Changes coming in Lynn softball

The high school softball landscape in Lynn is changing.Earlier this summer, English High softball coach Alisa Fila stepped down after coaching the Bulldogs for 23 years, and now change is afoot at Classical.Chris Warren, a physical education teacher and assistant athletic director at Classical, has coached the softball team for the past 15 years. Last week, he was hired to fill a newly-opened vice principal position at Classical and as a result, he will be giving up the softball job.Classical principal Gene Constantino said the addition of Warren to the administration at the school is a win situation, but acknowledged that it?s a big loss to the softball program.?We?re thrilled to have him, but on the other hand we?re losing an excellent softball coach,” Constantino said. “He?s a great mentor as well as a great coach. That comes through when you hear the kids talk at the banquet about playing for him. The kids have great memories.”Warren is no stranger to the vice principal job, having filled in for long stretches in recent years when vice principal Amy Dunn was out on maternity leave and now-retired vice principal Richard Sakowich was out on medical leave. He?ll be one of three vice principals, the other two being Dunn and Dennis Thompson.Warren said he met with the team last Thursday to tell them what was happening and it was very emotional.?Someone said it felt like going to a funeral,” he said. “It?s tough now and it will be tougher in the spring. It feels like a part, a little bit of me, is being ripped out. I?ve done it so long.”Warren will leave having had all but two of his teams qualify for the state tournament in 15 years. During that time the team has won four Northeastern Conference championships and at one point, the Rams won 41 consecutive NEC games with the streak finally ending early in the 2013 season.Warren said although wins, titles and streaks are nice, he could care less about those things. What was important, he said, was making the program a good experience for the players.?To have them have a great experience, that?s what my goal was,” he said. “I always wanted to make our program an experience, something that separated it from the other programs.”Along those lines, Warren?s teams started doing an annual trip to the Cape before the start of the season where they would play six scrimmages and do some team bonding over the course of the weekend. Several of his teams, the 2013 squad being the most recent, also did a Disney trip during April vacation where they played a couple of games and got to visit several of the parks. Three years ago he started doing a Coaches vs. Cancer game, a tradition he said he hopes will be continued by his successor.Warren, a former star quarterback at English, has actually been involved with the Classical program since he was 19 and serving as an assistant coach under Shelly Kennedy (English coach Alisa Fila actually hooked him up with that job). When the head coaching job opened up, Warren applied, but lost out to Steve Gravin. Warren served as Gravin?s assistant for six years before being hired as head coach at the age of 26.Warren said he knows it?s going to be really difficult when the spring rolls around and he?s not out there “sitting on his bucket” coaching the team. Constantino can relate, having gone through the same thing when he gave up coaching the Classical girls basketball team after 19 years to take a vice principal position.?I remember my first year as VP when I didn?t coach. I went to every game, home and away. I sure missed it and I?m sure Chris is going to feel that same way,” Constantino said. “It?s going to be tough.”Warren said one of the things about his tenure that he?s proudest of is how many (he estimated over 90 percent) of his former players went on to earn four-year college degrees. Some returned to the school system as teachers, coaches and guidance counselors.The softball job won?t be posted until school is back in session. Warren said he?ll be i