On May 22, Ritch Price retired after 20 years as the University of Kansas' winningest baseball head coach in the program's 132-year history.

"I'm a Jayhawk for life," the 67-year-old said in a statement.

However, long before he made it to America's heartland, he got his start in the sport somewhere else: as a Sweet Home Husky.

Born in Medford, Price moved with his family to Pinole, Calif., when he was barely a year old. About a decade later, they relocated to Astoria, then, finally, Sweet Home, when Price was in the eighth grade. His father Richard became the principal at Sweet Home High...