Hot Springs native Trevor Paro takes first swing as head coach with Bitterroot Red Sox (2024)

HAMILTON— Trevor Paro can't help but smile on the baseball diamond.

The Hot Springs native is no longer playing the game although he still looks like he could suit up in an instant. You might even mistake him for a player as he wore the same red T-shirt and navy blue shorts as his players on Thursday.

Paro, just a few years removed from his playing days, is a first-time head coach after two years as a Hamilton High School assistant. He now leads the Bitterroot Red Sox, the Hamilton-based Class A American Legion team.

"I came back after playing and didn’t have a ton of interest in getting into coaching," he said prior to the Red Sox's game against their Florence-based rivals, the Bitterroot Bucs, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Hamilton.

"Once the high school season started, I thought it was my time to give back. The game of baseball was good to me, so I felt like I owed something back to it. Teaching young guys in the community I live in, I thought it was a perfect time and opportunity and jumped on with it."

Credit Hamilton Broncs head coach Jason Goligoski with helping Paro decide to get into baseball coaching ahead of the 2023 high school season. Goligoski, who is Paro's uncle, had made a similar transition into coaching after being a standout player who advanced to Double-A baseball in the minor leagues.

Paro's test run through the high school season last year left him feeling like he had the energy and desire to do more coaching after a one-off season as a football assistant in 2020. Fortunately, the Red Sox job came open, so he threw his hat in the ring to take a swing at being more of a contributor.

"I just saw the future here," he said. "We have a good, young program. I knew that these kids just needed that little bit extra. A lot of these kids want to go play at the next level, so I felt like I owed it to them just to continue that good coaching and help them out to where they need to be."

Paro's credentials as a baseball player lend credibility to what he's talking about when he's coaching up his players. He earned a shot to play at NCAA Division I Marshall in West Virginia before a shoulder injury cut his time short.

His assistants also bring youth and college-level knowledge to the staff. Tylor Nixon, a Corvallis native who played for the Red Sox, suited up at Corban University. Austin Gray plays for New Mexico Military Institute.

"It definitely comes from a background of lots of knowledges," senior third baseman/pitcher Conner Ekin said. "With him and the other coaches playing in college, they definitely know a lot."

Sophom*ore shortstop/pitcher Jackson Lubke expanded: "Just in these couple weeks of Red Sox I've already learned a lot more than I did last year. I've learned a lot more situational stuff. I know a lot better when I get the ball what to do with it. I feel like I've already done some things that I wouldn't have done last year."

Ekin added: "Overall, I think the coaching is a lot better this year. There's a lot more things to learn."

'Win anyway'

Paro has the Red Sox off to a 5-3 record heading into the rivalry game as he helms a proud program that has won eight state championships since 1997.

The Red Sox had captured their third consecutive state title in 2017 when Paro was wrapping up his standout career at Hot Springs. They haven't quite gotten back to that level since then.

They followed their 2018 runner-up finish by failing to qualify for state in four of the next five seasons. They made a quick 0-2 exit in their one appearance.

"The biggest thing with this team is last year they were a .500 team, so I'm trying to bring that winning culture to this team," he said. "I told these guys losing's easy. It's like a bad habit. It's tough to break.

"Winning's hard and it's a good habit and you got to work for those good habits. Once you get in the routine of making those good habits a daily thing, then they become easier."

Paro knows what it takes to be a winner. He set several school and state records and was a 10-time all-state honoree in track, basketball and 6-Man football in the town of nearly 600 people about 75 minutes north of Missoula.

His summer baseball team, the Spokane Crew, won five tournament championships in Washington. Paro then won two conference titles in two years playing at Lower Columbia College in Washington.

Credit Paro's father, Bob, for first instilling in him the mentality of being a hard worker. Eric Lane, his coach at Lower Columbia, also left a lasting impression that Paro has carried into his coaching.

"He really emphasized what is a team and what do you need to do for the other guy to get the job done," he said. "We had a mentality there that was called 'Win anyway.'

"It's something I've tried to instill with these guys. It doesn't matter what's going on off the field, with your girlfriend, your family, once you step in between the white lines it's go-time and you got to do whatever it takes to win."

Paro experienced early coaching success when the Broncs placed fourth at the high school state tournament last year and improved to second this spring. Some of his Red Sox players starred on those teams, but this team is its own group that needs to learn how to win.

Unlike high school, Paro is tasked with getting players from multiple towns throughout the Bitterroot to meld into one unit in a game where failure is the norm. The Red Sox bring together players from rival high schools Hamilton and Corvallis as well as smaller numbers from Darby and Stevensville.

"We just each got to do our job," Ekin said. "That's part of the winning mindset he preaches. If we all do our job, we'll probably win the game unless it's some crazy ridiculous, good team. We have depth. We don't just have four guys and drop off. We have good players throughout every position."

Lubke added: "If all of us are on, I don't think anyone can stop us."

Ekin responded: "It's just a matter of consistency."

Making the grade

Paro had wrapped up the final day of the school year on Thursday before he started baseball practice by throwing pitches in batting practice.

He has been a first-grade teacher in town since he graduated from Montana Western following his career-ending surgery. Summer break is sure to bring a smile, but so too does the joy he gets from teaching 7-year-old kids.

"They're just so happy-go-lucky and nothing can ever get those guys down and it just brings me up," he said. "When I come to the field, I tell these guys no day is ever bad.

"There's no reason to be pout and be down on yourself when you're playing a game that you should be loving. I know from experience because the game was taken away from me, so you just never know when it's going to be done."

The Red Sox have several players who earned high marks in the high school baseball season. Ekin, Lubke and senior Brandon Brennerman made the all-state team. Junior Reese Earp was first-team all-conference. Juniors Elijah McNair and Owen Marston and freshman Boedy Tadvick were second-teamers.

Some players are now having to learn different roles and positions than they played in high school. None of them are team captains, although it's not because they failed to earn a passing grade on that test.

"I try not to do captains because I don't want it to be about an individual," he said. "I do have leaders, guys that will step up.

"A big thing we're working is holding each other accountable. If it's an eighth grader from Hamilton, I don't care if he goes and chews out a senior from Corvallis. Just make sure we're doing the right things on and off the field."

Paro and the Red Sox have 18 games plus a Missoula tournament left on their schedule before they get to two weeks of final exams. The district tournament will be July 25-29 in Florence and state will be July 31-Aug. 4 in Polson.

While this is just the start of head coaching for Paro, it's the end of the line for the senior class. They're hoping to make it a memorable finale.

"Just try to have as much fun as I can and make the most memories and enjoy all the company," Ekin said.

"And get some hardware," Lubke added.

Ekin nodded along: "Definitely end it with some hardware."