Ickes to Retire After 1999 Season

Bob Ickes, coach of the Mater Dei baseball team for 24 years, announced he will retire after the 1999 season. He will be replaced by assistant coach Burt Call.

Call is graduate of Capistrano Valley High and Brigham Young University. He was a member of the Cougars’ 1983 team that won the Southern Section 2-A championship.

Ickes, 50, has a career record of 430-175-9. His playoff record is 30-19, with a section Major Division championship in 1980.

“I want people to understand that the retirement is not because I’m too old, or that I don’t want to coach anymore,” Ickes said. “It’s just that when a program has been run the same way for a long time, there comes a time for change and for new ideas.”

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Gerard Waskiewicz, the pole vault coach at Irvine High, died Saturday in a boating accident. He was 33.

Waskiewicz, of Costa Mesa, coached at Irvine four seasons, and was a head coach at Servite previously. He graduated from Servite and Cal State Fullerton.

He was instrumental in the development of Sea View League champions and Southern Section finalists Lisa Fellers and Michelle Noble in the girls’ pole vault.

Waskiewicz was found floating in the water in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near the Nevada shoreline of Lake Mohave Saturday morning, the National Park Service said.

He apparently hit some rocks near the shoreline while traveling at a high rate of speed on a rented personal watercraft. Park officials said Waskiewicz was likely thrown from the vessel and landed head-first on the shore, suffering severe head trauma.

He is survived by his parents, Al and Lorraine Waskiewicz of Garden Grove, and two brothers, Dr. Thomas Waskiewicz of Pasadena and John Waskiewicz of Santa Clara.

Rosary will be Wednesday, at Dimond and Sons Mettler Mortuary, 10630 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove. Funeral services will be held 9 a.m. Thursday at St. Columban Catholic Church in Garden Grove.

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Three Orange County youths were among six winners at the Galaxy Team Championship competition, part of the MLS Pro Player Dribble, Pass & Shoot program Sunday at the Rose Bowl.

Brian Konig won the boys’ 8-9 division; Kory Kemmerer won the boys’ 10-11 division and Amy Minter won the girls’ 12-14 title. All are from Mission Viejo.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.