Newsome names Ohme its next head coach

Newsome stays within its staff, naming longtime assistant and former MLB pitcher Kevin Ohme as the Wolves new head baseball coach.

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

LITHIA – Newsome didn’t need to look far for its next head baseball coach, as the Wolves have named longtime assistant Kevin Ohme to lead the team, he confirmed on Friday.

Ohme joined the Newsome baseball program 12 years ago as his son Will (who was one of the starting pitchers in the first-ever game covered by 813Preps in 2017) was beginning high school, and was an assistant coach for the entirety of the tenure of his predecessor, Dick Rohrberg, who resigned in late-August.

“I’m excited to be the new head coach at Newsome High,” Ohme said when reached on Friday afternoon.

His predecessor is also confident he’ll succeed in his new role as head coach.

“I think Coach Ohme will do a great job,” Rohrberg said, “and I wish him and the rest of the program much success.”

Ohme, who teaches driver’s education at Newsome, said he was very grateful to Rohrberg and that he’s proud of what the coaching staff has already built with the program, but admitted there will be some things he does a bit different.

Ohme said creating a feeling of “ownership” among the players in the upcoming season will be one of his top priorities.

“Dick was so organized and I learned a lot from him,” Ohme said. “But my managing style might be a little bit different. I’m going to give the players some ownership in some things. As far as, ‘hey, what do you want to do for our uniforms?’ and other things that they can have a part in deciding. I want them to have some leeway because I feel like if they have some input – a feeling that, ‘hey, we decided this,’ – they are going to want to play that much harder.”

Newsome was 21-9 last season, and is coming off back-to-back district titles, something Ohme attributes to strong discipline and structure in the program, but he wants to give the players opportunities to take some chances and figure things out with a little bit more input.

“Most of the stuff that we have in place is very strong – our behavior, our team understanding the culture in the dugout and on the field, the respect for our opponent … all of that stays in place,” he said. “But I also want to give a little bit more to our players to let them figure things out on their own.

“I felt like at times, some of our players have felt like robots because we only had one way of doing things. But I want them to be athletes, not robots looking at me all the time for answers, I want them to use those athletic instincts and make some decisions.”

A native of Palm Beach, Florida, Ohme, 54, played collegiately at Indian River Community College (now Indian River State College), where he was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 35th round of the 1990 MLB first-year player’s draft, but instead chose to attend the University of North Florida.

While at UNF, Ohme earned All-American honors in 1993, leading the nation with 13 wins. He holds the Ospreys’ career mark with a 1.63 ERA and was inducted to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 1993, Ohme was selected in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins and played 11 seasons of professional baseball, including two seasons in Japan before making two appearances at the Major League level with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003.

Click above to watch our video interview from Coach Kevin Ohme during his stint coaching in the Cape Cod League in 2022.

In 2022, when Strawberry Crest coach Eric Beattie was named a head coach of the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the prestigious collegiate summer baseball Cape Cod League, he knew exactly who he wanted to join him as his team’s pitching coach, and offered the job to Ohme. Beattie said he is thrilled to know his colleague is getting the opportunity to lead his first high school program as head coach.

Ohme served as the pitching coach for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the collegiate summer baseball Cape Cod League in 2022, joining the staff of Eric Beattie (Strawberry Crest’s head coach).

“Hearing about Kevin Ohme taking over, I have no doubt Newsome will continue to be a top-notch program,” Beattie said. “Kevin is a strong leader, a great baseball mentor of mine, and has a passion for giving back to the younger generation through baseball. Newsome baseball will Continue to be a great and respected program. I’m sad to hear about Coach Rohrberg, (but) excited for Kevin Ohme to lead his own program.”

Ohme is married to Teri Ohme, a three-time FHSAA state championship volleyball head coach at Durant, and they have three children: Will, Kate and Caroline.