“I’m sitting here at a GMC school with great tradition. It just seemed like perfect timing to start a new journey,” said Begley, 33. “I can’t wait for February to come so we can get this thing started again.”
Tony Schulz directed Fairfield to a 50-33 record over the last three seasons. The Indians shared the GMC championship with Mason last spring, marking the program’s first conference title since 2001.
Schulz, a 2000 Fairfield graduate, was recently hired by Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy as assistant athletic director and head baseball coach. He’s finishing his duties as a math teacher at FHS and will start at CHCA on Jan. 3.
“I have a mutual friend with the AD, and they reached out to me,” Schulz said. “Fairfield is my home, my alma mater, and I feel like we’ve built something here to go forward, so it was a really gut-wrenching decision. But it was the best thing for my family.
“It’s been a career goal at some point to run my own athletic department, and they presented a pretty good opportunity to head in that direction, so I felt like I couldn’t pass it up.
“You always want to leave a program better than you found it, and I feel we’ve done that at Fairfield. We tried to bring back the tradition of Fairfield baseball and competing at the top of the GMC. Hopefully Coach Begley can hit the ground running and take the reins and go even further than I did.”
As players, Schulz and Begley faced off in the Hamilton-Fairfield rivalry. They played together for a year at Georgetown College.
Begley was a second baseman for Big Blue’s last Final Four team in 2001. He was the head coach at Waynesville from 2011 to 2015, going 110-27 with three Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division championships.
He teaches health at the Fairfield Freshman School.
“My last year at Waynesville, we went to the regional finals and lost to Summit (Country Day),” Begley said. “I heard about this job at the freshman school, and with a little one and another one on the way, it just seemed right to move closer to home to be around family.”
Fairfield athletic director Mark Harden said he understood Schulz’s decision to leave. He also said Begley was an easy choice to take over the program.
“It’s not too often that you have a guy on your staff that has already had a large amount of success as a head coach,” said Harden, noting that Begley’s appointment is expected to receive school board approval Thursday. “I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a hire we’ve made.
“We felt like it was pretty much a slam dunk for us to have Tommy take over the program. Anywhere you ask somebody about Tommy, they have nothing but great, great things to say about him.”
It may seem strange for Fairfield to choose a Hamilton guy as its next head coach, but Harden noted that Begley’s connection to the GMC is part of what makes him a strong hire.
Begley said he’s proud of his Big Blue background and happy to be where he’s at.
“Maybe if I was straight out of high school, it would be awkward,” Begley said. “But honestly, if it wasn’t for all that, I wouldn’t be here today. If it wasn’t for Dan Bowling taking me under his wing and making something out of a 5-foot-9, 150-pound kid, I wouldn’t be coaching baseball at Fairfield. So it was all meant to be.”
Begley, who said HHS graduate Adam Grissom will be one of his assistant coaches, will have an experienced team in the spring. The 2016 Indians only lost three seniors to graduation.
“I’m a big culture guy,” Begley said. “I think that was the best thing I developed at Waynesville, a culture of a family atmosphere and how to play the game the right way. I try to develop players to be as versatile as possible.
“I’m excited about this job. I think it’s going to be fun. Luckily for me, it’s not like I’m coming in and taking over a program where I don’t know anybody. I had a big hand in helping out Coach Schulz. Now it’s just taking on a different role and putting my stamp on things.”
Tommy Begley File
Age: 33
Residence: Monroe
Family: Wife Amanda, sons George (3) and Benny (five months)
High school: Hamilton, Class of 2001
College: Bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Georgetown College
Coaching history: Two years as Monroe freshman coach, two years as Waynesville junior varsity coach, five years as Waynesville head coach (110-27 record), one year as Fairfield varsity assistant
About the Author