Pierce named Lake City baseball coach
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 11 months, 2 weeks AGO
Gil Pierce.
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
Gil Pierce always had the love of the game.
Now, he has the time.
Pierce, Lake City’s junior varsity baseball coach the past three seasons, has been named the Timberwolves’ varsity head coach, Lake City athletic director Troy Anderson announced.
With three kids now all off to college, “I thought it was something that would be a good opportunity,” Pierce said. “I’ve been with the younger group, so I’m excited to see what we can develop (at the varsity level).”
Pierce, 48, replaces Mike Criswell, a longtime former Lake City assistant who went 56-24 in three seasons at the Timberwolves’ head coach, including a state title game appearance in 2023.
Pierce, as a catcher, was part of three NAIA World Series championships at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston. He redshirted in 1996, and played on the 1999 and 2000 national title teams.
He’s also been a coach in the Coeur d’Alene American Legion program the past few years. This past summer, he was an assistant under Lums “AA” coach Jim Allison.
“The mixture of the amount of experience he has, and the culture he will build in our program was just too tough to pass up,” Anderson said.
Pierce’s son, Jack, played baseball for Lake City, and this year is playing at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore.
Pierce’s two daughters, Hailey and Julia, swam at Lake City.
“The goal is to create a great program and continue that Lake City legacy,” said Pierce, who played under legendary head coach Ed Cheff at LCSC. “I believe in a lot of discipline, and having a great work ethic. We didn’t always have the most athletic talent (at LC State), but we were disciplined and continued to compete and battle.”
Pierce said that in taking the head baseball coaching position, he’ll still help out with the Legion program, though not in an official coaching capacity.
Pierce, who works in the property management business, has lived in Coeur d’Alene since 2000.
Lake City is coming off a 15-10 season, reaching the new super regional round of the state 6A playoffs.
“I believe in playing old-school baseball,” Pierce said. “Manufacture runs, do whatever it takes to score runs.”