CV rehires baseball coach, assistants

Barry Poffenroth and two of his assistant coaches, Jerod Crowley and Ryan Butner, will return to the Central Valley baseball program in the spring.

The yearly coaching contracts of the trio and out-of-building varsity assistant John Seefried initially were not renewed near the end of the school year following a complaint about possible recruiting infractions.

Poffenroth, with more than 20 years teaching and coaching at CV, said he was “excited and ready to put it behind us.”

All three applied when the positions were re-opened and were re-hired along with newcomer Mike Amend.

“This has been the weirdest thing I’ve been around,” Poffenroth said. “My feeling is we didn’t do anything wrong and I was going to do it (apply).”

Added CV activities coordinator Butch Walter, “The positive thing is we have four coaches in-building with a quality of experience and background. We can now move forward from here.”

CV superintendent Mike Pearson explained that following last summer’s investigation the district determined there was program oversight regarding certain WIAA rules.

“We had concerns that perhaps WIAA rules were not followed as they should have been,” Pearson said.

The result, he said, is that the district is re-evaluating its entire athletic and co-curricular philosophy in order to put in place a policy that ensures WIAA rules and regulations and coaching responsibilities are understood and followed by in-building personnel and volunteers.

“We’re starting at round zero and making sure everything is clean,” Pearson said.

Poffenroth said Crowley will likely move up to varsity assistant, Butner will become junior varsity coach and Amend freshman coach. That leaves the status of Seefried and Jeff Simmelink, a longtime volunteer assistant, up in the air. Poffenroth said he is hopeful the two can return.