THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, March 19, 2015
It seems like a natural that Brian Stranger, who started the Coeur d'Alene Crush ASA program in 1993, and has coached softball at nearly every level imaginable over the past two-to-three decades, would someday have his own high school program to run.
Then you hear that Stranger is taking over this year as varsity softball coach at Post Falls High, and you wonder why it didn't happen sooner.
Then he explains why.
"I've been wanting to get into high school coaching for a long time, but there hasn't been very many jobs open up in this area," said Stranger, 56.
True, that.
POST FALLS has essentially had two head coaches in its first two decades of softball - Chris Johnson and Jack Foster. Foster, who coached the Trojans in 17 of the last 18 seasons (assistant coach Phil Hayes guided the Trojans one year when Foster took a year off to watch his daughter play her senior season of college softball), resigned after last season.
Coeur d'Alene has had just two head coaches in its illustrious slowpitch/fastpitch history, which has stretched more than three decades - though the Vikings' coach, Larry Bieber has announced this will be his 21st and final season as head coach.
Lake City had just three coaches in its first 21 years, so openings don't occur there much either.
But when Laura Tolzmann-Fierro quietly resigned following last year after 10 seasons - as quietly as someone who won 219 games and two state titles could resign - that opened the door for Jesse Lenz to take over as head coach, after spending the past two seasons as a T-Wolf assistant/
"She kind of informed us (coaches) last year that this might be her last year," said Lenz, 29. "She thought I would be a good person for the job. But they are big shoes to fill - I'll tell you that. It's amazing how much Tolzmann took care of that us assistant coaches didn't even know about. She spoiled the girls."
STRANGER WAS an assistant/junior varsity coach at Coeur d'Alene for a few years back in the late 1990s, but most of his coaching has been in the Crush club program.
"The teams I've always coached, I've worked with them since they were 8, 9, 10 years old up through high school," Stranger said of the Crush. "Here, someone else has coached them and, now, they have to learn me and learn my style, and I have to learn them."
Stranger said he coaches the same way he did in club ball, though while summer practices may last an hour or 90 minutes, his high school team is practicing 2-3 hours per day.
"They're working their butts off, and there's no complaining," Stranger said.
LENZ PLAYED baseball at Coeur d'Alene High for former Viking head coach Brian Holgate, graduating in 2004.
Lenz coached in another local club program for a few years in the early 2000s, helping his sister Jackie's teams.
He took a few years off to complete his master's in educational leadership from the University of Idaho. A football referee who has worked two high school state title games in Idaho, Lenz then surfaced as a sixth-grade teacher at Woodland Middle School.
Lenz said he learned many things working with Tolzmann-Fierro, among them noting how she could be stern with players when they needed a little nudging, but also let them know she was their biggest supporter.
"I always say, everything's sunshine and rainbows with Tolzmann," Lenz said.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.