Best, worst decision

Kaleb Francis believes quitting high school baseball after his freshman season at Siloam Springs may be the worst decision he's ever made.

It also may have been the best thing he's ever done.

The decision to quit baseball helped send Francis' life in a downward spiral headed to nowhere, only to hit rock bottom -- where he discovered what's truly important.

There are some that believe he wouldn't be where he is today -- leading the Siloam Springs baseball team into the Class 6A playoffs this week and graduating high school next Saturday, May 21 -- had things not transpired as they did.

But for Francis, and the Panthers, things happened the way they did for a reason, and both he and his teammates have reaped the benefits of it this season.

Rock bottom

When it comes to hitting rock bottom, the Siloam Springs baseball program landed there May 1, 2013.

That was the night of the infamous 7A-West Conference doubleheader against Van Buren where -- after dropping a 9-3 decision in game one -- the Panthers lost game two 37-2. The 37 runs scored by the Pointers were a new state record.

Several of Siloam Springs' current senior baseball players played in that game, including Francis, who was the fourth pitcher Siloam Springs used to get out of a first inning that saw Van Buren score 22 runs.

The Panthers finished that 2013 season with a record of 2-23, including an 0-14 mark in the 7A-West Conference.

The baseball coaching staff at the time -- head coach Jonathan Johnson and assistant Dwain Pippin -- were reassigned as football-only coaches as part of the Siloam Springs School District's plan to give more priority to spring sports, and Jacob Gill and Josh Killian were hired as baseball coaches.

But Kaleb Francis was done with baseball.

There were several reasons why he quit, including not seeing eye-to-eye with the new head coach, a little baseball burnout and just good old-fashioned laziness.

"It was the worst decision I ever made because I got lazy in the classroom, and I just didn't really care about anything else and I just gave up on everything," Francis said. "And it came back to bite me my junior year."

The 2014 baseball season was another tough one for Siloam Springs.

The Panthers -- without the then-sophomore Francis -- went 2-21 and 1-13 in 7A-West Conference play with a team full of sophomores and freshmen, losing to eventual state champion Russellville in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Before the season was over, Gill had announced he was taking a football coaching job at Springdale and Killian was moving into school administration at Main Street Academy. For the third time in three seasons, a new coaching staff would be in charge of the baseball program for the 2015 season.

Coming back to baseball

On July 17, Alan Hardcastle was hired as head baseball coach at Siloam Springs High School. Not two weeks later, Hardcastle was able to get an up close and personal look at the future of the baseball program in the 2014 Babe Ruth Southwest Regional held at James Butts Baseball Park in Siloam Springs.

Of the 14 players on the host Siloam Springs team in that tournament, 12 of them would end up playing for Hardcastle in his first season at Siloam Springs; nine of them are on the Panthers' current roster.

On a muggy evening on July 25, 2014, that team took the field in the Southwest Region Tournament with Hardcastle in attendance against Long Beach, Miss. Starting on the mound that night for Siloam Springs was Kaleb Francis, who had been talked into playing summer baseball with his friends.

Francis pitched well that night, carrying a shutout into the sixth inning before Long Beach rallied to tie the game 4-4. Siloam Springs would win the game 5-4 with Zac Bolstad picking up the victory in relief. Francis also had two hits at the plate.

Francis made an impression on Hardcastle that night.

"He was very impressive as a 15-year-old kid out there," Hardcastle said. "I was very excited to get to work with him."

It wasn't until later that summer -- "about August or so" -- that Hardcastle got the news that Francis had not played with the high school team his sophomore year and wasn't planning on doing so his junior year either.

"All I could think about was what do we need to do to get this player out here," Hardcastle said.

The taste of baseball during the summer of 2014 began to work on Francis, and so did his buddies, who never quit telling him how much they wanted him to come back to the high school team.

"I saw that everyone wanted me back," Francis said, "and that felt good. Everyone wanted me to come back."

Francis had gone to a few games during his sophomore season, and while watching his friends and former teammates "realized that I missed it."

"All of my friends are supporting me, wanting me to come back," Francis said. "They're telling me every single day how much they miss me, how much they wish I was out."

Francis decided to try out for the team his junior year, despite waffling back and forth about whether or not he really wanted to play again.

But there was a problem. He was academically ineligible and not able to participate in any games, varsity or junior varsity.

"It hurt, but I didn't have anyone to blame but myself," Francis said. "That was my own fault. But it was actually more of a reality check than a big slap in the face."

Hardcastle helped enroll Francis in a Supplemental Instruction Program -- but even then there were bumps in the road.

"I got to where I didn't want to be back, and I didn't know how to tell him, and I got lazy with that, too," Francis said. "I wasn't going to Encore every day like I was supposed to. (Hardcastle) just kept pushing me and pushing me and pushing every day to do it, and he taught me that there's more to life than just baseball. Grades do matter. He encouraged me to get better in the classroom and did everything he possibly could to get me motivated to come back.

"He never gave up on me."

Francis couldn't play his junior season, but he made the decision he was going to practice with the Panthers and be part of the team.

"He made up his mind and said, 'hey, I want to still come out here,'" Hardcastle said. "'Even though I can't play, I want to practice and be with the guys.' There's not too many people that would do that, that would sacrifice a whole spring semester.

"Things didn't work out with the grades, but we just had to figure out a way to keep Kaleb out here. As much as I want to say it was me, it was him."

Meeting his father

There were other matters in Francis' life factoring in around that time as well. Some of these stories of what has happened to a teenage boy aren't fit to tell.

But Francis is open about the story of the relationship with his father.

It wasn't until two years ago that Francis actually met his father, Jeremy Francis, who was a former baseball standout who played at Carl Albert State College.

Kaleb Francis met his father in person for the first time since he was a toddler while Jeremy Francis was on a furlough from the Baxter County Detention Center in Mountain Home.

Jeremy Francis has been an inmate with the Arkansas Department of Corrections since November 2008 after he was arrested on charges of manufacturing and delivery or possession of a controlled substance in Benton County.

Since being booked into prison though, Jeremy Francis has been enrolled in the trustee program, which allows him two furlough weekends every six months.

"He came home for a weekend and that's when I first met him at my mom's apartment," Kaleb Francis said. "We both cried, but we got over it. He talked to me and apologized and told me that I'm his mission. He's doing the best he can to get out and get back in my life and make up for everything."

Kaleb Francis didn't share the particulars of how or why he hasn't had a relationship with his father growing up, but he's happy to have one now.

"He gets to furlough out twice every six months, but he does a good job of doing it once every three months," Kaleb Francis said. "That way it's pretty set on when we'll get to see each other and stuff."

Kaleb Francis said his dad was a major factor in him playing baseball again.

"He gave me a view of it from his standpoint and told me I would regret it," Kaleb Francis said. "That gave me some things to think about. I thought about them, and it helped convince me to get back into baseball and pick my life back up and quit being lazy and selfish."

Panthers surge

After winning a combined eight games in the previous three seasons, the Siloam Springs baseball team has won 12 this year and can make a good argument that they could have won even more.

The Panthers (12-15, 4-10 7A/6A-Central) went 3-3 in conference games against 6A teams, splitting with Greenwood, Russellville and Alma, and earned the No. 3 seed from the conference in this week's Class 6A state tournament.

Siloam Springs will play a first round game against Lake Hamilton at 3 p.m. Thursday in Sheridan.

There's no denying that Kaleb Francis' return to the team has made an impact.

Heading in to this week, Francis was hitting .310 with one home run and 19 RBIs for the Panthers, mostly playing catcher and third base. He's also pitched 22 innings for Siloam Springs and got the win in relief on April 1 when Siloam Springs rallied from a 7-0 deficit to defeat Class 7A Little Rock Catholic in a 7A/6A-Central Conference game.

"He's very unselfish and wants to play wherever I need him to play," Hardcastle said. "He's got great leadership skills. He brings a toughness. I said that at the first of the year, he's got kind of a cockiness, arrogance, that we didn't have last year. He's not afraid to get on these guys. If they're messing around, screwing around, he lays down what I call a little 'Kaleb law.' He's not afraid to get in their face and say, 'Hey, we need to turn this thing around and do the right thing.'"

It hasn't been all wine and roses though.

There was the doubleheader at Van Buren on April 8 where Francis was benched for the first game and the start of the second after showing a bad attitude during tournament pre-game warmups.

In the aftermath though, Hardcastle and Francis discussed the matter. By the end of game one he was leading his teammates from the bench and earned his way back in to game two as a substitute.

"(Hardcastle) put me in my place over my attitude," Francis said. "He let me know that he wasn't going to be walked on. That made me realize that I'm not the coach here. I don't make the decisions. I just needed to do what he asked me to do."

"That calmed me down a little bit. It got me focused on what I need to focus on, quit trying to do everything myself, just relax and help the team more, play where he tells me to play without any complaints and do what I can to help better the team."

Since that blip on the radar -- and Hardcastle would say Francis wasn't the only one who showed a poor attitude at Van Buren as several players were benched for game two -- Francis has been a solid leader for the Panthers.

"The team voted Dodge (Pruitt) and Zac (Bolstad) as captains -- two great captains," Francis said. "But not everyone listens to them, and coach saw that. I guess the few that don't listen to them really listen to me. Coach asked me to step up and help lead them, but not only lead them but help lead the other guys, too.

"The two captains that were voted, sometimes they need a leader, too. If they're mad at coach, I can be the guy that goes in and gets their head back up and get them back right and get them back on track."

Best decision

Quitting baseball.

"It was the best decision I ever made because it helped me realize that baseball is what I truly do love," Francis said. "Realizing I truly did love it and missed it, it also got me out of what I was going through in the classroom. It helped push me to try harder and get back out here."

Hardcastle sees a lot of himself as a young man in Francis right now.

"He knows how proud I am of him," Hardcastle said. "Sometimes he's hard-headed. I told him he reminds me of myself when I was young. I was hard-headed but I had the will to want to learn and listen.

"Growing up, I was in a divorced home, my mom and dad weren't around. I had coaches, and I clung to them like a dad. I try to help him out and give him sound advice and do what I can for him."

Francis would like to keep playing baseball after high school. There may be opportunities down the road to do that. Long term, he has dreams of being a police officer.

But for this week, he's aiming to help his teammates who never gave up on him.

"I'm just really excited that he's out here and a part of the team," Hardcastle said. "We all choose roads, and I think back last fall if Kaleb had decided not to come out (for baseball), who knows where Kaleb would be at right now. He might not be graduating high school. There's no telling.

"It's one of those things where baseball needed Kaleb, and Kaleb really needed baseball."