Ciola hired as interim head baseball coach for Austin High School

Austin High School Activities Director Lisa Quednow has announced the hiring of Joe Ciola as the Interim Head Baseball Coach at Austin High School.

Ciola is an Austin native who has been a part of Austin baseball for over four decades as a player and coach.  Ciola has coached the Austin VFW as well as Legion teams over the past few years, and he has also been a long-time player and manager for the Austin Greyhounds.

Quednow stated in a news release that Austin Schools are planning to reopen the head coaching position in late February for the 2020-21 season, as she went on to say that many teaching positions in the district will be open and the district will be looking for someone who is looking to build Austin Packer baseball for the long term.

Ciola takes the reigns from Austin grad Joe Kroc, who started coaching the Packers in 2016 and led Austin to their first berth in the state baseball tournament last year since 1990.  The Packers took third in the Class AAA tournament and Austin compiled a record of 44-27 in the three years under Kroc. Austin also compiled three straight seasons with a winning record under Kroc.