SCOTT LOSES COACHING POSITION WITH HAWKS

Mike Scott, Kelly High's baseball coach for the last seven years, will not be coaching the Hawks next year.

The school board elected to not renew his contract.

During Scott's tenure, the Hawks went 97-63, won two district championships and took third place at state in 1997. In four of the last five seasons, Kelly made it to the district title game. Eleven players were offered baseball scholarships under Scott and six players were named all-state.

"I'll stand by my record," Scott said. "The numbers speak for themselves and we do that against the toughest schedule we can play. There have been no discipline problems and we always represent ourselves in the right way."

Scott said he was given no explanation by the school board or the administration for his release. He will remain at the school and keep his positions as a teacher and bus driver.

Kelly went 13-15 last year and Scott admitted the team underachieved at times.

"But at the end of the season, we were playing as well as anybody," he said. "And we lost a lot of close ballgames to very good teams."

Chaffee, which was ranked second in the state at the time, defeated Kelly 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning of the district championship game this season.

Scott said he might get back into coaching down the road if the right opportunity presented itself. As for now, "I've got enough stuff to keep me busy," he said.