He Goes The Distance In Career Pursuit

When Scott Dillinger was in high school, he knew what career he would pursue.

He just didn't know it would take him to five different schools in two states over a nine-year period.

"I knew it in high school. . . . I wanted to go into coaching from the get-go," said Dillinger, in his first year as head baseball coach at Mountlake Terrace High School.

"It (coaching) was something I knew I was going to do early on and just went after it."

Dillinger was a baseball star at Crooksville (Ohio) High School. He got drafted as a pitcher out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980, but decided to play for Ohio University in Athens.

After one year there, Dillinger gave up his playing career, enrolled at a community college and started coaching the junior varsity at his alma mater. At the precocious age of 22, Dillinger was named head coach at Crooksville.

After a four-year stint as head coach, Dillinger decided to re-enroll at Ohio University. He was an assistant baseball coach at two high schools near Athens while he finished his degree in elementary education.

Dillinger also coached AAU basketball and American Legion baseball in Ohio. Among his prized players were Dallas Mavericks guard Jimmy Jackson and former Indiana University star Lawrence Funderburke, who played on Dillinger's AAU basketball team in 1987.

Dillinger, 30, graduated from Ohio University in 1987, and taught fourth grade at a school outside of Athens. He also met his future wife, Rita, who's from Steilacoom.

The Dillingers moved to the Northwest in 1990 when Rita took a job with a hair salon in Tacoma. Dillinger couldn't find a teaching job, so he went to work as a salesman for an athletic shoe store and coached football, baseball and basketball at Steilacoom High School.

Rita Dillinger received a promotion to the salon's Northgate branch, so they moved to Snohomish County in June, 1991. Again, Dillinger could not get a teaching job so he worked at an athletic shoe store at Alderwood Mall. He also was an assistant coach in football and baseball at Lynnwood High School.

Dillinger took a job as a salesman in the the sports department at an Alderwood Mall department store late in 1991. The store's flexibility has allowed Dillinger to become the head coach at Mountlake Terrace.

He is considering graduate school to help land a teaching job. Dillinger knows being a teacher in the school helps develop stronger relationships with his players.

"My aspirations are in coaching," he said. "I want to get back into teaching, but it just hasn't worked out that way."

Family bragging rights could be at stake when the Hawks play Lynnwood in early May. His stepson, Aaron Snyder, plays junior-varsity and varsity baseball at Lynnwood.

"We get along really well, but we've kind of been at each other in a kidding way," Dillinger said. "He always leaves yellow and black balloons (Lynnwood's colors) around and little notes about how they're going to beat (Mountlake Terrace)."

Scout's honor

-- Kim Hammons spent most of his time last spring and summer watching high-school and college baseball games - and he loved it.

Hammons, the first-year head baseball coach at Snohomish High School, worked as a "bird dog" scout for the Seattle Mariners from March until August. Bird dogs scout high-school and college players, then file reports on prospects.

Hammons got the job through friend Ron Hopkins, a cross-checker with the Mariners. Cross-checkers follow up reports turned in by bird dogs.

"It's something I always had an interest in doing," Hammons said. "I called (Hopkins) and said, `What's the chance of being in a position so I could learn about scouting and go around with you and pick your brain about what scouting's about?' "

Any baseball fan can see the talent of a player who hits home runs or strikes out the side. The scout's hardest job is determining which players will become stars a few years later.

"When I went out (with other scouts), I learned this is what we look for and why," he said. "It's not too difficult to find the tools in the great players. It's really difficult to find a guy that's going to improve."

Hammons was a star shortstop at Snohomish High School, graduating in 1964. His teammate was catcher Charlie Poier, now his assistant coach.

Hammons went on to play baseball at Central Washington University. He and Poier coached Snohomish's American Legion baseball team from 1984-88. Hammons was a volunteer coach for the Panthers from 1989-91.

Hammons is taking a one-year leave of absence from his job at Hilltop Elementary School in Edmonds, where he teaches physical education.

Last spring, Hammons was scouting high-school catchers. This spring, he's playing catch with his sons, Jake, 6, and Nick, 4. He's taking the year off just to just enjoy watching his sons grow.

"It's a big change, but it's been a lot of fun," he said.

Timing was right

-- For first-year Marysville-Pilchuck baseball coach Dave Repanich, the timing has been right.

After serving as an assistant baseball coach at Bellevue's Newport High School the past four years, Repanich was looking for a head coaching spot.

Marysville-Pilchuck had an opening for a math teacher and baseball coach.

Talk about timing. Repanich and wife, Barbara, and five children moved into their house in Marysville on March 15, the day of the first baseball game for the Panthers.

"That was a pretty hectic day," Repanich said.

He graduated from now-closed Lincoln High School in 1967, and played baseball for one season at Western Washington University.

Even though he was teaching at Marysville-Pilchuck, Repanich was the defensive coordinator for the Newport football team last fall. The Knights won the Class AAA state championship.

Repanich isn't sure where he'll be coaching football next season. Newport has offered him his old job as defensive coordinator. Repanich has expressed an interest in coaching at Marysville-Pilchuck but has yet to receive an offer.