monday night.
“It was a long long process and very hard decision that I had to make not only for myself but my family as well,” said Shope. “It’s been a true honor to be the coach at Mercer County for as long as I have and at the end of the year I had no plans of coaching anywhere else next year. But after Will (Begley) contacted me about replacing coach (David) Camic, doing some of my own investigating, I just felt like it was too good of an opportunity for me and my family to pass up on.”
“We are extremely excited to add Mr. Shope to our Boyle County High School family. We are elated that he will be bringing his enthusiasm and compassion to his classroom and to his baseball field,” said Begley on the addition of Shope.
While Shope admits it was a difficult decision to leave Mercer, he feels very comfortable in the shape he has left the Titans baseball organization.
“It should be any new coaches goal when they first get a head coaching job at any level to improve their team and to one day leave it in better condition than before you got there,” said Shope. “After the season we had and all the support and thanks I got from the administration, team, parents and community I feel I can honestly say I’ve done that, and I want to thank every one of them for their support.”
The job of replacing Coach Shope who has led his team to 20 plus win seasons the past five years falls on Mercer County Athletic Director Jaziel Guerra. “We are proud of our baseball program and all its accomplishments in the past years. We wish Coach Shope well and while this may seem as a set back we will use this opportunity to search for a coach that will be able to continue to lead the baseball program in its excellence, but also bring a new vision to the program,” said Guerra.
