Cc Notebook -- Whisler Shifts From Pros To Cc Ranks

There are three new faces this spring among the four baseball and fastpitch softball coaches at Shoreline and Edmonds community colleges.

Taking over at Shoreline are Craig Hogan (baseball) and Damian Williams (softball).

At Edmonds, Randy Whisler is the new baseball coach.

He replaces Blair Kubicek, a Canadian citizen who resigned after his work visa was not renewed.

Whisler, 32, was a minor-league instructor with the Texas Rangers the past five years and had helped with the Edmonds program before leaving for the Rangers' minor-league camp in the spring.

The players' strike made Whisler's future employment with the Rangers tenuous, so he took over at Edmonds. Whisler, a graduate of Klamath Union (Ore.) High School, moved to the area about five years ago.

He played at Oklahoma State University and then spent two seasons as a second baseman in the Toronto Blue Jay organization. Whisler was a coach for the Rangers' Class AA team in Tulsa last summer.

"I love pro ball. This is different, but I like it," Whisler said. "I like the kids. They're hungry and eager to learn. The player development is what I like best about it, to watch them improve, then go on to the next level. That's my job, to get that done for them."

Hogan has been a coach for several years in the men's senior baseball league . He was also an assistant coach at Eastside Catholic High School last season.

"If the opportunity came along, I said I would take it and give it a try," Hogan said.

Williams will graduate in June with a degree in physical education from Seattle Pacific University. Last spring, he was an intern with the University of Washington softball team.

Notes

-- Edmonds Community College graduate Heather Aasen has accepted a partial Division I softball scholarship from Baylor University. Aasen, who started for two years at catcher for Edmonds CC, is a graduate of Marysville-Pilchuck High School.