12/5 baseball: Waupun assistant to coach Central; Hall-of-Famer Thornton passed over

By JEFF BROWN / Tribune Sports Editor

The timing was right, so Kent Van Egtern and his family decided to go for it. Almost like a hitter sitting on a 3-0 pitch, waiting for that right-down-the-pipe fastball.

Van Egtern, 31, said he couldn’t pass up a chance to apply for the vacant Central High School baseball coaching job. And when he was offered the part-time, non-teaching position on Tuesday, he accepted.

On Wednesday, it was official. Van Egtern, an assistant baseball and football coach at Waupun High School who makes his living as a sporting goods salesman, became the new face of the Red Raiders baseball program. “My wife is transferring to UW-La Crosse (where she will be a student), and one of our boys is a seventh-grader. We wanted to move before he got into high school,” said Van Egtern, listing a couple of reasons that he applied for the job. “It’s such a great opportunity there. I am so excited. My wife and I were talking about it last night. We were so excited about it we couldn’t sleep.”

There was a curveball thrown in the selection process, however. It came in the form of Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach Frank Thornton, who also applied for the position. Thornton, owner of a 459-131-1 record in 30 seasons at Central — including two state titles and 17 state appearances — resigned as the Red Raiders’ coach after the 1999 season.

Thornton, 63 and retired, was one of four external candidates — there were no internal candidates for the job. Thornton was interviewed by a 10-member committee, but did not receive a second interview.

“I am more surprised than anything. The two other applicants (finalists) had no head coaching experience,” Thornton said. “I would say the administration wanted to go in a different direction. They basically called me up and told me I didn’t finish in the top two. I hope it wasn’t an age factor, and I hope they don’t think the game has passed me by because it hasn’t.”

Central activities director Joe Beran said he could not comment on who applied, or the process by which the new coach was selected.

“The interview process is a private process. All of it is private and confidential,” Beran said. “I cannot make any comments about the details.”

Beran did say he was happy to land Van Egtern, and believes he has a good baseball man who “really displayed a great amount of excitement and enthusiasm for the position.”

Beran said one of the things he liked, and the committee discussed, was Van Egtern’s involvement in youth baseball programs in Waupun. Van Egtern has been involved with baseball at all levels in the Waupun area, where he grew up.

“We certainly want to do what we can to keep the program successful,” said Beran, who has been searching for a replacement since Gregg Erickson resigned on Oct. 23 after eight years with a 90-83 record and two Mississippi Valley Conference titles. “There has been a tradition of Central baseball, and it was very apparent that Kent loves baseball and wants to keep the success we have had going.”

Van Egtern had been on the Waupun baseball staff since 1999, mainly concentrating on the team’s pitching and defense, but did work with the hitters as well. Waupun went 21-4 last season and won the WIAA Division 2 state title, and was 18-5 in 2006 when the program also earned a state berth.

It was a building process at Waupun, Van Egtern said, and he expects to do some rebuilding at Central.

“I don’t know how he (Thornton) left, or the previous coach (Erickson),” Van Egtern said. “I don’t know if I can do that (win 459 games like Thornton), but I do think I can get it done there. I would like to get the program turned around and where it was in the 90s.

“I plan on building a program on fundamentals like we did here. I really stress the fundamentals. Kevin (head coach, DeBoer) and I, that has been our trademark. We built the program around fundamentals and defense. You can always trust defense.”

Van Egtern said he and his family will be in town on Friday, and plans to have his family relocated her by mid-January.

“I am excited to meet the coaching staff and I am excited to meet the players. We need to get the players and their families involved,” Van Egtern said. “We need to get people excited about Central baseball again.”

Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com