Back at Bay, Peavey eager to get back on the field as new baseball coach

“We were literally hours away from starting the season, and now we have this layoff,” he said. “But we’re just trying to stay positive and hope this all calms down soon.”

This school year ended a 13-year journey back to Bay for Peavey, 31.

He was a two-sport standout at Hudson’s Bay from 2003-2007. He helped the Eagles to their last state tournament appearance in baseball in 2006, and he led the boys basketball team to their last state berth in 2007.

After being named the 3A state baseball player of the year in 2007, Peavey was drafted in the 24^th round by the New York Yankees, but instead chose to play college baseball at Oregon State.

After going 6-3 with 3.64 ERA for the Beavers during his junior season, Peavey was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 draft by the New York Mets. He would sign with the Mets later that summer.

Peavey pitched five seasons in the minors, four in the Mets organization and one with the Twins. He pitched at Triple-A in 2013-15. He was 45-39 with 4.60 ERA over those five seasons.

Peavey was released by the Twins just before Christmas in 2015.

“The Twins called to say they had just traded for a starting pitcher and were going in a different direction,” Peavey said. “When they let me go, my wife and I sat down and decided it was time to reconsider continuing my baseball career.”

Having established the Greg Peavey Pitching Academy in the offseason while he pitched in the minors gave Peavey the experience to join Northwest Futures, a baseball instruction and training academy, as a coach.

“I jumped at that,” Peavey said. “It was great. And it allowed me to be home for the birth of my second child.”

After his work with Northwest Futures, Peavey said he wanted to get into coaching at the high school level and become a teacher.

“Education kind of runs in my family,” Peavey said. “My wife is a teacher. My father-in-law is a principal.”

So after a seven-year hiatus, Peavey resumed his college education online with Oregon State and secured his degree. Last spring, he saw there was an opening for a baseball coach at Bay.

“I still knew people at Bay, so I applied for that, all while keeping eyes open for a teaching position,” he said.

Then a position opened up in Bay’s CTE (Career & Technical Education) program and Peavey was hired, applying lessons learned in business and marketing from running his own pitching academy.

“The stars just aligned for me to be at Bay,” Peavey said. “Teaching has been very rewarding. I’ve got a lot of people helping me with lessons plans. I’m just loving it.”

Looking back on his playing days, Peavey has nothing but positive memories, despite falling short of his dream to reach the majors.

“It was such a great experience,” he said. “I was able to meet so many great people along the way.

“I do miss the competition. I’d be lying to say that I still don’t have the itch to compete every day. But I have no regrets about my baseball career, or the decision to step away.”

The current shutdown of baseball does leave thinking about others currently struggling to make in the minors.

“In the minors, there already so much uncertainty,” he said. “Will you have a job? Where will you play? Will you make the 40-man or even 25-man roster. Minor leaguers don’t get paid during the spring, so it can be a very trying time. And now you have the shutdown on top of all that. I have heard that some big leaguers are helping out, which is great to see.”

What Peavey would like to see at Bay is having his players back on the field, working to rebuild the program.

“That’s a dream of mine, to build Bay’s baseball team into a strong, competitive program,” he said. “We’ve got some great people here at Bay, and I think we can do it.”

But for now, Peavey is spending his days with his wife Ashley and their three young children.

“I’m doing a lot of praying,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be back on the field again. But in the meantime, I’m enjoying my time with my family.”

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.