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New coach finds his niche filling some big cleats

Kris Wilken says his iconic predecessor has given him welcome and room.

By Brandon Wright, Times Correspondent
Published February 15, 2008

VALRICO 

Across the county and state, new high school baseball coaches will soon be taking the field with their teams. While some coaches come and go, others are fixtures who become the identity of the program and part of the school's fabric.

K.B. Scull was one of those coaches.

Scull, Bloomingdale High's baseball coach for 12 years, stepped down after last season. That paved the way for Kris Wilken and it would be natural for the new guy in the third-base coaching box to be apprehensive about replacing such a prominent figure, right?

Wrong.

"Honestly," Wilken said. "I don't feel any pressure."

All Scull did during his storied tenure was win three regional titles, play for two state championships and churn out players who continued their careers after high school.

"Are there shoes to fill? Yes," Wilken said. "Everyone has been great to me and treated me very well since I took that job.'

That includes Scull, who still teaches at Bloomingdale. Wilken, an assistant coach at Brandon for 21/2 years, said Scull has given him plenty of breathing room.

"As far as looking over my shoulder, that hasn't happened," he said. "I have the utmost respect for [Scull] and he has been there without interfering. He's left me alone but always there to help when I needed it."

Zach Payne, Bloomingdale's top pitcher, said there are similarities between his old and new coaches.

"They both like to get loud, that's for sure," he said.

Wilken's baseball knowledge stood out to the Bulls in part because his experience speaks for itself.

New Mexico's High School Gatorade Player of the Year, Wilken played at the University of Houston for three years before being selected in the 12th round by Baltimore. Wilken played in the minors for six years, reaching Triple A before deciding to take another career path.

"You could tell right from the start that he knew what he was talking about, and I think the team responded to that," Payne said. "I think we all meshed with him real quick from there."

Newsome High School's job came open before Bloomingdale's last year but Wilken held out and didn't apply for the Wolves' job.

"There had been talk K.B. would be leaving and even though [the Newsome] job was open, I knew I would rather be at Bloomingdale than Newsome," Wilken said. "No question about that."

That said, the biggest question facing Wilken is how his inexperienced team will respond. The Bulls lost nine seniors and six of their top seven hitters from last year's regional finalist team.

"My first thought when I looked around at these guys was, 'Wow, we are inexperienced,'" Wilken said. "There's a lot of work to do."

But if replacing Scull doesn't make Wilken blink, upholding Bloomingdale's tradition won't either.

"I have a lot of confidence in this team," Wilken said. "And in the end, they're going to be the ones who dictate how good we'll be."

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 22:33:25]