‘It’s shocking’: Inside Liberty’s surprising split with beloved baseball coach ...Middle East

BRENTWOOD — Andrew Lonsdale was in the middle of creating next fall’s workout plan for the Liberty baseball program when he got an email from Principal Efa Huckaby that said they needed to talk about coaching. 

Lonsdale, who had just completed his sixth season as Liberty’s baseball coach and led the Lions to a Bay Valley Athletic League championship, was not ready for the news that he was about to hear. 

“I was informed that the district wasn’t going to rehire me,” Lonsdale told the Bay Area News Group, recalling the conversation from last month. “I went into the meeting and was told my vision for athletics didn’t align with theirs. They kind of offered me an opportunity to resign, which I didn’t take. And, yeah, that was kind of it.”

Lonsdale’s firing made waves throughout the East Bay as Lonsdale was a well-respected baseball coach in the Bay Area for over 15 years. Dozens of social media posts were made by other coaches, parents and players in support of Lonsdale. 

Lonsdale is still left with more questions than answers as his performance on the field suggested the program was in a good place. 

However, Lonsdale was placed on administrative leave in March over what he described as a dispute over fundraising money. He was allowed to return after three weeks and finished out the season.

“It’s shocking to me because I felt like they were doing anything they can for a personal reason to try to get rid of Andrew,” Liberty assistant coach Billy Rhodes said. “They did a three-week investigation and they found nothing on him. … And then they reinstated him.

“I talked to the principal and he said he’s coming back. The principal said to me, ‘My plan is to have him back on the field next year. And so for me, 100% I thought he would come back.”

Liberty Union High School District superintendent Denise Rugani declined to get into details as to why the district parted ways with Londale, saying, “I am unable to comment due to this being a personnel issue. This being said, all the concerns and issues that led to his coaching position not being renewed was discussed and shared with Mr. Lonsdale in multiple meetings with the site administration and human resources.”

According to Rugani, coaches are rehired on a year-to-year basis. 

Rugani said the decision to move on from Lonsdale was made with school and district support, but Lonsdale and a source close to the situation have disputed that claim. Lonsdale and the source said Huckaby and athletic director Jon Heinz both signed off on bringing Lonsdale back for another season, but the district disagreed.

“Every coach does an exit meeting with the athletic director at the end of the year and he pretty much gave me outstanding marks,” Lonsdale said. “(Jon Heinz) checked rehire on mine and we all signed it. I went on summer break and thought we’re all good.”

Lonsdale had a 78-57 record in his six seasons at Liberty. He led the Brentwood school to two Bay Valley Athletic League titles as head coach. 

Coaches around the East Bay have credited Lonsdale for elevating Liberty from a meddling BVAL team to perennial league title contenders. 

“When we first started there, we had broken tees and there were no nets. All the cabinets in the cages were ripped. The field conditions were horrible. The kids weren’t getting practice shirts. We were $7,000 in the hole,” Rhodes said. 

“Andrew walked into a $7,000 hole with not the greatest conditioning fields or equipment to play with. Now, everything has improved. There’s more uniforms. Everybody’s getting two hats, everybody’s getting practice shirts. It was a lot of big-time changes.”

Lonsdale’s midseason suspension came as a surprise to the team and the coaching staff. Lonsdale said the dispute started with an anonymous complaint that he stole $25,000 from a program fundraiser. 

“You would think if I stole 25 grand that they would have called the cops on me,” Lonsdale said. “Obviously, I hadn’t done that. I am still unsure why it took three weeks to check that the check from the fundraiser was still sitting in the mailbox at the school while I was on leave. There’s a lot of weird things with that.”

Lonsdale returned to the team after three weeks. Rugani said the decision to lift Lonsdale’s suspension was because “not allowing him to come back would have been detrimental to the program and the seniors on the team.” 

Lonsdale said nobody from the district told him why the suspension was being lifted, just that he could return to coaching.

During the investigation, the district did not interview any of Lonsdale’s assistant coaches, according to Rhodes. Rhodes was appointed as the interim coach while Lonsdale was away. 

Rhodes and the rest of the coaching staff believe there were other motives for the district to suspend Lonsdale.

“There was no tension going on this year,” Rhodes said. “The tension got brought on this year by just one parent not happy with the level that their son played at this year on the JV team instead of the varsity team. So when they were unhappy, they started expressing their dislike towards Andrew.

“It’s all about who you know. Sometimes, when you work in the past with people at higher levels, it’s easier to express your opinion to them.”

Lonsdale’s players have also spoken out against the decision. 

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“This was a major surprise to all of us,” junior shortstop Stevie Wellens told the Brentwood Press. “I’ve played for many coaches, and Lonsdale is the best coach I’ve ever had in my life. Not only is he one of the greatest coaches, he’s also one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. Lonsdale is a light for all the players and people in general at Liberty. Me and the guys were all looking forward to having Lonsdale as a coach for these next few years. It’s just really disappointing.”

Rhodes and the rest of Lonsdale’s coaching staff are not expected to return next season. Rhodes also said multiple players have considered transferring from Liberty. 

For Lonsdale, the future of his coaching career is on pause. He still holds a position at Liberty as a physical education teacher, but has fielded multiple offers from other schools to become an assistant coach. 

But as of now, coaching is the last thing Lonsdale has on his mind. 

“I’m going to spend some time with my wife. We’re going to go to Lake Tahoe soon,” Lonsdale said. “I have no idea what my next step is.”

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