BUFORD — The Buford baseball program did not take long to land a new head coach -- and an impressive one at that.
The Wolves announced on Tuesday that they have selected Cartersville head coach Stuart Chester to take over the position vacated by Tony Wolfe less than two weeks ago.
Chester brings with him an eye-popping resume that includes six state championships, 500-plus career victories and 10 Final Fours in 21 years with the Purple Hurricanes. He has been voted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame, and his Purple Hurricanes were named the team of the decade for the 2000s.
"His resume is about as good as anybody's," said Wolfe, who resigned from the Buford program after 21 seasons to take an assistant athletic director's position with the school where he is also still the softball coach. "I've known him since he played for the Gainesville American Legion team for Don Brewer. He played on the team with my brother. And our schools played against each other so many times in the playoffs -- and yet our relationship got better even in those intense battles.
"I think we got a great guy. He's got a great way of communicating with kids and an ability to connect with them. Plus we wanted a guy that will work with all the programs at our school, and he will be a great addition to our overall staff with all of the great coaches we have here."
Cartersville finished this season 22-10, falling in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs. He takes over a Buford program that went 20-15 last season, reaching the Class AAAAA Sweet 16 before falling to eventual state finalist Wayne County.
