Former GU coach Hertz takes over RiverHawks

Before former Gonzaga head baseball coach Steve Hertz decided to take over as manager and general manager of the Spokane RiverHawks, he had to convince his wife.

She thought he was crazy, but said it would be all right as long as the youngest of six Hertz kids, 14-year-old Stephen, agreed.

“The last two years I’ve been able to make every game and every practice,” the elder Hertz said. “She (his wife, Vicki) said we better ask him and he wanted me to, and she said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘The best years of my life are when dad was coaching.’

“So that hit me. Good answer.”

Hertz takes over a RiverHawks program entering its fourth year, with a 31-71 record (.304) in three years. He will remain Gonzaga’s director of athletic relations, a job he took after a 24-year career as the head coach that ended in 2003, putting together a 637-627-6 record.

Kevin Stocker, previously the RiverHawks manager, gave up the job to spend more time with his family.

Now Hertz gets the difficult task of turning the club into a winner, but as a bonus, he’ll get to do it at Avista Stadium, which will be the team’s home park after three years at Spokane Falls Community College.

“This place is special,” Hertz said after a press conference at Avista on Wednesday. “This is show time, and if I’m a young high school or college player, getting a chance to play in a really good organization in the summer that has good travel and exposure, and play in a park like this, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Convincing young players to come to Spokane will be the problem. Hertz admits that it won’t matter who is managing if there’s no talent here.

He’s got relationships with college coaches around the country and has been using them over the past month to begin the process of selecting players to play for the RiverHawks.

“I’ll call them and say, ‘Give me four of your best guys,’” Hertz said. “We’re a little late in the game, but not too bad as far as recruiting.”

There is also the period in early November when the Division I schools sign high school and junior college athletes, and that’s when the RiverHawks have to be active again.

“Those guys will not have places to play yet,” Hertz said. “I know from being in this movie before – on the other side of it – I know there’s some quality players to pick up in that regard.”

Ideally, Hertz envisions a team of Division I and Lewis-Clark State players, as well as some area athletes who have traveled to play elsewhere.

Hertz will be helped by old friend and former CCS coach Keith Snyder, who won 250 games and two NWAACC championships for the Sasquatch. The RiverHawks pitching coach will be former GU All-American Barry Matthews.

The RiverHawks play in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCBL) with franchises operating out of Wenatchee, Portland, Bellingham, Kelowna, Bend and Silverdale.

For Hertz, it’s a chance to get back to what he does best – teaching the game of baseball.

“I used to put myself to sleep at night thinking about lineups,” Hertz said. “I haven’t slept well the past two years.”