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August 3, 2012

Gle steps down from TCC baseball

By MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — They say family comes first.

TC Central's Mike Gle is taking it to heart.

Gle has stepped down as varsity baseball coach after guiding the Trojans the last five seasons.

"Basically, I've got two little kids at home and doing two varsity sports is hard," Gle said. "That's really what it came down to."

Gle and his wife, Taffetta, have two sons under the age of 5 in Trent (4) and Tripp (1).

"It's hard being away so much," Gle said. "I'm gone a lot as far as weekends and every game is a doubleheader. Every game we had, I'd come home and they'd already be asleep. That gets hard."

While Gle is stepping away from the baseball program, he's not leaving the school district. He will continue to work at the high school as a physical education teacher. And, he's keeping his job as an assistant coach on the varsity football team, working with the backs and receivers.

"It's a grind," TC Central athletic director Cody Inglis said. "Spring sports in general are tough to coach. It's such an intense season. It may not be as long as other seasons, but it's intense. And you throw in the weather that occurs, and end of the year things that occur at school, it really makes it tough."

In Gle's five seasons with TC Central, the Trojans won the Big North Conference four times, three district titles and reached the regional finals three times.

"He had a great run," Inglis said. "He took over for a very successful coach in Ian Hearn, who had really established the Central baseball program as a top-notch Division 1 baseball program. But Mike not only continued that, but I really think he elevated it. When you look at the record he had and the furthest teams to advance in the MHSAA playoffs, Mike coached three of the four at Central.

"It's not the wins and the losses, it's the fact that he did it the right way. I think kids were not only better players, but better people when they came out of his program."

Gle said it was hard to think of a defining moment from his tenure with the baseball program.

"I wouldn't say there's an exact moment that sticks out over any other," Gle said. "The biggest thing is you develop those relationships with those kids. I'll miss that part, for sure. But there's so much more to it than just the coaching. The time away, and it's not just during the season. There are times in the winter when I'm there until 10 p.m. trying to get gym space. It's just hard when you've got little kids at home."

Inglis will now look to fill the vacant position.

"The posting went up today," Inglis said. "We're accepting applications at the TCAPS web site. Looking forward, my goal would be to have somebody in place by December, so they can start some offseason workouts. That way they can get working, get to know the kids and go from there."

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