Mike Shipley, an assistant baseball coach at Linn-Mar High School for 13 years, has been named the new head softball coach at the school.

Shipley coached the sophomore baseball team from 2009 until this past season. He also worked with the varsity and freshman teams in previous years.

Shipley succeeds Jon Harms, who resigned as softball coach.

Tonya Moe, Linn-Mar's associate athletic director, said Shipley has the right tools to lead the Lions back to their glory days.

"We are very excited here at Linn-Mar to have Mike Shipley as our next softball coach," Moe stated in a news release. "The game of baseball and softball have a lot of similarities and obviously some differences, but Coach Shipley has the knowledge, dedication, motivation and drive that we are looking for in a head coach.

"This has been something he has aspired to do for a few years and he has done his research on what it takes to make this transition. We are very excited to have him on board."

Shipley graduated from Linn-Mar in 1993 and received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Loras College in 1997. He has worked at Excelsior Middle School in the Linn-Mar district since 2004 as a student assistance specialist.

"I am very excited for the opportunity to lead the Linn-Mar softball program," he said. "There is a solid group of girls returning and I'm looking forward to working with the coaching staff."

Shipley and his wife, Carina, have two children, Michael, 9, and Elly, 7.