Sebastian Kupis is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Ridge High School for AZPreps365.com 

Here’s a thought experiment and fake scenario: Mountain Ridge needs a new head baseball coach. What should the qualifications be? What would the standard be? A hard working person who has baseball experience, and can create healthy relationships with the student athletes would be an answer anyone would accept.

Fortunately, Athletic Director Anthony Miller already hired the man for the job: meet Eddie Bonine. As a former player for Mountain Ridge, Glendale Community College, Washington State, University of Nevada Reno, and the Detroit Tigers, his adversity and relatability are priceless to the team. Growing up with an MLB father and a high school All-American mother in volleyball and softball, the work ethic he needed to succeed was understood at a young age.

“I was always the undersized guy who had to work to get my chance… I just had to do a lot of things correct to give myself a chance. It goes into how I coach, I don't want to take any of these days out on this field or any of the days in the offseason for granted,” said Bonine.

Looking at him in 2024, it’s hard to tell Bonine was ever considered undersized, but it’s easy to tell how much he cares about the game. Scrimmages this week were detail oriented as he got the young squad ready for the home opener on Feb. 26 against Brophy College Prep. 

“This is a mix of really talented seniors and some really talented underclassmen, it’s going to be a good year for seniors to continue to lean on their leadership and help pull the young guys along to get them better,” said Bonine. 

Bonine doesn’t get too far ahead, doesn’t skip details and keeps his eyes on today. He’s not worried about the state playoffs or the talented rosters littered in their schedule this year, instead, he’s focused on how his team is going to improve that day.

“Not a big massive goal guy, my thing is how do we not give away any day, any time on the field and continue to push,” said Bonine. 

He is a big massive family guy however, who is married with a 13 and 4-year-old son, as well as an 11-year-old daughter. When Bonine isn’t on a baseball field, he’s spending time with them.

“We don’t do anything crazy, realistically we do club baseball, go to church and club volleyball. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to retire and be done with the professional game, by no means was I that good anymore but I probably could have played a little longer. I wanted to be around for my family and be normal, that’s what we enjoy doing, we try to keep it simple and enjoy everyday,” said Bonine. 

The team's mindset is consistent throughout their process with assistant coaches Kevin Forbes and Jeremy Neville doing their part to embody the message.

“I think what works well here is all of us have the same mindset on things, we differ here and there on minor things, but for the most part the way we want the game played and the expectations we have of the players are on the same page, as a coaching staff I feel like we have a really good thing going here,” said Neville. 

If a coach can have this much fun, work this hard and lead a group of men this confidently, it all spreads to the players. Mountain Ridge has multiple commits to the University of Arizona on their baseball roster as well as more Division 1 talent. Take Smith Bailey for example, the six foot six right handed pitcher is committed to the University of Arizona and is coming off of a dominant junior campaign where he racked up 10 wins, 72 strikeouts and allowed a mere .163 OBA. 

“His attitude contributes a lot to this team, he’s super light going but he can also get on you at times, he keeps me trying hard anytime I’m on this field. He’s been in the pros and I trust he can get me to the next level,” said Bailey.