Baseball: Sarna resigns as Hampshire coach

John Sarna announced Saturday he is stepping down as Hampshire baseball coach.

Sarna, 47, told his players of his decision after a season-ending 3-2 loss to DeKalb in the Class 4A Hampshire regional title game, but he said the possibility had been on his mind for months.

"I've got some things in my life that I need to focus on and I'm so spread thin that I'm not doing a good job in the important stuff," Sarna said. "Being a head coach isn't just a three-month position, especially in the summer, and this is the time I don't want to miss out on the important stuff."

Sarna has two children: Logan, 11, and Lucy, 9.

Hampshire's head coach for six seasons (85-111-1), Sarna previously spent 11 seasons as an assistant and underlevel coach at Jacobs.

After an 18-15 season in 2016, he directed a youthful team of eight seniors, 12 juniors and three sophomores to a 9-27-1 finish this season.

"I feel good that the program is in a good place," Sarna said. "I hope someone takes it over who has as much passion and new ideas. I've been coaching since 1996. I'm going to take a spring break. I'm going to go somewhere, but it'll probably be north."