When Papillion La Vista South High School’s head baseball coach Bill Lynam retired last year, the next chapter of the school’s varsity program was already standing in the dugout.
Starting his first season as head coach, Ben Bails has long been associated with the program.
“I’ve been with the program since 2008, so just about 17 years,” Bails says. But his roots in Papillion go deeper than his time as a physical education teacher and assistant baseball coach. “I grew up in Papillion—my mom and dad still live across the street from Papillion Junior High.”
He played for Coach Lynam at Papillion La Vista High School, then later coached alongside him after earning a position in the district. That time became a foundation.
“Over 17 years, I got a lot of opportunities to pick his brain,” Bails says. “Coach Lynam had everything down to a science. He had everything calculated, and our voices were heard often.”
That collaborative culture continues. Bails describes the coaching staff as a tight-knit group, working closely for years, including head assistant Jamie Glover. “It’s really ‘ours,’ and that’s how I want to treat it with our current team. It’s always going to be about our voices heard and working together as a unit, which I think is pretty unique.”
Legacy matters in Papillion baseball. And Bails understands that taking over such a successful program carries weight.
“There’s a big responsibility behind it. You take over something successful for so long, led by one of the greats, someone respected not just in the city of Omaha but the state of Nebraska,” Bails says. “Definitely carrying the legacy.”
He points to decades of tradition—championship teams in 2010 and 2011, powerhouse squads in 2004, and history stretching back to the early ’90s. “A lot of history, I know,” he says with a smile.
Still, the focus is on the present. The season officially began on March 2, with the first game on March 19.
Bails is especially excited about his senior class. “These guys are grinders.” There are ten of them, and he admits, “I don’t want the season to start, because I don’t want it to end. I don’t want these guys to leave.”
“Overall, it’s super exciting,” he says. “I wouldn’t say I’ve dreamt of this day, because I didn’t want Coach Lynam to have to hang ‘em up, but the way it happened, the group he went out with last year, it was just a blessing.”
For Bails, the goal isn’t reinvention. It’s stewardship—honoring what’s been built while leading the next generation forward.