Iola High’s Levi Ashmore announced Tuesday he is stepping down as baseball coach, effective immediately.
Ashmore cited the time commitment for his professional career and to his family.
Prior to last summer, Ashmore worked at Landmark Bank, and was hired as a Rule 10 coach, which allows non-certified teachers to coach high school athletics.
Over the summer, he was offered a job at Emporia State University’s athletics department as assistant director of development, which requires extensive travel across the state.
“I couldn’t say no to them, to say no to my alma mater,” Ashmore told the Register. “This is a great opportunity for me and my family.”
“Stepping away is not easy,” he said.
As a high-schooler, Ashmore was a standout baseball player at Iola, playing primarily at shortstop, and was integral in the team’s 2013 second-place finish in the state baseball tournament.
After that, he starred at Allen and Neosho community colleges, and then at Emporia State.
After college, he worked in the insurance and banking industries, but had a yearning to coach again at Iola.
He worked one season as an assistant coach for the Mustang baseball team before taking over as head coach in 2022-23.
As head coach, Ashmore’s Mustangs won three consecutive Pioneer League championships, including an undefeated league mark last spring.
“The IHS baseball program means more to me than the wins and losses,” he said. “We always gave the best we had.
“I’ve been a part of Mustang baseball for eight of the 31 years I’ve been alive,” Ashmore wrote on Facebook. “This program will always mean a great deal to me and my family. Though it could be viewed or characterized by some as just ‘small-town high school baseball,’ I took a lot of pride in getting to wear the blue and gold again, defend the culture and history of the program, and lead the young men who were trying to uphold the standard and create their own mark.”
Ashmore said he’s worked closely with Iola administrators and the current coaches, and has offered to help with the transition, including off-season operations, scheduling and the pitchers’ off-season throwing program.
