Cloquet Hires New Baseball & Softball Coaches

Jan 19

Kerry Rodd-NSO

Cloquet High School now has two new coaches added to the fold for this spring. Activities Director, Tom Lenarz, recently offered the names of Rick Stowell and Ron Tondryk as additions to the coaching staff and the school board approved those names last week. Stowell will coach the baseball team, while Tondryk will coach the softball team in Cloquet.

Both Stowell and Tondryk have long been involved in Cloquet athletics with Stowell acting as assistant coach during the tenure of former baseball coach Steve Jezierski. Jezierski resigned this season in order to spend time watching his son, Thomas, play baseball at St. Scholastica and his daughter, Liz, play softball for Cloquet High School.

“Rick has been involved in the program for a long time and at almost every level,” explained Lenarz. “He has closely worked with the varsity program the last few years and knows both the kids and community. Rick is very knowledgable and well respected as a baseball coach and we are lucky to have him.”

Tondryk has coached for 20 years in the Cloquet program and has taken numerous teams to state championships as well as top 10 finishes in the national fastpitch tournament. During his time as coach, Tondryk has been an assistant high school coach as well and also has developed numerous players who have gone on to college ball.

“Ron has been involved in the area softball programs for many years and is familiar with the Braun Park facility,” commented Lenarz. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and will take over a very talented, but young squad. I think Ron is the perfect fit for these girls because of his patience and his ability to teach them the fundamentals.”

Both coaches are familiar faces in the summer baseball and softball circles and both will bring a ton of experience to their respective programs.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com