BY ADAM ZUVANICH l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Steve Mims is jumping back on the coaching horse.

Mims, a former baseball coach at Lubbock High who has spent the last four years as an English teacher at Monterey, is returning to the coaching profession but in a different sport. He was hired Wednesday as Monterey’s softball coach.

“I’m probably as competitive, if not more so, than I’ve ever been,” said Mims, a 58-year-old Lubbock native. “And I miss two things as much as anything. One was teaching the game, and the other thing was actually being in the third-base box in a close ballgame. I miss those things, so I’m glad to be back in that sense.”

Mims, who once played in the Cincinnati Reds organization, was a high school baseball coach for 18 seasons. He won 10 district championships and compiled an overall record of 245-143, spending three seasons (2003-05) at Lubbock High and also making stops in El Paso and Albuquerque, N.M.

He’s never coached softball, but Mims said he was a volunteer hitting instructor for the Lady Plainsmen while his daughter, Lindsay, played there. He also played fast-pitch softball for about eight years.

Melynn Hunt, interim athletic director for Lubbock ISD, called Mims a “great hire.”

“Coach Mims is an excellent teacher,” Hunt said. “He brings a tremendous well of knowledge with him, and a love and a passion for the game.”

Mims replaces Staci Jackson, who spent two seasons at Monterey with varying degrees of success. The Lady Plainsmen won more than 20 games and reached the second round of the playoffs in her first year, but this past season they were just 6-28 and finished ninth out of 10 teams in District 2-5A.

Mims said he doesn’t yet know what to expect for 2010, but he said it should be a smooth transition because of his familiarity with Monterey and the softball program.

“The first thing I’ve got to do is take some time to evaluate personnel, and once I’ve evaluated personnel, then we’ll be able to take a look at goals,” he said. “I’ve always been pretty big on both establishing short-term goals with what we want to do and then long-term goals for the program. The big deal, as much as anything, will be evaluating personnel and going from there.”

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