The Stevens Point Post 6 American Legion baseball team will have a new coaching staff for the 2000 season.
Tom Drohner, 31, will succeed Gary Kostuchowski, who has resigned for personal family reasons following a four-year tenure at the helm. Although the Sixers compiled a 50-95 overall record under Kostuchowski, Post 6 won its second Class AAA state championship in five years under the leadership of the former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point standout in 1996.
Drohner, who has a strong background in baseball, has served as the girls softball coach at Stevens Point Area Senior High the past two years after joining the staff as an assistant coach in 1996.
The appointment of Drohner was announced by Jim Zblewski, president of the Stevens Point American Legion Baseball Club Inc. Zblewski also announced that Drohner will be assisted by longtime SPASH baseball coach George Roman who ranks second in the state among active prep coaches with 446 career wins.
Roman, who said he will serve as a "senior advisor" to Drohner, is no stranger to Legion baseball. He guided the Sixers to a 34-8 record during his one year as manager in 1991 and to a third place finish in the AAA State Tournament in Beloit.
Kostuchowski, who played for Roman at both SPASH and Post 6, said he will remain active in the program as a member of the board of directors.
"I'm excited for this opportunity and feel I'm ready to meet the challenge," Drohner said. "I couldn't get into a better situation with a program that was top of the line during most of the 1990s.
"It's going to be a great honor for me to have the benefit in the dugout that George brings with all his years of experience and knowledge of the game. He will be a tremendous help to youngsters in the program."
Drohner, who said he planned to name a manager for the Junior Sixers soon, is a native of the Lake Geneva area. He earned a baseball scholarship as a catcher at Olney (Ill.) Junior College, then played his last two years at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
After graduating from St. Edward's in 1992, he served for one year as a graduate assistant in that program before returning to his native state as a teacher at Big Foot High School in Lake Geneva. He accepted a position as a learning disabilities instructor at SPASH in 1995-96.
"I'm going to emphasize fundamentals and team discipline and chemistry," Drohner said. "That is the kind of background I come from. If we hustle and do things the right way, there is no reason why we can't be successful. The mental part of the game is so important. As far as the fundamentals, you learn by repetition, doing things over and over again."
For the past several years, Drohner has played with the Plover entry in the Badger Amateur Baseball Association (BABA). He and his wife, Kate, are the parents of two children, a son D.J., 3, and a daughter, Aubrey, 18 months.