He has high hopes for the future of Wood River American Legion summer baseball, but coach Matt Nelson also has a young, growing family and plans to spend summers with his family in the near future.
Nelson, Legion coach for six years, said Monday he is resigning from the Legion head coach position in favor of a still-undefined role within the Wood River Baseball and Softball Association (WRBSA).
He will talk further about his resignation and wrap up Legion business for the 2010 summer season during a parent-player meeting tonight, Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. at Founders Field in Hailey.
Hailey Elementary School teacher Nelson said he plans to continue coaching the Wood River High School baseball team in the spring.
Nelson also said he will organize a fall skills program for young men who are interested in keeping their off-season edge. He said, "We have a lot of work to do in order to compete and be consistent."
About today's meeting, Nelson said, "I have some unfinished Legion business to attend to and will talk about the fall skills program. Please plan on coming because there will be a lot of information given out and I hope to clear up any questions and misconceptions lingering from the season."
He added, "This year we started an 'A' Legion program with two teams. It has given us a chance to take a look at starting 'A' and 'AA' programs for next year. It will keep us competing at a higher level and keep our boys playing against kids their own age.
"There are some big changes happening in the WRBSA right now and I will explain all the information I have to help clarify our issues."
Nelson compiled a 141-110 Legion coaching record including 65-40 mark in Founders Field games. That included the 2006-10 seasons and also 2000. Highlights included second-place Area C "A" district tournament finishes in 2000 and 2007 and third-place at state in 2007. He has guided Wood River Legion teams to two of their four state tournament visits.
This summer's Legion team finished 18-22 including a 1-2 mark in the 12-team district tournament at American Falls. The Idaho Falls Rangers eliminated Wood River 13-3 in a July 22 loser-out game. Wood River's only tourney victory came in the opening round, 6-4 over Bonneville of Idaho Falls.
That 6-4 loss was Bonneville's final setback of its Idaho season. Bonneville won five straight games in the consolation bracket of the district tournament to earn the second-place Area C berth for the eight-team State "A" tournament July 29-Aug. 1 at Burley.
And, on Sunday, defending State Legion champion Bonneville won its second straight title 6-2 over Emmett—in the process going through the state tournament with four victories and a 53-6 scoring advantage.
The fact that Wood River was the only team to beat Bonneville in the Bees' post-season tournament surge was encouraging to outgoing coach Nelson. "It just goes to show how good our program can be if we put our minds to it."
