Longtime Sehome High School head baseball coach and Washington State Baseball Coaches Hall of Famer Gary Hatch was named the new head coach of the Bellingham Bells on Nov. 8, 2010.

The 60-year-old Hatch has spent over half of his life coaching at Sehome High School where he first started as an assistant in 1973 before taking over the program in 1980. He won his first state title in 1983, the same year he was named Bellingham Sports Person of the Year. In 1993 Hatch was inducted into the Washington State Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He recently led the program to back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008, and was named the Northwest Conference coach of the year for a second time in 2010.

In addition to his well-documented coaching career at Sehome, Hatch served as the head coach of the Bellingham American Legion first from 1982-83 and then again from 1991-93. He is also a two-time gold media winner with USA Baseball. The first gold medal came while Hatch was serving as the pitching coordinator of the USA Baseball 16u National Team at the Pan American Baseball Championship in 2006; he won he second gold medal as the head coach of the USA Baseball 16u National Team at the World Championship in 2007.

As a player, Hatch suited up for Bellingham High School in 1966 before finishing his high school career at Sehome (1967-68). In his senior season he was named to the all-state team as a pitcher and first baseman. He then attended Brigham Young University where he was a member of the school’s baseball program, helping the team reach the 1971 College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where they finished fifth.

The 2011 season may mark the first for Hatch as the head coach of the Bells, but putting on a Bellingham Bells uniform will just bring back old memories; Hatch played for the Bells from 1969 to 1976 when the club was a semi-pro team.