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Yount retires from coaching Smoky Mountain baseball
Ron Yount announced this week that he will retire as Smoky Mountain High School’s head baseball coach.
Yount has been the coach since 2002.
“I took over four years ago to try and help build the program back up to state playoff level,” Yount said.
He thinks he has done just that.
“The team will have nine returning seniors next year and have great potential,” Yount said.
Yount says there are quality young coaches on staff, and it is time for him to hand-over the reins.
“I didn’t take the job for forever,” Yount said. “It is time to give someone else a turn.”
In four seasons of coaching at SMHS, his record is 20-59.
He has coached a total 33 seasons, including summer leagues and high school. In junior and high school coaching he has a record of 214-166.
“He has been in the school system a long time as a principal at Cullowhee and as a coach,” said SMHS principal Alex Bell. “He has always had a love and passion for the game of baseball.”
Yount, a former Cullowhee Valley principal had been retired for one year when he was named SMHS head coach.
“He came out of retirement because he loved the game,” Bell said. “He brought the system back through hard work in field and team preparation. He has been a great role model for the kids on and off the field.”
“We are proud of the service he provided for Jackson County for so many years. I am happy for Ron and his family,” Bell said.
Earlier this year Yount was honored for 25 years of coaching by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association.
His coaching career started as a JV coach at Burns High School in Cleveland County 32 years ago. He was baseball coach at Cullowhee High from 1976-83. Out of the eight seasons he coached, the Rebels reached the 1-A playoffs seven times. He was also coach at Sylva-Webster in 1988, and the team reached the second round of the state playoffs.
Summer leagues have also been successful for Yount. In 1989 he coached the 15-16-year-old Dixie Pre-Majors to the N.C. State Championship and World Series in Texarkana, Texas. The next year he took the team to the state championship for a second time but lost to the eventual state champ.
He also coached the 16-18-year-old Jackson County Babe Ruth Teams to the state playoffs two seasons from 1979-1981.
This league is where he coached former SMHS baseball and football coach Tim Hawkins.
Before becoming principal at Cullowhee Valley he coached baseball there. His teams went six years without a loss to any Jackson County team.
Yount has received many other awards for his coaching. He was Coach of the Year for the Smoky Mountain Conference in 1981, and he was chosen to coach in the Baseball Olympics in 1988 by N.C. Amateur Athletics.
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