After one year as an assistant baseball coach at Wright City, Cody Bair is ready to lead the Wildcat baseball program. 

Wright City Activities Director David Evans recently confirmed the hire. Bair will take the helm of the Wright City baseball program after serving as an assistant coach under Raterman last season in Bair’s first year in the district. Prior to coming to Wright City, Bair worked in the Silex district. 

“I love the game. It’s a great group of guys here,” Bair said. “I was reluctant because it takes away from family time a lot. But I felt the positive impact I could have on the program outweighed staying at home.”

Bair inherits a program that registered 15 wins over each of the past three seasons and competed in two district championship games. The Wildcats are set to return a strong number of starters with starting experience, including Duan McRoberts and Bryce Williams, who each earned all state honors once over the past two seasons. 

Bair thinks his experience as an assistant coach on Raterman’s staff last season will help with the transition. Not only does Bair know the returning players on the team, but he also knows the system Raterman ran in his time at Wright City.

“I think whenever you have a new coach, you’re always going to have your own stamp on it,” Bair said. “But with what Coach Raterman had put in place, it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to one type of ballplayer. There were positions for everyone to contribute to the team. It just so happens that our team is extremely fast. And so it looks like one style. But if you have different types of ballplayers that come into the program, they will have a place in it as well.”

Bair hopes the Wildcats are able to beat teams in many different ways. He wants Wright City to focus on throwing strikes on the mound, field the ball well and put the ball in play at the plate. 

“When you’re pigeon-holed into one, then you’re kind of susceptible to somebody being able to counteract that,” Bair said. 

Through the transition from assistant coach to head coach, Bair wants to be the same person and stay true to who he is, he said. He wants to make sure to hold the players accountable and put them in the best position to win games and grow as young men. 

“There is a ton more responsibility placed on the head coach … I always want to keep an open line of communication with those guys, be honest with them and be somebody that they can come to and can have those tough conversations and be open and ok with that. That’s the kind of person I want to be for them,” Bair said. 

Bair said his focus is to continue to build on the success Wright City experienced during Raterman’s tenure at Wright City. He thinks his experience working under Raterman last season and with other coaches as an assistant coach helped prepare him for this opportunity. 

“I’ve had the privilege of coaching with some excellent coaches,” Bair said. “And they all bring something different to the table. I’ve been able to learn so much from each one of them. So yeah, using their knowledge and pains and experiences from the past and trying to implement that to continue a successful program I think will be huge. So that experience as an assistant will play into our success.”