Ehrich Chick rebuilding winning culture at alma mater

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hickman has a new leader guiding its baseball program this season, one who already called the school home.

After a successful five-year tenure at Fr. Tolton Catholic High School, Hickman head coach Ehrich Chick decided to return to his alma mater last summer, taking the reins of the program he once played for. When the opportunity presented itself, the chance to come home just felt right.

"To be able to play myself here and to be able to come back and lead that program now has been such a huge honor and a great opportunity," Chick said. "Tolton was thriving in the baseball world and doing a great job, and I felt whoever's going to take that program over was going to be in good hands. It was an opportunity that, when my wife and I spoke, was kind of hard to pass up."

Chick played baseball at Hickman from 2007-10, winning a district championship with the Kewpies in 2008 and being named an All-District and Missouri All-Star team selection during his high school career. However, the sport is just a small part of why Hickman holds a special place in the Columbia native's heart."

"It's home. That's 100% what it is. I've been here since sixth grade, got to watch my father win a state title as a coach, got to see a lot of good things come out of it, got to see my baby brother play in a state championship here," Chick said. To me, the most important memory was being able to meet my wife. We're high school sweethearts, and that was something that really hit home for me."

Today, Hickman feels as much like home as it did in high school. This season, Chick has loved ones in the dugout who are helping him support and lead the Kewpies to success. Chick's father, Bobby, works with the program's pitchers as an assistant coach on staff, and Chick's son, Easton, has a front row seat to learn the game from his dad.

"It's a family thing," Chick said. "Being able to bring my father back to coach with me has been huge. Being able to have my son here at practice and at games and stuff, that's just something that I've always envisioned, just being as a coach."

While Chick's passion for baseball flourished at Hickman, his coaching career actually started in northern Boone County. He served as an assistant and head coach at Centralia High School from 2013-15, helping guide the Panthers to their first district championship appearance in a decade and a 14-7 overall record in 2014.

After a brief return to Hickman as an assistant coach from 2015-16, Chick set himself apart as one of the top head coaches in mid-Missouri during a remarkable run at Fr. Tolton Catholic. Under his leadership from 2019-24, the Trailblazers recorded a 66-27 overall record and won three district championships in four seasons, including the baseball program's first-ever state title in 2022. Chick knows the qualities of a championship team, and he sees those same attributes in this year's team at Hickman.

"[At Tolton], they were a group of boys who nobody really knew what they were capable of. I didn't know what they were capable of. But, they found a way to fight together throughout the whole season," Chick said. "These boys today, remind me of those guys in that '21 and '22 team. They're very much together. They're very much about the program itself. They don't care about their stats as much they care about, you know, did we win? Great. If not, how do we get better?"

The Kewpies posted a streak of seven straight winning seasons from 2016-23, tallying at least 20 victories in six of those campaigns. However, the team's consistent success took a detour last year. Hickman ended the 2024 season with an 11-21 overall record, marking its first campaign below the .500-mark in nearly a decade. In Chick's first year at the helm of the program, the Kewpies have already hit seven wins in their first 12 games.

"I think it's just like a fire in our program," Hickman outfielder Gus Bousquet said. "It's not necessarily to prove to anybody else, but to prove to ourselves that we have what it takes to compete in this conference and in this state."

"I think the biggest thing is they're hungry," Chick said. They're playing with a chip on their shoulder. They're trying to prove that they belong here, and when you create that hunger mentality, they're going to go out and they're going to compete against anybody, any day, which I think is huge for a championship program."

Chick gives a lot of credit to his players for fueling the team's early season success this year. From the players' perspectives, they acknowledged the culture that Chick is building has helped them win games. Hickman's head coach has instilled quality game-to-game preparation, a family dynamic and a brotherhood within the program that has encouraged the team to immediately buy into the process of restoring the school's championship culture.

"Coach Chick is a player's coach. He loves every single one of his guys equally. Every single person gets individual coaching and messages," Hickman first baseman Spencer Baehman said. "He really enjoys being around us, and we give that energy back to him."

"We love working together. Our team has been playing here for many, many years, and we just love being together," Hickman center fielder Nolan Frederick said. "Every time we're out here on the field, it's just always a good day."

"We're not just teammates who wear the same jersey. We also are able to build connections and relationships with one another, so that I know that our games don't depend on any one performance but it's how we play as a team," Hickman pitcher Jack Brennaman said.

In the end, Chick's trip back to his alma mater means more to him than just winning baseball games. It's about impacting the lives of those around him, just like the school did for him.

"I think it's just to be able to give back to the community that was so generous to me when I was here," Chick said. "Hickman has always been great to my family, and I've really appreciated everything."