Craig Gienger will be the next coach of Douglas County baseball. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Douglas County has hired Craig Gienger to be the school’s next baseball coach.
The school announced in the move in a press release on Monday.
Gienger, who has been an assistant at Douglas County for the past seven seasons, will take over for Mark Roberts. Roberts retired following the 2015 season after seven years leading the program. He was 74-62 in his time with the Huskies.
“We are very excited to have such a quality individual take over our baseball program,” Douglas County athletic director Jeff Gardella said in a statement. “Not only does he come with a wealth of knowledge and experience, but also has a vision and passion for the game that was so compelling that even my committee members were ready to play for him!
“The vision of using the game of baseball to pour into the lives of his players, as well as his role and responsibility in coaching boys into men, was very exciting to hear. In addition, he is very prideful about being a DC alumni, so having an opportunity to be the next head coach at the school and in the community that provided him with so much, was almost priceless.”
Gienger is a 1989 graduate of the school, where he starred in baseball and also played football and basketball. He was selected three times in the MLB Draft after high school, and was with the Oakland organization from 1992-96 before an injury cut his career short.
After high school, he played at Otero Junior College and then BYU before moving on to minor league baseball.
Douglas County went 13-7 last season, including an appearance in the Class 5A districts. The Huskies lost to eventual state champion Rock Canyon in the second round of District 5 play.