He fought.

He lost.

Now, the former Western Hills University High School baseball coach is urging his team to play without him.

“Play on and keep fighting; that’s my message to them,” said Matt Phillips, who was initially fired Jan. 14. “You can be upset, which is fine. But you know, you have to move on when things happen in life.”

Phillips, who still works security at Western Hills, said he was let go from his coaching job because he wasn’t getting his players to study sessions. But that would have been impossible, he said, because the study sessions are new this year, and the baseball season doesn’t even start until Monday.

Western Hills Principal Ken Jump, who made the decision to fire Phillips, did not respond to requests for comment. An Enquirer review of Phillips’ personnel file shows positive reviews as well as two disciplinary actions. His stipend for coaching baseball was $2,336 this past season.

The coaching job was posted on CPS’ website in January but was taken down after a group of parents and players protested at a board of education meeting. The vacancy had not been reposted as of Wednesday morning, but Phillips said he got a call about noon on Valentines Day from one of CPS’ attorneys, telling him he would not be reinstated.

The attorney told him that, legally, the call was up to the principal, Phillips said. It “stung,” he said, that the news came from legal counsel rather than his athletic director.

“It’s not gonna change,” Phillips said. “It’s an at-will position, and that’s it.”

Phillips’ hope now is that one of his assistant coaches, who is familiar with the team, will move into the head coaching role. The team’s first scrimmage is March 21.

Phillips started with CPS in 2010, working as a paraprofessional at Oyler School. He earned consistent “excellent” ratings on his reviews, the highest mark possible, according to his personnel file. He also helped start a baseball program at Oyler.

However, his file also shows two disciplinary actions. In 2013, he was transferred from Oyler School to Western Hills after allegations “regarding the inappropriateness of you text messaging with students.”

And in May, he was suspended for two days without pay after he was accused of “aggressively pushing a co-worker across a hall into a Western Hills student.” Phillips disputed that account, saying the co-worker pinched him and he had to push her to get away. The assistant principal wrote in his report that security footage showed there was “definitely a two handed shove,” and Phillips was suspended.

On Jan. 25, a little more than a week after he was first fired, it seemed Phillips might get his coaching job back. More than 20 parents and baseball players rallied on his behalf at a board of education meeting, touting Phillips’ dedication to the team, the sport and the baseball “family.”

Board of education president Ericka Copeland-Dansby said that night that Phillips, a district superintendent and Principal Jump were “working through things.”

Assistant CPS Superintendent Bill Myles told the group of parents and players that there were “issues that happened on both sides,” but “we will come up with a solution that everyone will be able to live with.”

Phillips said he intends to keep working his security job. One position was never tied to the other.

And, he’ll be in the stands at every baseball game he can.

“I’m not mad,” he said. “I’m hurt. I’m upset. These kids are like my own kids. I got two daughters; I’ve never had a boy. So these were my boys.”