When Alan Perry left Seymour, he didn’t know the path he would embark on for the next five years would lead him back.

Perry graduated from Seymour High School in 2018, and he had a decorated athletic career for the Owls.

He was a four-year letter winner in baseball, two-time all-state honorable mention and three-time all-conference selection. He played in the North/South Indiana All-Star Game, and he graduated as the school’s all-time leader in hits (112) and stolen bases (56). He had a .500 batting average with 14 doubles as a senior.

He was also an all-conference basketball player with four letters on the hardwood and was the school’s career assist leader (401). He was also a four-year letter winner in football with all-state honorable mention and all-conference honors as a junior as the team’s quarterback.

But baseball was his main sport, and Perry committed at the next level to play at Cedarville University, where he just graduated from this past spring.

“It was everything I always dreamed of,” Perry said. “My goal since I was probably 4 or 5 when I started playing baseball was to play college baseball. I got to play Division II baseball at a really high level against some really good competition. It was awesome.”

His collegiate career didn’t start as smoothly as he had hoped. His freshman year, Perry played just 11 games before dislocating his shoulder and missing the rest of the season.

His sophomore year lasted only 12 games before being stopped due to COVID-19, and in his junior year, Perry played just 10 games before he broke his hamate bone in his left hand, which required surgery.

“When I finally got healthy, my goal was to play in every single game,” Perry said. “I took pride in suiting up and being out there.”

He did just that. Perry was one of three players on the roster to start all 47 games in 2022, and this past season, he did it again.

Perry graduated this May with a degree in English education, and all the time he missed his first three years of college made him realize he didn’t want to be away from the game of baseball.

Now, Perry won’t be.

The 24-year-old has accepted a position to teach freshmen English at Seymour High School, and he will also serve as an assistant on both the football and baseball programs — both programs that just had historic seasons.

The football team won the Hoosier Hills Conference for the first time since 2001 last year, and the baseball team won its first conference title since 1991.

“I was able to keep up and it was exciting just seeing where we’ve come from when I was middle school and early in high school to now we won the conference last year, and in baseball to win the conference for the first time since 1991, it’s just an exciting time for both those sports,” Perry said.

He will work with the wide receivers for varsity football while also calling some plays for JV and freshmen on Saturdays.

For baseball, Perry will work a lot with the infielders as that’s where he played during his career.

“Coach (Jeremy) Richey is really the reason I want to be a teacher and a coach,” Perry said. “To know he’s having that kind of success and is doing it the right way, it’s awesome I couldn’t be happier for him. I really want to just come in and learn from both these guys. Both coach (Tyson) Moore and coach Richey are great.”

What’s even more special about coming back to Seymour baseball is Perry’s dad, Tim Perry, is already an assistant coach on staff, and his brother, Bret Perry, will be heading into his senior season.

“I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t pretty cool,” Alan said. “My dad joined the staff my senior year, so that was cool. To be around Bret for his senior year is awesome, too, because I haven’t really seen him play a lot since I’ve been away at school. I’m soaking it all up and trying to learn as much as I can.”

As good as a high school career as Alan had, his little brother might have him beat.

Bret is also the quarterback for the Owls, plays basketball and just finished up a baseball season in which he was one of the The Tribune’s Co-Players of the Year. He was the Player of the Year after his junior season as well.

“I’d never tell it to his face, but he’s definitely a better athlete than I was,” Alan admitted. “Coach Richey always gives me a hard time about it. I think Bret is only five or six hits behind me for career hits, so he’ll break that early next spring when I’m there.”

When Perry got to college, he didn’t know what we wanted to do. He met his girlfriend at Cedarville, and she played a fifth year of basketball at Wright State, so he had no idea where they’d want to end up.

When the English position opened up at Seymour, he thought it was too good to pass up, especially with a chance to be around the sports he loves.

Things seem to falling into place for Perry. Even his beloved Cincinnati Reds and Bengals are on the right track.

“This is like everything I’ve been hoping and dreaming for since I was like 5 years old,” Perry said. “It’s been a long road, but I’m pumped. Matt McLain and Elly (De La Cruz) is everything Cincinnati wants, and it’s the same thing with (Joe) Burrow and (Ja’Marr) Chase. Those two leading each franchise, I mean you couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m stoked for the future.”

Professional sports team allegiances aside, Perry is still stoked about his new role.

As someone who just got done playing collegiate baseball and went through that process, he feels like he can be a good resource for a lot of the new athletes at Seymour he will be coaching.

“I’d like to be that for not only Bret but for all the guys on the baseball team,” Perry said. “I’ve built a lot of connections throughout the years. I want these guys to get that opportunity that I got. Coach Richey did that for me a ton in high school, so if I could do that for someone else, that’s the goal and I hope I can provide that.”