Prescott Head Baseball Coach Jeff Ryan said earlier this season during a post-game interview, "The greatest gift we can give anybody is our time."

If that is true, the Prescott Cardinal baseball coaching staff has been in a gift-giving mood to the tune of 86 years between Head Coach Jeff Ryan and assistant coaches Brad Matzek and Duane Miller. Matzek and Ryan have been together for 29 years. Miller made the tutoring trifecta eight years later and has logged 21 years together with Ryan and Matzek.

Together, Ryan, Matzek, and Miller have been cooking up a successful high school hardball recipe that includes 439 wins, 13 conference titles, 11 regional championships, two section crowns, one state-runner up finish, and one state championship in 2012.

"One of the reasons we've been successful, " said Ryan, "is because we've had that continuity and speaking with one voice. Duane and Brad are tremendously loyal to the program. They've just been tremendous."

Speaking of successful recipes, in restaurant kitchen lingo, the term "86-ed" means a certain item is gone and finished for the night. The "86" coaching years for the Prescott baseball staff is finished as of Friday, too.

Head Coach Jeff Ryan announced his plans to retire this past Thursday night at the Cardinals' year-end banquet. He officially turned in his coaching retirement papers on Friday morning. Ryan, however, will still continue to teach, where he has also excelled in the classroom. Ryan was named the Gilder Lehrman Wisconsin State History Teacher of the Year in 2020.  

"I've been coaching for 36 years and you make a lot of sacrifices for your family," said Ryan. "I just thought it was the right time. It wasn’t one thing, but the game is changing and it was time for me to move on, too. The kids deserve 100% commitment from me and I'm at the point in my life where it's tough to give that."

At the team's banquet on Thursday night, Ryan's wife, Julie, made each of the nine Prescott seniors a homemade key chain out of baseball cowhide leather and stitching.

"Julie did the game day programs and she's the team photographer," said Ryan. "You have to have a partner like that to be able to coach this long and I am certainly lucky enough to have one."

During the banquet, Ryan was emotional and had to pause on quite a few occasions.

"My wife predicted that was going to happen," said Ryan. "But I'm glad it was tough. It's supposed to be tough. I've always told my players there's nothing wrong with being vulnerable. It's not a weakness; it's being honest. It just shows how much it means."

Ryan read two lists of 10 things to the players and parents Thursday night. One list was 10 things he would not miss about coaching. Ryan said the most difficult coaching duty he had over the years was deciding who plays and who sits on the bench.

"There are 16 or 17 kids on the team every year and only 9 or 10 get to play in the game each day," said Ryan. "So those kids are disappointed and they should be disappointed. The parents are disappointed and so are grandma and grandpa. They want to see their kid play and who's the reason he's not playing? It's me. That's why a lot of coaches get out of it and don't stay. Athletics does teach kids how to deal with disappointment and hopefully helps them learn how to cope and respond to disappointments later in life, but I won't miss making out that line-up card."

What are the top three of the 10 things Ryan will miss about coaching high school baseball?

"When a kid makes a great play and you see that face-splitting smile," said Ryan. "I'm going to miss those great moments."

Two of those moments Ryan was referring to was when senior Aidan Dorau hit a game-winning homerun in the sixth inning to help the Cardinals win the Middle Border Conference title this season and when senior Cole Platson’s single in the bottom of the seventh capped a three-run rally and knocked off Altoona 10-9 securing the region title.

"I think even I got two inches off the ground jumping when we won that game," said Ryan laughing. "You remember moments like those for the rest of your life and there's nothing wrong with that. This year's team was an easy team to root for."  

Another thing Ryan says he will miss is the special five to seven minutes between players and coach as soon as each season finishes.

"I know it sounds strange," said Ryan. "But those few minutes between the coaches and players are just really, really special."

Planning a baseball practice is something that Ryan says he will thoroughly miss.

"I love that. The intricacies, the strategies," said Ryan. "Planning a practice is just like planning a lesson in school. You have objectives and you have to figure out how to meet those objectives."

Ryan will be trading his fungo bat for a fishing pole and plans to go trout fishing much more often.

“Lucky for me my wife loves baseball and she also likes to eat trout for dinner,” said Ryan.

Ryan was inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2019, but his gift of time will not be limited to 36 years; it's a gift that will continue to give because it wasn't just time for his players, it's in them and part of who they are. That is the true definition of leaving a legacy and the true gift of time and teaching.