Hartman hired as SE Polk's head coach

The Creston connection is still firmly in place in the successful Southeast Polk High School baseball program.

The Southeast Polk board of directors approved the hiring of Dave Hartman as head baseball coach at its Aug. 3 session.

Hartman, 51, was the top assistant for head coach Scott Belger for 10 years at Southeast Polk. Before that he served as an assistant coach for Belger at Des Moines Hoover beginning in 2003. Both are former Creston players and former assistant coaches for Scott's father, Vic Belger, who retired as the Panthers' coach in 2003.

During Scott Belger's tenure at the helm of the Rams program, he guided them to four state tournament appearances and two state championships in 2014 and 2015. He also established the Rams Baseball Club, unifying the youth program in Southeast Polk's local communities.

Belger was recently named assistant principal at Southeast Polk High School. He will serve as a volunteer assistant for Hartman.

Belger was excited to see his longtime partner gain the approval of Southeast Polk's board after an interview process was conducted on Aug. 1. He was also excited to hear that former Johnston state champion coach Randy Wee has agreed to be an assistant coach for Hartman at the varsity level.

"It's the perfect storm," Belger said. "Randy and Dave and I have been friends for years," Belger said. "Everyone knows that Dave is deserving of this position, and Randy was coach at Johnston when they won the state championship and went 44-0. He started a business in Ankeny and had coached at Lincoln for awhile, but we always had our eyes on him to get him involved in our program."

Belger, Hartman and Wee have experience coaching together for an Iowa junior select team in national competition.

Assistants Scot Surprenant and David Elliott also remain on the Southeast Polk staff, but Hartman said he has a position to fill at the freshman level after Ty Weathermanl took an administrative position in another school district.

The Rams were defeated by 2016 state champion Cedar Rapids Prairie in the substate round this year after earning the No. 1 seed.

'Easy' transition

Hartman was third-base coach, worked with the pitching staff and infielders and shared hitting instruction with Belger in recent years. He said his duties won't change much, other than having more administrative duties.

"Really, my role before was probably a little larger than your typical assistant coach," Hartman said. "It was almost like an associate head coach. I'm still going to coach the pitchers and infielders. I might have to manage the budget a little more, instead of just telling Scott what we should purchase! And I'll be riding the bus. Before, since I live in Urbandale, a lot of times I'd drive to the games over in Des Moines rather than ride all the way out to Pleasant Hill and drive back again."

Hartman has previously been a head coach at Gilbertville Don Bosco, Carroll High, Corning and Diagonal besides his many years as an assistant for Belger and with the Panthers.

During his Don Bosco years he met Wee, who was then an assistant coach at the University of Northern Iowa. Wee later served on the Northern Illinois staff.

"I was really excited to get my assistant position filled by someone of the caliber of coach Wee," Hartman said. "He's arguably one of the top baseball guys in the entire state of Iowa. He's from Ankeny and had kids coming up and got out of coaching for awhile. He started a business, Wee's Tees, and he's got that going well now and felt this was a good time to join our staff. His wife was a counselor at Don Bosco when I coached there 20 years ago and we got to know each other, so we've had him in our sights for quite awhile."

Hartman said the Southeast Polk program has established itself as one of the premier programs in the state under Belger, and doesn't intend to overhaul many aspects as he takes over.

"I think all of us — the kids and parents and coaches — were all ready for this and I think it will be a fairly smooth transition," Hartman said. "Wee can coach the outfielders and do a little with the hitters and probably coach the catchers. The involvement of Scott is kind of up in the air right now, but of course we'd love to have him on board as much as his job allows."

Hartman is a social studies teacher at Southeast Polk, primarily instructing courses in psychology and global studies.

The Rams are scheduled to play in Creston during the 2018 season after hosting the Panthers this year.