Durango High hires new baseball coach to replace Gomez

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

When it came time to select a new baseball coach to head a program that has been a model for success in recent years, Durango High School simply looked into its past.

Sam Knapp, who served as an assistant under Mike Gomez at the school from 1993-98, has been named to succeed Gomez, who recently resigned after nine seasons.

"Mike did a great job of setting the tradition, and I always believe there will be expectations there because of that tradition," Knapp said.

"I never really thought about (the position) before. I was as shocked and surprised as everyone else was when Mike decided to retire. But I was there from the beginning at Durango, and I had some of the (current players) in middle school, so I'm familiar with the program."

Knapp spent last season as the head coach for first-year Coronado, leading the senior-less squad to a 15-18 overall record in a tough Southeast Division. Before that, he spent three years as a Las Vegas High assistant.

Knapp said it was difficult leaving behind a program he had helped get off the ground.

"It was one of the toughest decisions of my life, to choose between the two," he said. "I had a great group of kids over at Coronado. There's no doubt in my mind they will compete for a state championship someday."

In the end, Knapp said, he opted to return to Durango because the field there has lights, thus allowing him to spend time with his son before night games.

"My family was the ultimate decision maker," Knapp said. "I now have the luxury of picking up my son at school and bringing him out there. Before, there were nights I'd get home and he'd be sleeping and I didn't even get to see him."

Knapp takes over a Durango squad that has made eight consecutive playoff trips, highlighted by a state championship season in 1999. He also inherits a field named the nation's top prep ballpark in 2000.

Tom Appleyard, coach of the Trailblazers' American Legion summer squad, said his players were pleased with Knapp's appointment.

"The kids were excited when I told them," Appleyard said. "He was one of the guys they wanted to get the job."