Anthony Lo Duca, Brian Batty, John Parks and Larry Stephenson: What do all four of these men have in common?

Well, they all were at one time or another the head baseball coach for Sedona Red Rock High School in the last four years and are currently no longer involved in the program.

The last four seasons has been a roller-coaster ride for the Scorpion baseball program to say the least.

Four years, four coaches, a 25-66 record and more importantly, zero 3A state playoff appearances.

Not exactly the best way to feed a thriving program, a program that if it only had stability, would take off under the right coach. Sedona may now have its guy.

Rob Henry, a 53-year-old Sedona resident and avid baseball man, was officially announced as the new head coach for the Scorpions baseball program late last week.

“I feel privileged to be the head coach for the Sedona baseball program. This was a dream of mine but I never got the chance to follow it for one reason or another. Now I’ll get my chance and I’m excited,” Henry said with a big smile on his face.

Parks, Sedona’s athletic director, made the announcement with an excited tone in his voice.

“I think Rob [Henry] will do a good job for us. He has coached these kids before and knows baseball,” Parks said.

Henry made his way through the Sedona Little League coaching ranks, following his son, J.R. Henry, who is currently a sophomore at Sedona.

Henry baseball credentials speak for themselves, most recently leading the Sedona Little League Juniors team [ages 13-14] to the city’s first District 10 championship in 2007, qualifying for the state tournament.

During his childhood, baseball was the focus of his family. Henry is the son of Ann Henry, one of the many famous players who played for the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s.

You might have heard of it; a movie starring Tom Hanks was made about the league in 1992, called “A League of Their Own.”

Henry’s dad, Bob Henry, also played Class B baseball for the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations.

A 1974 graduate of Bisbee High School, Henry played his college baseball for Cochise Junior College as a pitcher for two years while receiving his degree in electronics.

Henry took a year to work before realizing work in electronics wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do.

“Work was no fun so I quit and went back to playing ball,” Henry said laughing.

Henry enrolled at Northern Arizona University and played baseball for Alan Flitcraft and the Lumberjacks, a program that exists no longer.

Henry majored in technical-electrical engineering, but never finished his degree at NAU. He moved to Sedona in 1977.

Taking a job with the Arizona Water Company in 1980, Henry enjoyed the work a bit more and has been with the company ever since and is currently a senior serviceman.

During his time in Sedona and before getting involved with Little League, Henry played softball and weekend hardball tournaments while umpiring high school baseball and softball with the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

Henry worked in the operations department with the Sedona Little League at one time, but returned to umpiring for the AIA shortly after.

“I was enjoying being single, playing ball and umpiring, traveling and doing many things,” Henry said.

Eventually, Henry settled down and married his wife Betsy and the two celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary this past August.

The couple have two children, J.R. and Leanne.

Henry talked about the one thing everyone wonders about for Sedona: program stability.

“I have three goals I want to begin taking roots here in my first year and the first one is convincing everyone that I’m going to be here awhile,” Henry said.

Henry went on to say he would like to be the head coach for a long time for the Scorpions, adding a “steady” feel to the program as he called it.

Secondly, Henry wants to make baseball the predominant sport in Sedona.

“I’m very interested in working with any age level. I’m already a part of the Little League board here and I want this town to bleed baseball,” Henry said.

Thirdly, Henry said this program may have its ups and downs every season, but the overall goal is to consistently be in the state playoffs every year.

“We are going to work every day as if we are going to state every season. I want to change the boys’ thinking, make them believe we can compete and gain the trust of the players by doing so,” Henry said.

Only time will tell how things go for Henry and the Sedona baseball program, but that may be the most important factor of all.

Henry has time and is willing to give it and if the powers that be allow him, it could be a long, long, long time.

Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com