Fletcher to lead Deweyville baseball program

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Fletcher to lead Deweyville baseball program

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

DEWEYVILLE — A golden opportunity arose for former Orangefield assistant Darin Fletcher and the young and talented coach jumped on it.

Fletcher, who served as a tremendous assistant for Jeff Bennett at Orangefield last season and also had successful assistant stints for Steve Griffith at Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Russell DeLome at Buna, recently accepted the head baseball position at Deweyville High School.

“I was really excited at first, now I’m both nervous and excited,†said Fletcher, who graduated from Vidor High School in 1998 and went on to get his degree at Lamar University. “I’m looking forward to working with the Deweyville kids, there’s a lot of young talent there.â€

Fletcher saw something in the Pirates last season.

“We scrimmaged them at Orangefield and they (Deweyville) had some terrific bats up and down their lineup,†Fletcher said. “I know there is a great group of seniors coming back plus some young guys that are very promising.â€

Orangefield’s Bennett feels that the Pirates are getting quite of a gem in Coach Fletcher.

“Darin has so much baseball knowledge,†Bennett said. “He’s really a student of the game and he always seems to find a way to get things done the right way. He had an opportunity to learn from coaches like Steve Griffith and Coach DeLome. I really appreciate everything he did for our program. We’re certainly losing a tremendous asset.â€

“I’ve been fortunate enough to start coaching in places and learning from some of the best people that I could,†Fletcher said. “Coach Bennett and the Bobcats, I’m going to miss those guys. They’re still so young and I saw nothing but a very bright future for those guys last season and I wish them the best.â€

Hopefully Fletcher and the Pirates can play on the new Pirate Field this season at the new Deweyville High School. Weather has hampered Pirate programs from playing at the new football stadium along with the baseball and softball complex.

“It’s still a work in progress but I know we’ll get to play in great facility when everything gets set,†said Fletcher. “We’ve got a company from Katy that wants to help us out and they do tremendous jobs on fields. They did a great job getting Vidor’s field up and running. We’d love to play on the new field this year but if we have to play on the old one, that’s fine too. I know that I’m getting a chance to work with kids that love the game and that’s what matters the most.â€

Fletcher will go from coaching in one tough district to another by going to District 24-2A.

The 24-2A loop was extremely competitive last season with the Pirates losing a handful of nailbiters as they finished tied for fifth in the race. 24-2A champion Buna advanced all the way to the 2A Region III semifinals.

“It’s a challenging district,†Fletcher said. “There were a lot of close games last year. Buna will again be the team to beat but anybody can be beaten on any given day and that’s the way that district kinda shakes up.â€

Fletcher will replace Brad Haeggquist as the Pirate head coach. Haeggquist will continue to be the head basketball coach and cross country coach.