Sehome hires Walton to replace ‘Mr. Mariner’ as baseball coach
The best way to replace a coaching legend, of course, is to hire another legend.
That’s exactly what Sehome athletic director Colin Cushman did when he announced Thursday, Oct. 29, that Monte Walton will take the reins as coach of the Sehome baseball program, replacing “Mr. Mariner” himself, Gary Hatch.
“We were lucky to have Monte here and that he was available,” Cushman said in a phone interview. “We’re excited to have him as our next head coach. He’s got more than 30 years of coaching experience, and we feel he’s the right man to carry on the tradition Gary started here.”
Walton was a longtime assistant to the man he will replace this spring, and he brings a strong coaching resume with him that extends beyond that.
In fact, he will be inducted into the Washington Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Nov. 14, at Safeco Field in Seattle.
Walton started coaching Little League baseball in his teens for Bellingham Parks & Recreation. He was a three-sport athlete — football, basketball and baseball — and went on to play baseball at Centralia College and Western Washington University.
His high school coaching career started in 1979 at Sehome as an assistant in football, basketball and baseball.
In addition, he was manager/coach of the Albert J. Hamilton American Legion Team and the Bellingham Bells for several years.
Walton has been the director of the regional feeder game in Bellingham for the past 25 years and coached in the 2004 All-State Games. He has been director of the Mal Walton JV tournament for 36 years and co-director of Grand Slam Baseball Camp in Bellingham for 36 years.
Walton also has served as an official in the Whatcom Skagit Island Football Officials Association since 1979.
He was the first recipient of the Washington State Dan White Assistant Coach of the Year award for baseball. Additionally, he was inducted into the WSBCA Hall of Fame for Basketball in 2012.
Walton stepped down as coach of the Ferndale varsity boys’ basketball team in April after guiding the Golden Eagles to a 49-44 record in four seasons.
Hatch retired after 42 years of leading the Mariners, when Sehome compiled a 532-274 record, ranking Hatch sixth among Washington state high school baseball coaches, and won state titles in 1983, 2007 and 2008.
“We think Monte is a guy that will do some of the same things Gary’s done for the program over the years and will bring in a few new things of his own,” Cushman said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Sehome hires Walton to replace ‘Mr. Mariner’ as baseball coach."