On Sunday, July 9th Indy’s head baseball coach, Daniel Cooke, announced his resignation to become the head baseball coach at Porter Ridge High School in Union County.

Coach Cooke served for six years as the Patriots’ head baseball coach and led the Patriots to two Southwestern 4A Conference championships.   His teams also won the conference tournament two times and advanced to the state playoffs four times.

Coach Cooke said, “I’m thankful for my six years at Independence.  I had a great administration, great players, and great coaches.  Independence  has an outstanding student body, parents and supporters.  I have great memories and wish them nothing but the very best.  I’m excited to see what the future holds for me and my family.”

Porter Ridge is a member of the Southwestern 4A Conference and will face Independence two times during the regular season and could meet a third time in the conference tournament.

Independence’s athletic director Elijah Ashley announced on Friday the hiring of Sam Skinner as the new head coach for the baseball team.

Coach Skinner, who is a teacher at Indy, served as an assistant coach for five seasons under Coach Cooke.  During the 2018 season Coach Skinner served as the assistant coach and pitching coach for Olympic High School.

Coach Skinner said, “I’m really excited and grateful.  I’ve been working a long time for this, and it is dream come true.  I would like to thank the administration and the athletic department for giving me this great opportunity to lead the Patriots.  I will work hard to continue the strong traditions of Independence sports.  I also want to thank Coach Cooke for his confidence in recommending me for the job.”