Assistant Criswell promoted to head baseball coach at Lake City

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

Mike Criswell, an assistant coach in the Lake City High baseball program the past 13 years, has been named head coach of the Timberwolves, Lake City athletic director Troy Anderson announced.

Criswell, 55, replaces Paul Manzardo, who stepped down last month after seven seasons for family reasons. His wife, Windy, has been diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease which has attacked the electrical system of her heart. She needs a heart transplant, and he needs to be nearby.

“Our system doesn’t change,” Criswell said. “Our thoughts are with Paul and Windy; their kids have come through our program. They’re just great people; they’ve had a huge impact on Lake City baseball. It’s just a bummer situation.”

Criswell was a varsity assistant at Lake City for most of those 13 seasons. Earlier, he coached at the “C” and junior varsity level.

“He connects really well with the kids and came highly recommended by Paul to take over after he stepped down,” Anderson said. “We felt like we wanted to keep some consistency in the program at the moment. We are thrilled to have someone of Mike’s experience take over.”

Criswell is in his 25th year as a teacher at Lake City High, where he teaches biology. He was an assistant under Manzardo on the 2016 Lake City team that won a state 5A title — the second in program history. His son, Tanner, was a center fielder on that title team.

Criswell has also coached at the Little League and American Legion level, and has also coached travel ball.

“We’ll have a young team, as usual,” Criswell said of this year’s Timberwolf team. “We’re mostly junior heavy. They’re all very high-IQ baseball kids, super great kids … I’m not going to say it’s a growing year; I think we’re going to compete. The North is super tough … I think we have a very talented team, and we’ll see how we do.”