Longtime Mitty baseball coach Bill Hutton, 57, will retire as a coach at the end of this season according to a release from the school and will be replaced by Monarch softball coach Brian Yocke.
Hutton last year was inducted into the exclusive California Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame. He’s won more than 600 games with the Monarchs, in addition to six WCAL titles and four section titles. His 2010 team went 32-3, won the section crown, was ranked No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports and No. 1 in nation by three publications.
“Coach Hutton is one of the greatest coaches of his time,” said Mitty ace pitcher Kris Bubic who will pitch for Stanford next season. “He has superb knowledge of the game and does a great job implementing this knowledge into the Mitty baseball program. Also, he has an interesting sense of humor and is able to connect with his players. Personally, he has helped me throughout the recruiting process and guided me to the player I have become today.”
Hutton is retiring from coaching to spend more time with his family, he said.
"I have three kids and they're all in grammar school and my wife (Leandra) works afternoons and evenings and it's hard to balance being a parent and everything else," Hutton said. "It's like we pass the baton to each other at 5 p.m. I have to make sure the kids are doing their homework and not screwing up and I need to be the one dealing with this stuff and not the baby sitter.
Hutton's children are all pre-teens -- Grace (10), Billy (7) and Mary (4).
The scope and nature of coaching prep baseball at a high level has also changed, Hutton said.
"This (baseball) job is bigger than when I started with travel ball and the (baseball) facility and club programs and whether you're going to have a turf field. It's like an arms' race and everyone is trying to one-up the next guy. There's summer baseball and fall baseball; it's a lot. Plus, I teach five periods of calculus at a high level."
Yocke, who played baseball for Hutton at Mitty, has been the Monarch softball coach since 2010-2011. His teams have won four consecutive WCAL titles and have captured three section titles. Overall, his squads are a combined 115-7.
Yocke is well-liked by his players and is known for his pleasant personality and energy.
“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had and he’s truly taught me how to play with passion and intensity,” Mitty softball star Desiree Severance said. “He’s one of a kind and I’m going to miss him so much when I’m away in college.”
Severance, like many Mitty players, has a college scholarship; she'll be attending Drexel University.
Said Hutton of Yocke: "He'll do a fantastic job. The staff is not going to change, just one guy will change. Brian is high energy, has a great work ethic and knows baseball. He's perfect. And he's a great guy."
Hutton said he thought it was important to have a respected person in place to succeed him at the time of his retirement announcement.
For Yocke, coaching baseball at Mitty is surreal.
"Being offered the opportunity to coach the sport that I grew up playing, and the sport that helped me get through the toughest times in my life is one I couldn't pass up," he said via release. The fact that it happens to also be with the program I got to play in throughout high school makes it a dream come true."
Yocke teaches at Queen of Apostles School, the Catholic grammar school near Mitty.
Mitty will begin a national search to replace Yocke as softball coach for the 2016 season. He will continue to coach the Monarch softball team for the rest of the 2015 season, just as Hutton will the baseball team.
Yocke coached in the Monarch baseball program in 2008, guiding the junior varsity team. He then moved up to the Division I college level the following year, serving as a volunteer assistant for the San Jose State baseball program from 2008 through 2010.
Yocke is a perpetual motion machine around the Mitty softball diamond and showed remarkable persistence in his brief San Jose State playing career. Originally cut after one day of tryouts, he returned to the baseball offices to ask for a second chance. He was allowed to train with the team through the fall, walked onto the team and earned a roster spot for the 2007 season.
He started the season on the Spartan bench, but eventually became the regular center fielder and hit .346 in 31 games. He was voted the team’s most inspirational player.
Yocke also played for two seasons at Mission College, earning second team all-conference as a sophomore, and was an all-league baseball and football player at Mitty. As a senior, Yocke played for Hutton’s CCS title team.
Hutton’s coaching career began in 1980 when he guided the junior varsity team at his alma mater, Huntington Beach High. He arrived at Mitty in 1981 and coached the junior varsity team in 1982 before taking over the varsity in 1983. He was also the athletic director from 2002 through 2005 and has taught math at Mitty for more than 30 years.
Hutton has earned coach of the year honors too numerous to mention, including the California prep coach of the year from Cal-Hi Sports in 2005 and state coach of the year from MaxPreps in 2010. In 2004 he was inducted into the California Coaches Hall of Fame.
