Skyline has hired a new softball coach for the 2013 season and it will be a face longtime Spartans fans have seen before.

Ken Brooks, who was on the school’s original staff in 1998 as the JV coach, will return to Skyline for his third stint with the softball program, his first as head coach of the varsity program.

“I’m really excited to be going back there and getting the program back to where it was,” he said.

The Spartans finished fourth in the 3A state tournament in 1998 and won the championship with an 11-1 win over Centralia the following year, but have not been back to state since 2004 and have never made it as a Class 4A school.

Brooks said dwindling numbers for the sport in general have played a role, as many of the top players in the area now play club softball exclusively even after reaching high school.

“My plan is to get into the Little League and start giving clinics,” he said.

Brooks, who works for the city of Mercer Island and lives in Snohomish, originally left Skyline in 2000, only to return for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. An opportunity to spend time with his growing son led Brooks to leave the prep scene again after 2003 and he has coached club baseball and softball recently.

He found out about the opening at Skyline while in the process of applying for another coaching position, and is already embracing the challenge of taking the program back to the highest level.

“We’re going to get that tradition back and work hard,” Brooks said. “Skyline is on their way back.”

Contact and submissions: jsuman@bellevuereporter.com