WATSONVILLE — The St. Francis High athletic department announced Monday that Adam Noto was named the school’s new softball coach for the upcoming season.
Noto will replace Art Doten, who coached the Sharks the past five years and recorded 44 wins in that time.
Noto, 47, worked alongside Doten as an assistant coach for the past two years. Since his arrival, St. Francis went 29-19-1 overall and 19-8 in Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress division play.
“The past few years we’ve really changed the outlook of teams and it kind of put us on the map, so to speak,” Noto said. “Taking over for Art (Doten)…I miss the guy, he’s like a big brother to me.”
Noto said Doten laid the foundation for success for the Sharks and got the players believing that they were no longer an easy win on the schedule for opposing teams.
“Trying to make a name for the school, which has been exciting,” Noto said.
Adam Noto was the assistant coach at St. Francis for the past two years. Since his arrival, the Sharks went 29-19-1 overall and 19-8 in Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress division play.
Last year, Doten led the Sharks to an overall record of 15-11-1 and 11-4 in the PCAL-Cypress division en route to their first league championship in the program’s history, alongside co-champion Monte Vista Christian.
Doten also led St. Francis to its first appearance in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“We want to thank former Head Coach Art Doten for all he did for our softball program,” said St. Francis athletic director Adam Hazel in a press release.
Hazel praised Doten for leading St. Francis to its first-ever league championship, going to the CCS playoffs and having players named to all-league teams.
“As we transition to our new head coach, Adam Noto, we are very excited to see him continue in our tradition here at St. Francis,” Hazel said. “We’re happy to have him as our new head coach as he has done a tremendous job as our assistant coach over the last couple of years. And we know he’ll do a great job leading our program.”
Doten said he was surprised he was let go and to hear the school wanted to go in a different direction, especially after having success in the previous two seasons.
“It’s a little shocking but hey it’s part of the business,” Doten said.
Doten, 58, has been coaching since 1985 and began coaching girls fastpitch softball in 1991. He said the thought of stepping down and not coaching has been on the back burner.
“It’s crossed my mind,” he said. “The past couple of years I’ve been thinking about moving on but I wanted to do it on my terms…but it’s all good.”
Noto met with the players Monday to talk about the transition. The Sharks are only losing two players to graduation — Lena Ciandro and Maia Madrigal — and will have a solid group of players returning next year.
“Anything less than a CCS bid is going to be a complete step backward for this group of girls,” Noto said. “We’ve experienced it now and we know how hard you have to work to get there and we’re going to work harder.”
Noto said he’s been blessed with learning from some of the best coaches. The one thing he noticed about Doten was his patience along with his belief in the team.
“Just kind of trusting their god-given ability to make it work, to win and succeed,” Noto said. “I think it’d be foolish to not acknowledge that he’s going to be missed by me and every player on that team or that has played for Art (Doten).”
