ACCC hunts for new coach

“I’m back.”
Did you miss me? No, I’ve not been on vacation just so busy that I didn’t have time to write on Fridays. Spring sports began and if you haven’t noticed the area sports calendar is very crowded on most Thursdays.
That means most of the room in Friday’s Register sports pages go to local sports. The excess goes on Saturday’s page.
Today I had some important news to share.
Allen County Community College is searching for a new head women’s basketball coach. Andy Hamilton, who just finished his second season of as Red Devil women’s head coach, handed in his resignation Tuesday, according to Randy Weber, ACCC athletic director.
Hamilton has joined the coaching staff of Jaime Green at Newman University in Wichita. Green was named head coach at Newman this week after coaching at Labette Community College in Parsons this year. 
Green led Labette to a third-place finish at the 2010 NJCAA National Champions tournament this year. She coached three years at LCC.
Hamilton was 13-49 overall as head coach at ACCC in his two years. His ACCC teams were 4-32 in Jayhawk Eastern Division play.
“Andy turned his resignation in Tuesday afternoon and his last day was Wednesday,” Weber told the Register today. “The board of trustees is aware of the situation and has given us the go-ahead to begin a search for a new coach.”
Weber said the college wants to expedite the search for candidates to fill the coaching vacancy. He said it was important to fill it as quickly as possible to help retain the current players on the Red Devil women’s basketball roster and for recruiting purposes.
ON THE SPRING SPORTS front, Allen County Community College’s softball team is putting together quite a season.
The Red Devils are rolling along toward the end of the regular season with just a week left. It’s a good bet Allen County will host a Region VI playoff series May 1.
The Red Devil baseball team is battling for position in the top four spots of the Jayhawk Eastern Division. They have several critical doubleheaders coming up in the next week.
As for Iola High School baseball and softball teams, the Fillies and Mustangs are very competitive. The Fillies are out to make another run at the Class 4A state tournament and the Mustangs would like to break through for a first-time trip. Both teams are working to stay in the hunt for Southeast Kansas League titles.
Kent Toland is still perfect as No. 1 singles player for the Mustang tennis team. The IHS track teams have outstanding athletes putting together good seasons already.