By Kyle LoJacono
A.J. Leppla resigned as Freedom’s baseball coach on June 14 following the most successful season in the program’s nine-year history.
“I’m going to look into new opportunities,” Leppla said. He added, “I’d like to coach again, but I’m going to see where life takes me. One good thing is I’ll get to spend a few weeks with my family; my daughters and my son. After I spend some family time, I’ll look at what opportunities are out there.”
Leppla joined the Patriots three years ago after spending one as Wiregrass Ranch’s coach. Freedom went 15-10 in 2012, the program’s first winning season, and achieved another first by qualifying for the postseason as the Class 7A-District 9 runner-up.
“(Last season) meant everything to me,” Leppla said. “We built a family essentially, and that’s what I always preached. We got to do special things, and I was very proud of the job we did. Not just me, but my coaching staff and the players. Everything came together perfectly. It takes a lot of things to go right to have the kind of success we had. … I will always remember those players and I would do anything for them.”
Leppla came to Freedom because a physical education teaching position opened. He had been working as an in-school suspension monitor at Wiregrass Ranch. The Patriots went 34-37 in his three seasons.
Leppla became the Bulls’ coach after spending two seasons as an assistant, which he was also at Freedom for two years before heading to Wiregrass Ranch.
Patriots athletic director Eli Thomas said the position will be advertised shortly, but there is no timetable for naming a replacement.
“I hope the program does really well in the future,” Leppla said. “I gave everything I had to Freedom, and I wish the program the best.”
