The Haar Disciples of the Bundesliga South Division have announced a head coach change for the coming season.
Coach Christian Dresel, who navigated the team to its first postseason appearance in club history in 2010, has decided to step down, citing career ambitions. Over three seasons his teams improved consistently, posting records of 8-16 to 15-13 to 13-11; finishing fifth, fourth, and fourth, respectively.
Replacing Dresel is a face familiar to the Disicples, former pitcher and assistant coach Dirk Fries. A National Team pitcher himself not too long ago, Fries moved from the Cologne Cardinals to the Munich team in 2008, and transitioned to the coaching staff in 2010. In the Deutschland jersey, he posted a 5.02 ERA in 16 appearances across eight tournaments. In the Bundesliga he finished his career with a record of 90-48, and an ERA of 3.53 over 968 innings. Fries also works with pitchers as a part of the German National Team coaching staff, and is a board member with the European Baseball Coaches Association.
Despite Dresel handing over the reigns of the club team, he has confirmed his commitment to continue working with the Bavarian Select Teams, which currently lists seven Disciple Junior players on the roster.
More information can be found in the German-language newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung