A new face will be calling the shots in the dugout in Snoqualmie for the Mount Si Wildcats high school baseball program this spring.

Brent Lutz, who was an assistant on the Wildcats staff for the past two seasons, was hired as the new head coach in early November. The 48-year-old Lutz has lived in the Snoqualmie Valley for the past 21 years and is fully committed to not only the baseball program but the community.

“I’m really excited to continue the legacy of the Wildcats baseball program. We have a long history and I just hope to keep building on that,” Lutz said.

Lutz is the kind of coach who expects 100 percent effort at all times but doesn’t get flustered when mistakes are made by his players.

“We don’t want to have a fear of failure. I like to coach my teams this way. I want them to go all out, all the time. We may make a mistake but if we’re going to make a mistake, I want the guys to be going 100 miles per hour and full speed ahead,” Lutz explained. “If the kids are hustling and getting after it, they are not going to hear it (criticism) from me. We can always talk about making a better decision the next time, but I really want to instill that aggressive style of play. We want to be aggressive on the bases and attack the baseball. We want to play full out without fear of failure.”

Lutz, who played minor league baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays organization for five seasons in the 1990s, is a fixture at Mount Si athletic events. Lutz worked the concession stand at the Class 4A state quarterfinals football contest between Mount Si and Puyallup.

“I look forward to being a presence around the school and the community. We have been here for a long time and we go to all of the events,” Lutz said of his family. “One of the cool things about Mount Si is that we have a community of people that always come together. I just want to continue to build on that.”