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A panel of five sifted through about 20 resumes from across the state to find the next Port Neches-Groves head baseball coach after longtime coach Scott Carter retired this year.

After checking references and conducting interviews, the group ultimately ended selecting Orangefield coach Tim Erickson to lead the program.

PNG Athletic Director Jeff Joseph said the committee interviewed four applicants before landing on Erickson. Joseph declined to name the committee members.

“I want him to run the program the way he sees fit,” Joseph said of Erickson. “He has been a very successful coach. I think he has really good intentions about what he wants to do with our program with growing and improving those young men.”

Erickson is coming off his best season with the Bobcats with 30 wins, which was a school record, and making it to within a game from the 3A State Tournament. Orangefield lost to Franklin, who went on to win the championship.

Erickson had been with Orangefield since 2017 after coming over from Hardin Jefferson. The coach said he is happy to be part of PNG’s historic program.

“I felt like out of all of the jobs in the area, if not beyond the area, it is a job that stood out to me as being one of the better baseball schools,” Erickson told Port Arthur Newsmedia. “What Coach Carter has done with the program the last seven years; it’s a great program. I am going to, hopefully, try to come in and continue the success that they have had. I feel like from a pride standpoint, I take a lot of pride in what I do with a baseball program and PNG really stands out in that aspect to me.”

The new coach said he has been part of the workouts over the weeks and looks forward to getting to know the players better over the summer. He also said he doesn’t expect any changes to the current coaching staff.

“I think it is going to be the same, which is great,” Erickson said. “It is a great staff. There is nothing I would want to change about it. I think everyone is staying on board, and I am fired up about that part of it.”

Carter and Erickson have been able to spend some time together as both served as regional directors for the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association.

“I have gotten to visit with him quite a bit more, I guess, this past year,” Erickson said. “I got a chance to visit with him during the state tournament and pick his brain a little bit. I feel like we have a great relationship.”

This article was written by Chris Moore for The Port Arthur News.