Bo Hall, right, chats with Cochise head coach Todd Inglehart during batting practice Sunday.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — By now, word’s spread that the last time Cochise College was in the Junior College World Series, James “Bo” Hall was the Apaches’ head coach.
Before this year, the only two appearances Cochise made at JUCO were in 1988 and 1989. The Apaches finished in seventh the first year and third the following year. Hall also began pulling double duty in 1988 as Cochise’s athletic director, the title he holds today along with Dean of Student Services.
“It was a great experience,” Hall said of his trips to Grand Junction with Cochise. “And as a coach, it would give you a chance to recruit, because you could tell kids, ‘We’re going to the World Series.’”
Hall was an All-Region and All-Conference player for Cochise before graduating in 1971 and heading to Grand Canyon University. He started his coaching career at Thatcher High School, went to Eastern Arizona until the college dropped its program, coached at Safford High School for a year, then took the head coaching job at Cochise from 1984 through 1989.
He stayed with Cochise as an assistant for four years, then took a break from coaching until recently, when he worked with the Cochise County Outlaws Pony team and assisted the Buena High School team this past season.
His one goal in all those years of coaching was to lead a team to a national championship. Though he didn’t reach it, the experiences were memorable.
“I was telling (head coach) Todd (Inglehart), this is something these kids will never forget for the rest of their lives,” Hall said. “Being here now, the excitement of being in a World Series is no different now than it was then.”
What is a little different, he noticed as he pulled into town this afternoon, is practice. He remembers one field available for practice: the one at what is now Colorado Mesa University, which is adjacent to Suplizio Field. And time was rather limited. This year, Cochise had most of its practice sessions at Canyon View Park, but also spent time at Colorado Mesa’s practice field and weight room.
“Across from Mesa State, there were all these houses with signs up that said you couldn’t go into their yards to get foul balls,” he laughed.
Recalling the 1989 team, Hall said it was full of local talent. Bubba Hall, now the Cochise College Dean of Math, Science and Health Sciences, was the team’s catcher; Brad Erdman of Douglas played third base; Troy Bradford, a first-round draft pick from St. David, played first; and others came from Nogales and Sierra Vista.
“Before I got the job, everybody else was coming into the county and clearing out the best kids,” Hall said. “Pima went to the World Series a couple of years ahead of that and had four kids from Buena starting. Same with Nogales. That was the key. The local kids were good, we threw in some other kids who were good and had a hell of a club. The ‘88 club set the tone, and we were better in ‘89.”
In the 1989 bracket, Cochise faced the nation’s top-ranked team, San Jacinto College of Texas, in the first game and lost. The Apaches won four straight games out of the losers bracket, including one against San Jacinto, to leave three teams at the end of the bracket. A coin flip determined which team would get the bye into the championship matchup.
“We lost the flip,” Hall said. “So we had to play Northeast Oklahoma and they beat us in 12 innings. But we should have gotten the bye and been in the national championship game.”
San Jacinto, a powerhouse in the 1980s, won the title.
Hall said he’s looking forward to watching this year’s Apaches in the tournament.
“They’re very resilient,” Hall said. “And the kids seem to pitch and catch it, which gives you a chance, and then they get it done in the clutch. They’ve done a great job of playing to their abilities and never quitting. They’ve had opportunities to get beat and they don’t allow it.”
Cochise head coach Todd Inglehart has never been to the World Series before, as a player, coach or spectator, but has sought and been offered advice from Hall and fellow coaches in the region leading up to today’s game.
“(Bo) has talked about it from time to time,” Inglehart, said, adding with a laugh, “Now I’ll get to throw my story back at him.”