Heritage softball hires new coach

Greg Immke is no longer the Heritage softball coach.

The Heritage Board of Education accepted his resignation at their February meeting.

Superintendent Tom Davis said Immke informed him on Feb. 6 that he would be resigning.

Davis said the resignation caught him by surprise since they were in the process of getting ready to interview for the assistant position.

“However, his message to us made me understand why he was resigning,” he said. “I respected his coaching immensely, we were very lucky to have him.”

Davis said the focus immediately turned to the softball program and finding a new coach.

Davis said Heritage Athletic Director Lori Archer contacted Vicki Roberts, who formerly coached at St. Thomas More.

“Vicki has ties to the area so it was a natural fit,” Davis said.

Davis said a former Heritage coach recommend Roberts.

“Vicki and I talked at length about the first year of the program and she seemed very interested,” Davis said. “By the time of our next school board meeting, she had accepted after the job listing was posted the required number of days and we also had an assistant coach, current Heritage High School counselor and the former head coach for Heritage softball, Patti Knott, in place.”

Roberts was hired at the February meeting.     

Davis said he wanted to thank Immke for the job he did with the softball program last year.

“The girls enjoyed playing for him, and I was proud every time we took the field.” he said.

Davis said the team was competitive and won some great games last year.

Since last season the district has made some upgrades to the softball fields at the High School.

The district spent $25,000 on new fencing for the softball field at Broadlands, improved the infield mixture, and have a plan for the future to have a brand new scorekeeper, announcer, and concessions building like the one near the baseball field.

The building will include a sound system so they can announce games and play music like the baseball field has. 

Davis said despite the changes the team has maintained an upbeat attitude.
“Practices up to this point have been very positive, though all indoors due to the weather,” he said.   “I had met with the girls once we had Vicki in place as I knew they would be shocked, but so far what I have observed is a team working hard getting ready for their first game next Wednesday at Leroy. “