Head baseball coach Trace Petersen stepped down after the Trojans’ last season with 15 years under his belt, and now the school district is in search of someone to take the mantle.

Athletic director Matt Alexander said, “As with any varsity coach, you’re looking for someone with adequate knowledge. They’ve got to be willing to put in the effort. Those qualities are very important.”

He said there were many applications, and he was close to making a recommendation to the school board. “There’s actually someone I’m pretty sure will be willing to say yes.” A name was not given.

Alexander didn’t release a name on who the coach would be, but he said “I have a guy I just need the approval of the board to finalize the whole thing.” Alexander said he would not fall back on Petersen if he couldn’t find someone. “He doesn’t have the heart in it anymore and doesn’t have the time at this point in his life,” said Alexander.

Alexander said he had some local applications, but they weren’t the right fit for what he was looking for. He said that he looks for someone who has the knowledge to be at a coach at the varsity level, someone who has passion, and the time to put into it because baseball is a long season.

Alexander also spoke on what would happen if nobody was the right fit. He said they would look into the staff already their. Like for instance junior varsity coach Mike McDermott whose son plays on the varsity team. McDermott doesn’t have the time to put in that much work being the varsity tennis coach and varsity football coach.

He also spoke on the building of new baseball and softball facilities. “We are still searching for land and still waiting on a full scale plan to start the project,” said Alexander. They are still looking for funding for the project and he thinks it will take a minimum of 2 years. Once they finalize the project it will take about 14 months to start it.

Alexander said “Petersen put in a lot of time with this program and has been a more than exceptional coach for Atlantic, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the time or passion for coaching anymore.” The new coach will be announced soon, and a new era of Trojan baseball will come with.