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May 27, 2009

Brumbelow officially named Huntsville baseball head coach

By Cody Stark The Huntsville Item Wed May 27, 2009, 10:28 PM CDT

Hornets assistant Jeff Brumbelow was thrown into the head coaching fire right before the start of the 2009 Huntsville baseball season.

With two days to go before tryouts, long-time Hornets skipper Shelby Shaw stepped down to take a non-teaching job. That left Huntsville athletic director Mitchell Coey in a tough spot, so he decided to promote Brumbelow as interim head coach.

Even though the Hornets missed out on the playoffs, Coey saw enough from Brumbelow to remove the interim tag this week and officially make Brumbelow the head coach for next season.

“Timing-wise, when Jeff was the interim coach it was a very tough situation,” Coey said Wednesday afternoon. “It was two days before tryouts and the kids all of a sudden didn’t have a head coach. They didn’t make the playoffs and that is something we strive for each season, but I saw some good areas. I think Jeff deserves a chance with a full year to work with the kids.”

With a season under his belt, Brumbelow is ready to hit the ground running and add his ideas to the program.

“I’m elated and real excited for this opportunity,” the coach said. “After being around the kids for a year, things are going to be different. I have more of an opportunity to explore some of the things I want to do. I want to get these kids to know what it takes to be a team and to put all their individual talents together.

“I want them to know that everybody on the team believes in them and know that they are each going to come through when we need it.”

The Hornets were up and down this past season with a short-handed pitching staff. Huntsville got off to a good start by making it to the championship game of the Brenham/Montgomery tournament before losing to the Cubs 13-12.

Then District 18-4A action rolled around and the Hornets got off to an 0-4 start.

But instead of giving up, Brumbelow and his squad turned things around down the stretch. Junior Caleb Smith tossed a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Magnolia, the eventual district champs. Huntsville went on to win six out of its last 10 league games to finish 6-8 in district and 10-15 on the season.

“We suffered a lot of adversity early,” Brumbelow said. “When you are used to doing things a certain way and a new guy steps in, it’s hard to adjust. But we all started stepping on the same page toward the end of the season.

“We have a good group of kids coming back and they want next season to be successful. We are always going to keep fighting.”

The Hornets closed the season on a good note by beating Willis 5-2, something they can build on in the offseason. Coey believes that with the development of some of the younger players and the returning veterans, Brumbelow will get the program back to the playoffs.

“Jeff gets a full year and he will be able to do things his way,” Coey said. “He needs to develop some of the young pitchers to go along with the Smith kid. That really hurt us this season because we didn’t have a deep rotation and this is a good baseball district.

“Jeff loves these kids and they respect him. He wants to win and I’m ready to give him the opportunity.”

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Hornet Sports

Back to work
Tick tick tick. Tick tick tick tick.
It won’t be long until the alarm goes off early Monday morning, signaling the start of high school football practice in Huntsville.
Freshmen hit the field at 8 a.m. Monday and Hornets head coach Shane Martin can’t wait. Huntsville’s defensive coordinator the past two years, Martin has been waiting seven long months for the first day of serious summer workouts.

July 31, 2010 1 Photo
Huntsville ISD hires new volleyball coach
On paper and in her head, Stephanie Branch quietly took notes while sitting in the stands at Bryan High School on Thursday night. She paid particular attention to the team from Huntsville, because in a little more than a month that bunch will be her’s.
The daughter of a teaching and coaching couple, Branch, 31, was hired this week as the Lady Hornets’ new head volleyball coach. She replaces Brittany Brumbelow, who stepped down from her position at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family.

June 17, 2010
High school notebook: Brenham boys edge Hornets at state track meet
Round one went to the Brenham boys. The Cubs won the District 18-4A boys track and field title last month in Willis.
The Huntsville boys took round two. Led by state qualifiers Justin Gilbert, Brodrick Hadnot, Henry Ford, Dimitri Collier and Cameron Simmons, the Hornets evened the score by outscoring the Cubs at the Region III track meet in Huntsville early this month.
In Austin last weekend, the Cubs edged the Hornets in the unofficial battle for track and field supremacy in District 18-4A.

May 18, 2010
Going for gold
It wasn’t that long ago. RaKira Turner stood in the shot put ring and with all of her might, flat-footed she heaved the heavy ball forward.
Her first throws from the discus ring were even more memorable. With no idea about how to hold the strangely shaped disc, Turner did her best but the results were far from pretty.

May 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish strong
They easily could have gone through the motions.
Sitting eighth in the team standings after a miserable first day at the UIL Boys Golf State Championships, the Hornets could have trudged around the Jimmy Clay Golf Course without a care.
They could have turned in another big score, gotten back on the bus and hit the highway headed home to Huntsville.
These Hornets had too much pride to mail in the second round of the tournament. On Tuesday, the Huntsville boys made a huge turnaround, shooting a team score of 307, which moved them up to sixth in the team standings.

May 11, 2010
Difficult district
The Lady Hornets played their best round of golf Monday at Raven Nest Golf Club. Unfortunately for the Huntsville girls, they are stuck in District 18-4A with two, and probably three, of the top teams in the state.
Led by junior Madison Ward, who shot a solid 79, Huntsville’s varsity team posted a 349 team score during the first round of the District 18-4A tournament. That total puts the Lady Hornets in fourth place behind Montgomery Gold (310), Montgomery Purple (313) and Magnolia A (319) heading into today’s final round.

April 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish first at Dayton track meet
The track teams from Huntsville High School did exactly what their head coach wanted them to do last week in the final tune-up before the all-important District 18-4A meet.
The Hornets finished first and the Lady Hornets placed third in the team standings at the Bronco Relays in Dayton.

April 12, 2010 2 Photos
Gilbert advances to 100-meter finals at Texas Relays
Huntsville senior Justin Gilbert booked a spot in the main event. With a sizzling showing in the prelims for the 100-meter dash, Gilbert earned a place in the finals of the Texas Relays this afternoon in Austin.
Hopefully, he will have some company as some of his teammates try this morning to advance to the finals at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas.

April 2, 2010
‘I’m going to be nervous’
Austin’s Mike Myers Stadium is the place to be this weekend. The top track and field athletes not only in Texas, but from across the United States, will be competing inside a stadium full with the sport’s most passionate fans.
As a reward for weeks of hard work, and also to act as a possible tune-up for next month’s season-ending state meet, Huntsville High School is sending its best athletes to Austin, too.

April 1, 2010 2 Photos
Top-ranked Cubs bring big bats to Huntsville
On a night when Brenham’s Chase Wellbrock nearly threw a no-hitter, Huntsville head coach Jeff Brumbelow shook his head more about the Cubs’ impressive hit parade.
Brenham came to Kate Barr Ross Park on Wednesday and quickly took control on the District 18-4A baseball game against the Hornets. The top-ranked Cubs banged out 16 hits in the first three innings and scored 13 runs on their way to a commanding 18-1 win over Huntsville.

March 17, 2010
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Brumbelow officially named Huntsville baseball head coach

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