Five time state champion baseball coach to step down Aug. 1

RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - After leading the Russellville High School baseball team to five state championships in his 10 years at the helm, head coach Chris Heaps is stepping down from the position.

According to a Facebook post from Russellville City Schools, Heaps will be retiring from public education to coach in the private education sector in Birmingham.

Throughout his tenure, Heaps has won at an impressive 70 percent but believes the other 30 percent is what really matters.

“I don’t call the other 30 percent ‘losses;’ I call them ‘lessons,’” Heaps said. “There’s always something you can learn and always something you can work on and do better. It’s not about being champions, although we have been very blessed in that area.

Heaps coached Russellville High School to back-to-back-to-back state championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2018 the Golden Tigers finished as state runner-up. The team then won back-to-back again in 2021 and 2022.

Russellville City Schools superintendent Heath Grimes, says that assistant coach Jay Stanley will be the interim coach while applications are reviewed.

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