After nearly two decades away from Southwest Ohio, Drew Maus found himself watching his own children’s games — and noticing what was missing.
“Everywhere you go, there’s families, there’s grandparents, there’s aunts, there’s uncles,” Maus said. “And our kids are lucky if both of us are at their games.”
That realization ultimately set everything in motion.
Maus, a 2005 Badin High School graduate who spent years building a college coaching career, decided with his wife Katy, and their two sons, to come home — even before knowing what the next step would be.
There was no master plan. No guarantee of a job.
Just a pull back to Butler County and a desire to be present.
“We were coming home no matter what,” Maus said.
That decision eventually led him to Lakota East, where he has taken over a Thunderhawks program entering the 2026 season with expectations — and opportunity.
Lakota East opens its season Saturday on the road against Moeller, a perennial power and an immediate test in one of Ohio’s most competitive baseball landscapes.
And for Maus, it’s not just another opener.
It’s the beginning of something he’s been working toward long before the job was ever posted.
Built through the grind
Maus didn’t arrive at Lakota East by accident.
His path winds through college baseball — most recently as head coach at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, where he spent six seasons navigating one of Division II’s toughest conferences.
“It was like the SEC of Division II,” Maus said. “And we were the most underfunded school in the league.”
The challenge was constant.
Limited resources. Scholarship disadvantages. Facilities gaps.
And yet, progress came — not all at once, but through persistence.
In 2023, Maus guided Newman to one of the most significant seasons in program history. The Jets earned their first MIAA Tournament appearance and first postseason berth since 2014, finishing with 23 wins and setting a program standard with 14 conference victories in the Newman-MIAA era.
Individual success followed team growth.
But the climb didn’t start there.
In 2022, Maus led the Jets to a 23-23 record, at the time his best season as a head coach, with multiple players earning postseason recognition as the foundation began.
Before becoming a head coach, Maus spent seven years as a college assistant, including two stints at Henderson State University and two seasons at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock — experiences that shaped both his baseball acumen and his adaptability.
Even earlier, he understood what high-level success looked like.
Maus was a starting shortstop at Ouachita Baptist University on its 2008 national runner-up team — a formative experience that still influences how he views preparation and competition.
Through it all, one theme remained constant.
“Learning to do a lot with a little,” Maus said. “That’s what it was.”
It also taught him a harder truth — one that now follows him into the high school ranks.
“No matter how good of a year you have, once it’s over, it doesn’t really matter,” Maus said. “You’ve got to do it all over again.”
Daily work over long-term comfort is something Maus believes translates directly to the Greater Miami Conference — where consistency is often the difference between contenders and everyone else.
And it’s part of why Lakota East appealed to him.
“When you get an opportunity to coach in the GMC, you take it,” Maus said. “Especially if you’re at a school that has players that can win it.”
Talent and trust
Lakota East isn’t a rebuild. It’s something more nuanced.
Maus understands that from the start.
“There’s two types of coaching,” Maus said. “There’s developing, grinding, building something. And then there’s times where you just don’t mess it up.”
At Lakota East, he sees a blend of both.
The Thunderhawks return a roster filled with talent — a group that closed last season playing some of its best baseball and showed flashes of postseason potential.
Maus’ job isn’t to overhaul it.
It’s to refine it.
“I’m not going to try to change anybody,” Maus said. “We’re going to play baseball a certain way and let their talent shine.”
That approach centers less on mechanics — many of his players already work with private hitting and pitching instructors — and more on baseball instincts.
Situational awareness. Decision-making. Fundamentals.
“Base running, knowing where the ball needs to go, understanding why we’re doing things,” Maus said. “That’s what I want to focus on.”
And then there’s his style — something he describes as structured, but not rigid.
“A little bit of controlled chaos,” Maus said.
It’s a phrase that fits both his personality and the program he’s inheriting.
There’s energy. There’s freedom. But there’s also accountability.
As Lakota East prepares to open the season at Moeller, Maus knows the challenge ahead — not just Saturday, but across a conference where nearly every game feels like a postseason test.
Still, the expectations don’t overwhelm him.
They energize him.
“I want to win,” Maus said. “I want to be a program that’s good.”
Back home, surrounded by family, leading a program with talent and tradition, Maus also finds himself sharing the dugout with a familiar voice — his father and former longtime Badin coach Mark Maus.
And while Drew holds the title, he jokes that the experience in the dugout might tilt the other direction.
“He’s probably more of the head coach than I am,” Maus said with a laugh, referencing his father’s decades of experience.
It’s a dynamic rooted in trust, respect and a close father-son relationship — one that adds another layer to a season already filled with meaning.
And as the season gets underway — when he looks into the stands — Maus expects to see something different.
Not just players.
But home.
About the Author