HobbsDailyReport.com
BOONE – Jerry Moretz will coach the Watauga High softball team for a second time.
MORETZ
The school announced Tuesday it has asked Moretz to replace Shelby Drummonds, who resigned last summer to accept a job in Alaska after one season with the Pioneers.
Moretz coached Watauga’s varsity softball team from 1996-2000 and has spent time with the team as an assistant coach during his 12 years at the school.
He was the girls’ varsity basketball coach from 2001-03, girls’ softball coach from 2004-08 and boys’ junior varsity basketball from 2009-17, The Watauga Democrat reported.
Moretz was an assistant girls’ basketball coach from 1994-2000 and has been a varsity boys’ basketball assistant since 2007.
Watauga previously named a new varsity baseball coach, hiring Seth Freeman, who has been coaching at Cherryville.
Cavs hire 2 new coaches
East Burke High has two new head coach, Brian Branch in baseball and Kelly Wilson in wrestling.
Branch’s coaching experience includes a stint at Burns and Wilson coached wrestling last season at Draughn, and he is a former Freedom assistant.
Wilson is the third Cavs wrestling head coach in four years, who went 14-15 last season and 4-4
in the South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A.
Branch has also been a junior legion coach in Shelby. He replaces Chip Watts, who will continue on the Cavs’ football coaching staff.
Watts coached East Burke for two seasons. They were 3-20 overall and 1-15 in the SMAC 2A-3A last year, losing 10 of their last 11 games, and finished 6-16 overall in Watts’ first season.
East Burke has won 61 baseball games in the last 10 seasons, second-fewest in the Greater Hickory area behind Freedom (49).