Finally, the boys baseball program will hear the words they couldn't wait to hear: "Play ball!"
In most cases, the hiring of a head baseball coach is a fairly straightforward procedure. But when it came to hiring a new head baseball coach at Cloquet High School, the situation was far from normal. And after much controversy and differences of opinion, the Cloquet School Board approved the hiring of Steve Jezierski as the head baseball coach for Cloquet High School by a vote of 4-2, with board members Jim Crowley and Sandy Crowley casting the dissenting votes.
Jezierski was originally recommended for the job last fall after long-time head coach Dean Levinski resigned. However, some board members felt the hiring process was flawed due to a perceived conflict of interest by members of the hiring committee, the board decided to re-post the position. After it was again posted in late December, Jezierski was again the chosen candidate for the job - and this time it's official.
This will be Jezierski's second stint as head baseball coach with Cloquet. He first served as head coach of the Lumberjacks from 1999 to 2000. Prior to that , he was assistant coach from 1977-1985.
Before the vote, board member Shelly Pritchett questioned whether or not Jim Crowley and Sandy Crowley should recuse themselves from voting on Jezierski's hiring. Jezierski is the former son-in-law of the Crowleys, which raised Pritchett the question if there was a conflict of interest. Pritchett indicated since former hiring committee member Rick Stowell stepped down from the original committee due to a perceived (but not legal) conflict of interest because he previously coached with Jezierski, so should the Crowleys. In a legal sense, their is no conflict of interest because the Crowleys are not currently related to Jezierski. Jim Crowley disagreed with Pritchett's notion of abstaining from the vote.
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Jezierski will begin his tenure as the head baseball coach when the spring sports season begins in March.
- Steph Adamski will take over as the head softball coach at Cloquet. Adamski had previously served as head softball coach at AlBrook High School.
- In other school board news, Activities Director Tom Lenarz presented the board the notion of cancelling the spring sports banquet. The four main reasons Lenarz cited for the proposed cancellation were:
- Lack of attendance/interest by athletes,
- Most teams do a "team" end-of-the-season ceremony,
- Surveys have reinforced this issue,
- Increasing costs of the holding the banquet, on top of the school district's shrinking budget.
The board decided to let Lenarz "play the issue by ear," and if he felt it necessary to cancel the spring banquet come spring, he should do so.
Pine Journal Editor Mat Gilderman can be contacted at: mgilderman@pinejournal.com .
