Ian Plank played a big role in helping the Newport Wildcats baseball team to the 9th Region Tournament three times between 2007-2011 and their last 36th District Tournament crown in 2007 as a left-handed pitcher, first baseman and outfielder.
The Newport administration hired the 31-year-old, 2010 Newport graduate to try and revitalize the program Monday. He takes over a program that had to cancel their 2023 season as a result of low numbers.
The Wildcats finished 9-11 Plank’s junior year in 2009. But since then, the Wildcats have fallen on hard times, equaling that season win total just once over the last 14 years. Their last region tournament appearance came in 2011.
“We are confident that Coach Plank’s energy and enthusiasm for success will revitalize our baseball program,” said Mike Hunter, Newport Director of Athletics. “Our goal is to field a varsity and JV team next season.”
Plank brings several years of coaching experience to Newport. He coached the American Legion Post 11 middle school and elementary-aged kids from 2018-2020 then the elementary-aged Bellevue Vets team from 2020-2021 before serving as an assistant coach for Rob Sanders at Bellevue this past season.
“As coaches, our goal is to build relationships with kids so they trust us and we can put them in positions to be successful. But the biggest thing from Coach Sanders for me was our community involvement,” Plank said. “Over there at Bellevue, he has a lot of community members who come out whether they went to Bellevue or not, show support for the team whether it’s games, practices, fund-raising events. He does a great job in that aspect of it and that’s something that I want to bring to Newport. We want to make our program visible to the community and it’s something they can be proud of.”
Plank hopes to revitalize the program by starting with a camp July 15 and August 5 and spreading the word through social media and fliers within the community.
“For me, it was more of a responsibility,” Plank said. “I take great pride to put together a program that is respectable among our competition here in northern Kentucky.”
Plank said he want to make a positive atmosphere for the program. He wants players to look forward to coming to practices and games.
“I think my program is all about being supportive of our programs in terms of the confidence aspect of it,” Plank said. “Baseball is a game that will break you down and it is a game of failure. The old school style of coaching is yelling a lot or berating players. That’s just not my style.”
Plank will be assembling a staff over the next couple weeks. Plank has hired one assistant so far in 2010 Newport graduate Elijah Hammonds.
Plank plans to implement his philosophy around small ball.
“I don’t think in high school you can count on the big home runs, doubles or triples,” Plank said. “For me from an offensive perspective, I think it’s important to keep the lineup rolling. As long as you do that, bases will get full and runs will come in.”
The Wildcats were a premier program in the 1940’s, winning the state title in ’40 and ’41. They’ve made the state tournament six times, the last time coming in 1960.
