Mustangs hire new coach

Lakewood Ranch has hired Ryan Kennedy as its new baseball coach.

A graduate of Lakewood, Kennedy played on the Mustangs 2003 state championships team.

He went on to play for the University of Tampa where he helped lead the Spartans to back-to-back Division II national championships in 2006 and 2007. Kennedy spent a year playing for the Orem Owlz, a Los Angeles Angels Minor League team, before returning to the University of Tampa where he was an assistant coach from 2008 to 2011.

Kennedy returned to his alma mater last season as an assistant coach and saw the Mustangs advance to the Class 6A state semifinals.