For all intents and purposes, Mark Simoneau was positioned to take over as head coach of the Seaman baseball program after Phil Loomis stepped down from the position following the 1998 season.
 
After all, he had earned the right to be the school’s No. 1 candidate, having served as one of Loomis’ assistant coaches throughout his 11-year tenure in addition to being an assistant for all but four years since the program’s inception in 1986.
 
Yet, when then-Seaman athletic director Brad Dietz approached him about taking the job, Simoneau knew what the right decision was.
 
“When Brad came to me and said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I just said, ‘Steve’s the guy,’” Simoneau said.
 
At Simoneau’s recommendation, Seaman turned the Viking baseball program over to Steve Bushnell, who had served as an assistant since 1994. The rest, as it’s commonly said, is history as Bushnell built Seaman into Class 5A’s – not to mention the state’s – premier baseball powerhouse.
 
During his 22-year tenure from 1999-2020, Seaman won nine state championships – second-most during that span behind only St. Mary’s Colgan, which captured 13. The nine titles also rank as the fourth-most in state history behind only Colgan (21), Silver Lake (15) and Bishop Ward (13).
 
“They definitely made the right decision,” Simoneau said. “What he brought to the table was just different and I knew at that point this guy was ready to go. His record speaks for itself.”
 
Finishing his career with nine state championships, 18 regional championships, 10 league titles and a winning percentage of .796 with more than 400 career victories, Bushnell boasts a baseball coaching resume second to very few. His accomplishments, which also include a four-year stint as Seaman’s athletic director following his retirement as baseball coach in 2020 have earned Bushnell another honor.
 

 
Already a member of five other hall of fames, Bushnell has added one more to his collection as a member of this year’s Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame class. Bushnell was presented his plaque at the Class 5A state softball tournament in late May just ahead of Seaman’s quarterfinal game with Maize South.
 
“It’s truly one of the biggest honors I’ve had bestowed upon me in my lifetime,” Bushnell said. “I’ve been honored and put in several hall of fames for the things we’ve done here. To be recognized at the state level, it’s truly an incredible honor.
 
“I’ve been in the office and seen all the amazing people – the athletes, the coaches, the administrators, the contributors – who are in the Hall of Fame and it’s quite a Who’s Who list of anybody that’s had anything to do with high school athletics. To have your name added and picture on the wall means a lot and hopefully we can pass that along to the future.”
 
And to think, it was a career that perhaps never materialized. For a number of reasons.
 
A 1986 graduate of Sumner Academy, Bushnell played two years at Kansas City Kansas Community College before finishing his collegiate baseball career at Emporia State in 1990. He spent a third year at Emporia State as a volunteer assistant coach and during that time he began student-teaching, looking to pursue a career in education and as a coach.
 
At the time his academic advisor happened to be the daughter of Buck Adams, who was the principal at Northern Hills Elementary School in the Seaman district. The two got connected, but at the time, there wasn’t an opening for Bushnell to move into.
 
That changed, however, when longtime physical education teacher Charlie Golder retired, creating an opening that Bushell applied for and was hired for, starting the job in the 1991-92 school year.
 
At that time, however, there were no openings on the coaching staff for the baseball program. But that didn’t mean Bushnell wasn’t a keen observer.
 
“I’d nose around, come out and watch practice and catch a few games and what not,” he said. “I got to know Phil a bit.”
 
That relationship led to Bushnell joining the program as a volunteer assistant the following year before a third paid position was approved the next season. He spent five years as an assistant coach in that capacity, working with both the varsity and junior varsity teams.
 
While cutting his teeth as an assistant with the high school program, Bushnell also was establishing himself as a head coach during the summer. After having led an Emporia’s American Legion Post 5 team to a third-place state tournament finish while still at Emporia State, Bushnell took over the Topeka Post 400 program when he arrived at Seaman and built the program – one made up primarily with Seaman players – into a power.
 
Post 400 won the Class AAA state tournament in 1997 and the success Bushnell enjoyed with the program led to a potentially tough decision when the head coaching job at Seaman came open after Loomis’ resignation.
 
“At the time, high school coaches couldn’t coach their kids in the summer,” Bushnell said. “Given my choice, I would probably have given up the high school side of it and stuck with the summer ball because of the opportunity to play more games and be more involved. That was the direction I thought I was going to go.”
 
That KSHSAA rule changed just before Bushnell was tasked with making the choice between high school or summer coaching and both programs benefitted. Bushnell continued with the legion program for years before starting his own Scrappers program, one that fed into his high school program.
 
He credited his success with his summer teams for giving him immediate credibility once he was awarded the Seaman job.
 
“Looking back and being young at the time and kind of green with running your own program at a varsity level, I think it allowed people to see that I could run a program and succeed at a high level and do things the right way,” he said. “When I first started at Seaman I would have never imagined it would evolve into what it became. I wouldn’t say the rest is history, but having early success definitely helped provide some credibility to what it was we were doing.”
 
In building all of his programs, Bushnell drew heavily from his past coaches. 
 
“All my college coaches and even the ones I had in youth baseball growing up provided me insight into the game,” Bushnell said. “Steve Burleson at KCK, he’s my greatest mentor in the game of baseball as far as just the details and the structure and the discipline and just the knowledge of all the pieces that go into the game itself. The game within the game, so to speak. He was second to none in being able to share that. And Brian Embery at ESU was extremely knowledgeable and I picked up a lot from him, too. We ran a lot of what Coach Burleson did at KCK and what Coach Embery at Emporia State instilled.
 
“Watching (Loomis) run a high school program, day in and day out seeing all the things you have to be involved with away from the field, getting immersed in that side of it was a learning experience. But we always bounced ideas and shared ideas and one thing I always respected about Phil was he was always open and receptive to ideas and things and suggestions I might make. He was always open-minded and I respected that he let me have a lot of input as an assistant coach. He was a great mentor.”
 
Likewise, Simoneau said Bushnell has had the same impact on all those who have coached with, played for or played against him.
 
“His knowledge of the game is so impressive – he would always throw out ideas of things that I had never even thought of,” Simoneau said. “I had a front row seat and I learned so much from him. It was just so rewarding being around him and seeing what he brought to the game. And how all the people respected him around the game. He did it in a way that didn’t draw attention, but he got a lot of attention.”
 
Seaman’s success under Bushnell certainly garnered plenty of attention.
 
After a modest 10-7 debut season in 1999, took off the following year. The Vikings nearly doubled their win total in a 19-6 season that culminated with the program’s first-ever state championship as Seaman topped Hays 12-8 for the Class 5A title.
 
After going 11-10 the following year, Seaman won at least 14 games for each of the next 12 seasons and 17 of Bushnell’s final 18 seasons. That included a streak of 10 straight 20-win seasons from 2004-13, during which time the Vikings won six state titles, including three straight  from 2008-10.
 
Even in the only losing season Bushnell endured in his head coaching career – a 12-13 mark in 2014 – the Vikings still not only found their way to the Class 5A state tournament, but finished fourth.
 
In addition to his state championships in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013, Bushnell finished off his career with back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. Seaman was denied a potential three-peat in 2020 when the spring sports season was canceled for COVID reasons.
 
“I’m proud of the wins and the state titles and all those things,” Bushnell said. “But it all comes back to core values and having that high expectation and the discipline and structure and routine and repetition it takes to be good at the game of baseball. We tried to instill those things in our players from Day 1 when they came in as freshmen.”
 

 
In addition to giving credit to his numerous assistant coaches, including the likes of Simoneau, Lance Dougan, Richard Thomas and Trent Oliva, who now is Seaman’s head coach, Bushnell also said the success wouldn’t have come without the athletes he had the chance to coach. Countless number of players passed through the program not only went on to play collegiately, but also several played professionally, including current Los Angeles Angels reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.
 
But whether it was the star of the team or the last guy on the bench, Bushnell found a way more often than not to maximize their potential and contribution to the program’s success.
 
“Those guys came out and worked so hard every day and he got them to buy into their roles,.” Simoneau said. “That was what was fun watching him work. He got them to understand that everybody has a role and it was nothing about ‘Me, me me.’ It was all team-oriented goals. When you get 40 kids on a roster – varsity, JV and freshman – buying into that, that’s just fun to watch. They teach each other and a lot of his success is he just got everyone to buy in.”
 
For the players, it was easy to buy into the program from the very beginning.
 
“Coach Bushnell is one of the most prepared and confident coaches that I have played for at any level of any sport,” said Chris Carlson, a 2002 Seaman graduate who went on to play at New Mexico as well as in the minor leagues and is one of four Carlson brothers who played for Bushnell along with Nick (2004), Ben (2006) and Zach (2008). “His confidence and attention to detail raised the level of our team to achieve the goals that Seaman had never reached.
 
“He came in as a 28-year-old and put myself and Adam Schroeder on varsity as freshman when no one in program history had ever been varsity at that age. He set the tone for years to come that Seaman baseball would be synonymous with winning, effort, attitude and attention to detail which all led to excellence. … The standard for success changed the day he took over as head varsity coach. It wasn’t measure in wins and losses, it was measured in championships.”
 
In the midst of his successful run at Seaman, Bushnell came to a bit of a crossroads. The head coaching job at Washburn University came open in 2014 when Ichabod coach Steve Anson tragically lost his life in a tree trimming accident. Despite being an Emporia State graduate, the position was one that intrigued Bushnell to the point that he applied for the job.
 
“I’d shared with our administration my plan and had their full support and backing,” Bushnell said. “I remember talking to Mike Mathes, the superintendent at the time, and he said, ‘You’d be crazy not to throw your name in the hat.’ They supported whatever ultimately came from it. Some times the best time to look for a new job is when you’re in a good spot and I was definitely in a good spot already.”
 
Former Washburn player and assistant coach Harley Douglas wound up being named Anson’s successor and Bushnell returned to win two more state titles with the Vikings.
 
“It was a win-win situation for me,” Bushnell said. “From the competitive side, there’s always some disappointment when you feel you want to do something and have a new challenge, step away and try something different and see if you can have that success at the next level. That opportunity didn’t arise, but I didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward Washburn because I knew I was in a good place.”
 
After the lost COVID season, Bushnell had another decision to make. Dietz had just retired as Seaman’s athletic director and that too was a position that intrigued Bushnell. His desire was to remain on as head baseball coach while taking on the AD duties, but when that wasn’t an option, he had to choose.
 
He opted to give up the program he’d built into a powerhouse and begin a new chapter.
 
“It was the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that I was ready to step away from coaching the baseball program. I was a middle school PE teacher for 29 years. So I was always in the classroom, which I felt was the place I wanted to be and what was best for me and how I could impact students the most. Similar to the situation in applying for the Washburn position, when Brad made the decision to resign as AD, I felt like I was kind of getting toward the end of where I was in education from the years standpoint and I knew that opportunity to move into administration wasn’t going to happen again if I didn’t take advantage of it.
 
“I viewed it the same way as applying for the job at Washburn. I was in a good place and I think I could do a good job in that role and would like the challenge of leading the entire sports program instead of just one program with the baseball. That was always intriguing and being in leadership position and trying to impact others and hoping that maybe if I could help coach coaches in an administrative role, it would help bring success to their programs that I had a chance to experience as a baseball coach.”
 
Bushnell took over as Seaman’s athletic director at the start of the 2020-21 school year and stayed in that position for four years. During that span, the Viking athletic programs experienced unmatched success across the board with Seaman racking up countless United Kansas Conference championships and winning Class 5A state championships in boys basketball, girls basketball and volleyball.
 
“That was fun to see all the different programs and coaches and spend time watching the sports I never had a chance to do when teaching and coaching,” he said. “You learn a lot of things about other sports and I think our program’s flourished. Good things happened during those four years.”
 
Bushnell admitted that there was considerably more to the job than he anticipated, but that it was an experience he fully enjoyed. But after the 2023-24 school year, he was ready to retire. 
 
“It really was a leap of faith,” he said. “I really didn’t have a plan when I retired. I turned 57 in January and I felt like I still had some gas in the tank. I wanted to do some things I’d put on hold for 33 years. I have two adult children doing well in their personal and professional lives. I thought if I could step away and travel, go do some things I was never able to do, it was a good time for me. And if opportunities arrived in the future, I could always return to the classroom, return to coaching.”
 
Either invigorated by the short break he’s had, or simply chomping at the bit to become involved in high school athletics again, Bushnell already has returned to the diamond. But not as a coach.
 
This past spring, Bushnell got certified as a baseball umpire and worked a number of high school games, both at the JV and varsity level this spring. It’s been an experience he’s also fully enjoyed.
 
“I umpired for 30 years from the dugout and never missed a call so I thought umpiring was pretty easy,” he said. “So let’s just step on the other side of the white line and get paid to do it. I quickly learned it’s a lot easier from the stands and dugout to umpire when you’re one of the two guys on the field with the responsibility to make those calls.
 
“But I’ve had a great time with it and have been able to reconnect with a lot of coaches I competed against for all those years and they’ve gotten a chuckle out of it. I would say I approach umpiring the same way I’ve approached coaching every sport I’ve been involved with. It’s a huge responsibility and I don’t take it lightly. You want to be perfect and don’t want to miss any calls, you have to concentrate, you have to hustle and you have to have a high expectation for yourself. If you do those things, people recognize that. I’ve learned a lot and it’s the one way I’ve been able to get back on the baseball field.”
 
He's also getting back into coaching at Seaman next school year. In addition to playing baseball in high school, Bushnell also wrestled and next this winter he will take over the Vikings’ girls wrestling program after Jordan Best stepped down as coach following the 2024-25 season.
 
It’s not something completely new for Bushnell, who served as the girls’ interim coach when the program first started in 2021-22, coaching the team in December while Best finished up his duties as middle school coach before moving up to the high school.
 
And just as he was eager to put his imprint on the baseball program more than 25 years ago, he’s ready to do the same with the girls’ wrestling program.
 
“Having that competitive spirit and being in that environment of high school athletics and competition, you always challenge yourself,” Bushnell said. “It’s always great to give back and share your personal experiences with young athletes coming through high school. Whether that’s a male sport or female sport, coaching and teaching is always the same. You have those same goals and characteristics and values that we did for all those years with the baseball program now for the wrestling program. I’m ready.”
 
A member of hall of fames for Ban Johnson Baseball, Kansas City Kansas Community College athletics, Emporia State athletics, the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches and the Seaman Baseball Hall of Honor, Bushnell hasn’t ruled out some day seeking an opportunity to be a head baseball coach again. He doesn’t know when, or where, but said the desire is still deep within him to lead a program again.
 
“It would be a difficult decision because I’m a Seaman guy through and through. I’ll always consider myself a Viking,” said Bushnell, who sports a “Split S” tattoo on his left bicep – a design he modeled after the University of Miami’s “U” that has become synonymous with Seaman athletics. “I love to coach and teach and to be able to do it in the sport of baseball has always been my biggest passion. I’ve found out that I’m halfway decent at being able to do that. Seeing how things can come together – how a team starts and how it finishes – and being a team builder is always so gratifying as a coach. To take individuals and if you get your hands on them and they listen to you and buy in and everybody gets connected you’ve got a chance to win and be successful.
 
“I’d love to coach again. I don’t know if I could do it elsewhere. The door is always open and I wouldn’t limit myself, but I am a Seaman Viking at heart.”