Mount Si High School recently announced the hiring of a new baseball coach.

The school hired Elliott Cribby, who was an assistant last season at Eastside Catholic, to take over for Chaz Carr, who was let go during the offseason following a 17-6 season which saw the team, despite its strong showing during the regular season, fail to make state after being knocked out of the Kingco Tournament.

Cribby is thrilled. “I’m extremely excited,” he said, adding, “It’s definitely my time to give back to the kids.”

Cribby, who was an All Pac-10 selection as a pitcher with the Washington Huskies in 2006, played one professional season, with an independent minor league team in Illinois, and also played for the Cape Cod League’s Chatham A’s (now the Anglers), who were featured in the movie “Summer Catch.” Cribby, during his UW career, led the Huskies in saves and appearances all four years, and finished his career in fifth on the all-time career UW saves list, and second on the career appearances list.

Mount Si assistant principal/athletics director Greg Hart is also pleased with the hire. “Well, we had a really competitive process. We screened a high number of applicants. We interviewed eight really good candidates and Elliott Cribby has really impressed the community with his character, his leadership and knowledge of the game,” Hart said.

Wildcat senior catcher Robb Lane expects the team will be ready to play for Cribby every game. “I think that he’s going to be someone that all the players are going to want to fight for on a day to day basis,” Lane said.

Senior third baseman Max Brown hopes that team unity will not suffer as a result of the transition to a new coach. “I hope we stick together (and) don’t change anything up since it’s a new coach,” Brown said.

One thing Lane is looking for from the new coach is help in improving his game. “I’m really hoping that he can teach me strategy, better strategy of the game. I’m sure he’s going to help my game mature,” Lane said. Cribby anticipates focusing on the fundamentals. “My philosophy is learning the true game of baseball,” the coach said.

The new coach hopes to continue the new tradition of the Wildcats playing at Safeco Field each spring. “That’s definitely going to be on the agenda,” Cribby said.

Like with the boys’ basketball coaching vacancy which was filled earlier this year by Steve Helm, hired to replace former coach Jeff D’Ambrosio, the baseball opening, as Hart noted, also attracted a large number of high-quality candidates. Hart believes Mount Si coaching positions are in high demand because of the community support of its schools and Wildcat sports programs. “I think that it’s an attractive job. People know we’re a district that’s a growing district and is having success, so Mount Si is an attractive place to coach,” Hart said.