Parker Gun has been named the head varsity baseball coach at Community High School. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcounytpost.com
UNIONVILLE — Recently, Community High School announced the hiring of Parker Gunn to take over the Viking baseball program.
While new to the program, Gunn isn’t so new to Unionville or to Bedford County, having played high school baseball just down the road at Shelbyville Central.
Gunn has familiarity with Community, having spent his student teaching days in Unionville, followed by several years coaching as an assistant, as well as the head JV coach at Coffee County.
As the fates allowed, a math position opened up at the same time the baseball position became available and Gunn felt pulled back to a familiar territory.
“There was part of me that couldn’t believe that it was actually happening, but the other part of me was over grateful. I feel like it was God’s divine intervention. I went through a point when where I thought my baseball coaching career was over,” he said.
“When this position opened, it just happened to be at a school where I had been at for student teaching, I had great ties to the area and they also had a math opening. Honestly, it was like a dream come true.
It’s still somewhat surreal. That’s why getting out here every day just makes it more real.”
Going back even further than his student teaching days, Gunn got his start playing baseball in a youth league—and the rest is history
“Unionville was a place that had a five and six-year-old league, even though I lived in Shelbyville. Ever since I started at it, I feel like I had a natural knack for it. It was something me and my twin brother could play in the backyard. It was just something that was timeless and I never got over it. When I went to college, I decided I wanted to focus on studies,” he said.
Although his playing days had passed, Gunn thought stepping away from the diamond as a player might have been the last involvement with baseball, but his love for the game was undeniable.
“I thought I could do the same thing with coaching and I thought I could get over not being around the game. When I started teaching, I got back into coaching and realized how much I missed it and decided to get back into it. It starts all the way back at five-years-old,” he said.
Although he didn’t possess immense baseball talent, a dedicated work ethic to the game taught him to be more fundamentally sound, which helped him become a more well-rounded player overall.
“We were always small, which made us have to be more fundamental and more sound. I think that’s what makes me attentive to detail as a coach,” he said.
Having played at Shelbyville Central and coached at Coffee County, Gunn’s experience at the bigger school environment is well-rounded.
While stepping into a smaller environment like in Unionville, Gunn said the community support at smaller schools is unmatched.
“Sometimes at a bigger school, it’s harder to build a culture. It’s not like here in a small town where these kids have been in the same buildings for their entire academic career. One thing that it’s a little different is just how much support this area has. It’s been overwhelming. They’ve really welcomed me in,” he said.
Being set to take over at his first post as a head varsity coach, Gunn said he’s excited to join a young team that experienced some success, largely anchored by a core group of sophomores.
With the baseline of fundamentals and success in place, Gunn’s plans for the returning players in the 2025-2026 school year are set to get under way as the summer ticks towards the school year’s start in August.
“It’s always good to see success, especially when it comes with a relatively young group of kids,” he said.
While players are often multi-sport athletes, Gunn typically takes a hands-off approach with players throughout the summer months, but has plans to hit the ground running once school starts.
“During the summer, typically, players will play with their travel teams. At a smaller school, a lot of them are multi-sport athletes. So, a lot of them are with football and a lot of them are with basketball. When we return in the fall, we’ll focus on strength and conditioning,” he said.
