Ken Eck stepped down as Jim Thorpe head baseball coach following last season. On Monday the school board voted to hire Gary Heydt as his replacement after interviewing four candidates for the position last week.

Members of the baseball team attended the meeting to see who would be voted in as their new coach. One of the candidates for the position was Derek Reis, an assistant coach under Eck. The team showed their support for their assistant coach but also mentioned how much they love baseball and will play no matter whom is hired.Jim Thorpe High School Principal Thomas Lesisko stated, "I would like to thank the baseball players that were here for being active in government like that." Superintendent Barbara Conway also praised the team for showing their support. "They were familiar with one of the candidates and they conducted themselves very well."