PREP BASEBALL: Clanton named Meade County's new baseball coach (08/04)

By GREG CREWS gcrews@thenewsenterprise.com BRANDENBURG — It had been nearly three years since the conversation in which Todd Clanton told Meade County High School athletic director John Proctor his desire to coach baseball, but it was a conversation Proctor did not forget. When Darren Snell stepped down from his position as the Green Wave’s head baseball coach in June, Proctor already knew who he wanted for the position, and within a month Clanton was handed the reigns. “A few years ago when he was the park director where we play our softball and baseball (Meade-Olin Park), we talked one evening,” Proctor said. “He played at Berea College, and he has played a lot of baseball and loved playing the game. He told me he was thinking about getting his teaching certificate … and he ended up getting it.” Clanton was hired by Meade County as a special education teacher and became an even better prospect in the eyes of Proctor as he joined the girls’ basketball coaching staff. “He was hired on as an assistant girls’ basketball coach last year under Josh Hurt. I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports about the work he was doing. The kids liked him and they responded well to him,” Proctor said. “When the baseball job came open I hoped he would show interest in it and he did. I told him I was glad to hear that.” The first task as the Green Wave’s new head coach, Clanton said, will be infusing interest and excitement into the program that hasn’t experienced a winning season in at least eight years. “First of all, we want to fill the program,” Clanton said. “We want to get to the level where year in, year out we will be a competitive team. We want to rebuild interest in the program and make baseball as successful as basketball and football. “We have to find the kids and get them interested in baseball again. The youth programs are very good, we just have to keep them involved and interested. We have to have a renewed dedication at the high school level and that starts with me.” Helping Clanton achieve those goals will be a brand new coaching staff, as all three assistant coaches retired alongside Snell. Two assistant coaches have already been hired — Matt Martin and C.J. Kirk — while the final position on the staff is still vacant. Martin is a recent graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan College, where he played baseball. Kirk previously taught at Meade County before leaving to teach in Georgia, where he also coached baseball, before returning to Brandenburg. “It’s going to be a learning experience for all of us. It’s going to take some time for us to learn from each other,” Clanton said. “We have to sit down this fall and talk about what I want done and what has to be done to have a program we can be happy with.” Clanton, 28, has previous experience coaching summer programs but has never coached on the high school level. Proctor thinks that Clanton’s energy and knowledge of baseball will be enough to make up for his lack of experience. “I hope he’ll bring the same thing that he has brought to girls’ basketball: A fresh face and enthusiasm,” Proctor said. “I think he is a very outgoing, approachable, likeable young man and that will help.” Clanton has already met with several players and has begun making plans for next season. He said the team will start conditioning this fall and will also play in a fall league at Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park. “We are going to be young. We’re going to have five seniors,” he said. “The key for us is to be scrappy. We are going to have to move runners over and be able to handle the bat. “It’s not going to be something overnight where we are going to be able to pound the ball. We are going to have to be scrappy.” Greg Crews can be reached at 505-1754