After a few tumultuous months, Blue Darter athletics seem to be getting back under control. With the official hiring of Marcus Neeson as the new head football coach, there is just one more head coaching position to fill. Apopka High School’s athletic department confirmed on Monday that it is moving forward in the search for a new head baseball coach.  

Athletic Director Aaron Crawford said that he and Principal Lyle Heinz had four interviews set with head coaches for Monday. He said that he had in- and out-of-county coaches interviewing for the position.   

Crawford went on to say that he and Heinz will soon be making their decision. However, like the head coach search for Apopka football, he said the decision will take careful consideration.  

“It’s a process,” Heinz said about the football coach search last month. “We collect resumes, the athletic director and myself, we review the resumes, and then we decide, out of the resumes, who to interview. We put together a small panel, and from the interviews, there’s conversations that take place after that, and then we make our decision.”  

In late June, Crawford said he was aiming to have a new head coach by the Tuesday after Labor Day, which would be September 2.  

“We feel that the position is an attractive one, especially with the unique history of the program, combined with what we feel is one of the best communities in Central Florida to support it,” Crawford said at the time.    

In early June, Apopka’s former coach, Bobby Brewer, stepped down after six seasons at the helm of the program. After compiling a 91-48 record, a 2022 regional semifinal appearance, and three district championship game appearances, Brewer cited a loss of joy as his reasoning for resigning. The news came days after Jeff Rolson, Apopka’s football head coach, had stepped down.  

The new baseball coach will take over a program that finished the 2025 season with a 14-10 record and ranked 219th in the state. The Blue Darters had great moments last year, despite their youth and inexperience, as many of the players were competing in their first varsity season.   

If the team doesn’t experience a mass exodus of players, like the football team, then there should still be a lot of hope for the upcoming 2026 season, despite all the obstacles of the offseason.   

Another thing the new head coach will be walking into is ongoing problems with the construction of the new baseball complex. As of late June, Crawford said that the school and the athletic department still needed to establish a new timeframe for completing the new baseball and softball complexes, as they were still unfinished.   

Problems with design and construction consistency, a lack of safety features such as foul netting, and the removal of a viewing window in the concession stand left those in the Apopka baseball community dissatisfied.   

By the start of the 2025 season, the new Apopka baseball and softball complexes were supposed to be ready for use. Halfway through the season, neither the fields nor the complexes were complete, leading to Apopka’s baseball and softball teams playing on the road for the first half of their seasons. The softball team played its first 10 games of the season on the road, while the baseball team played 14 straight road games to start the season.   

When asked about an update on the construction’s timeline, Crawford told the Chief this week he was still waiting on the county. He said the county has a bid that needs to be submitted before anything can proceed.