By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - The last thing Cannon Lester thought he would be doing this summer would be moving back to El Dorado.
An assistant coach at Hot Springs Lakeside for the last two years, Lester was working his way up the coaching ranks.
Then came the news that El Dorado coach Sam Tyler was stepping down, and the rest is history.
Now the former EHS standout is returning to his alma mater to take over the reins of the baseball program.
"I'm excited," Lester said. "I wasn't nervous at all when I went in for the interview, and I'm usually a pretty easygoing guy, but when they called me and told me I had the job, I couldn't sleep.
"It's one of those things where I never thought I might be back here at this time, but it's one of those things where life has a different plan for you, and I'm excited to be back home and being around family. I've got a sense of pride for the program and I want to bring it back to where it was. I'm ready to get started."
El Dorado Athletic Director Phillip Lansdell was very pleased to land the former EHS standout.
"We are excited that we were able to hire a former Wildcat as our baseball coach," Lansdell said. "Cannon Lester brings a lot to the table for us. He has excelled at the high school and college level. He brings both enthusiasm and knowledge of the game and has a great work ethic. We look for great things to happen for both our baseball program as well as the community."
After a standout collegiate career at Southern Arkansas, Lester signed with the San Francisco Giants, but didn't play due to an injury.
Lester then played a couple of seasons with Southern Illinois in the Frontier League, aiding the Miners to the 2012 league title by being named MVP of the championship series.
After his professional career ended, Lester coached at Southern Arkansas and was the head coach at Columbia Christian for a year before joining the Rams.
"I enjoyed my time there. Coach (Leighton) Hardin let me have a lot of freedom with what I got to do, so I really learned the high school game and what it entails," Lester said.
With the new combined conferences debuting this spring, Lester got to see the Wildcats up close.
"I really saw some bright spots with some young guys, and that's what got me excited," Lester said. "I was really impressed with a couple of young guys that will be coming up next year."
Lester said he will watch his team during American Legion play to evaluate and see where his team stands heading into the school year, and he added that competition will be something he will be keeping a close eye on.
"It's kind of a mindset thing. We're going to be tough and we're going to play hard, but with discipline comes a little freedom if you do things the right way," Lester said. "Once you get in the game, you kind of relax a little bit, and you play the game you've always played. That gets lost in this day and age. We're trying to do things so mechanically right that we kind of lose our sense of competing. We're going to do a lot of stuff whether it's in the fall or in the spring of just competing against one another. I think it's just competing from pitch one on, or in the weight room, or up there in an 0-2 battle to see how many pitches you can foul off. Competing is going to be the one thing I really stress, and I hope they take it and run with it."
Lester said that while he knows some names, he isn't overly familiar with the team, but that will help him as he begins his tenure.
"I was really excited to meet everybody," Lester said. "I haven't been around a whole lot, so I know a couple of the last names, but I don't know many of the kids, and I think that's a good thing. I think it's a good thing to be familiar, but it's also a good thing that I'm coming in with an open mind. I'm going to be honest with them.
"The first day that I go in there, I don't care if you've played shortstop the last three years, everything is open. It's brand new to me. I probably see things in a totally different light that the prior coach, which can be good and bad. I'm just hoping that everybody sees that as an open invitation to compete and get better every better day. I'm really looking forward to seeing those guys in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get a feel for where they're at and what we need to focus on."
When asked what style of play he will bring to the Wildcats, Lester had a simple reply.
"We're going to play fast, and we're going to play hard," Lester said. "We're going to get thrown out a lot because we're going to be aggressive. We're going to take chances. I think in high school, you've really got to put pressure on people.
"I know when the ball goes in the dirt, we're going. If the catcher happens to make a Yadier Molina play and picks it and the throw is on the bag, good for him. We're going to go again next time. It's still that mindset that we're going to play fast and we're going to be tough. We're not going to let the umpires or the other team control the game. We can control our attitude and our effort, so we're going to keep those in check and play hard every single game."