Hardin announced as new Conway HC
Lakeside’s head baseball coach, Leighton Hardin, was named the new head coach of the Conway baseball program Thursday.
A news release from Conway Public Schools announced the hiring of Hardin, but Lakeside athletic director Don Pierce said that a letter of resignation from the head coach had not been received at presstime.
“We have not received a letter of resignation, so he’s still a part of Lakeside Schools,” Pierce said.
Hardin has been at the helm of the Rams baseball program for five years after serving as an assistant under Jay Darr for the 2015-2016 season. He led Lakeside to a 79-41 record in his five seasons with a 41-13 conference record as well as leading the team to its first 20-win season and fifth conference title in 2018. The Rams finished their second 20-win season in 2019, and they were expected to continue the trend in 2020 before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“When you spend time with Coach Hardin, it’s easy to see his work ethic, character, competitiveness, and most of all his passion for kids’ development,” Conway athletic director Clint Ashcraft said in the release.
Hardin is set to become just the second head coach of the Wampus Cats baseball program. Noel Boucher, who led the program since its inception in 1985, is set to retire in May.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Hardin to our Wampus Cat family,” Conway Superintendent Dr. Greg Murry said in the release. “Our baseball program has a bright future with him at the helm. We all look forward to him and his family making the transition to Conway, meeting our team, parents, and community, and building on our past success.”
Hardin said that the position opened some time in February, but he did not apply for the position until after the coronavirus pandemic suspended the season.
“Honestly, I think Conway is probably the only place we would have left Lakeside for,” he explained. “My wife and I went to UCA. That’s where we met. She’s always really loved Conway. We know it’s a great school; it’s a great city and great community to be a part of. … We kind of had a week there where we were out of school, and we weren’t able to practice. I just had to evaluate what we wanted to do, and if we were ever going to make a move, this was probably going to be the time to do it because our kids are young, so we can move and still be part of the community. They can grow up in that community and know that’s where their roots are.”
Boucher, 62, won 17 conference championships, captured two state titles and compiled a 700-269 mark in his 36 seasons with the Wampus Cats.
“Obviously, it’s gonna be a tough act to follow for anyone,” Hardin admitted. “It’s hard to be the guy that follows the guy, but I think there’s a relationship I have there with coach Boucher. I think there’s some things we’ll do similar with the program, and I think the kids in Conway and the community of Conway is wanting someone to bring in the work ethic and similar things to what we were doing at Lakeside and keep that going through the program.”
A graduate of Malvern
High School who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics, Hardin earned an MBA and worked at
Malvern National Bank for two years before earning his master’s degree in teaching at Henderson State University. He started teaching at Malvern before joining the staff at Lakeside in 2015 as an assistant baseball coach.
Hardin and his wife Brittany have two children, Fletcher and Alice.