The coaching partnership that has guided Polk County’s baseball program will return for an 11th season in 2027.
But it will do so with a slightly different look.
Head coach Billy Alm and assistant coach Josh Money are swapping roles, with Money taking over as the Wolverines’ head coach and Alm serving as associate head coach.
The reason for the change is simple: Alm wants the flexibility to travel on Fridays to watch his son, Gunnar, play baseball at North Carolina State, and felt doing so while remaining head coach wouldn’t be fair to the program.
“I think it looks bad when you’re labeled the head coach and you’re not at a game,” Alm said. “This frees me up to go watch Gunnar play college ball whenever need be. I’ll miss a Friday game here and a Friday game there so that I can leave early.
“Other than that, I’m going to be right there the rest of the time.”
The Alm-Money combination has been a successful one for Polk County, earning 113 wins over the past 10 seasons. The duo has long operated in lockstep, with Money managing the pitching staff and outfielders and Alm working with hitters and infielders. None of that will change.
“Billy and I have been coaching together for 15 years, and this program is something we built together,” Money said. “He’ll still be right by my side, at least he better be, and fans are going to continue to see the same Polk County baseball they’ve always known.”
“Josh is the only one I would do this with,” Alm said. “He and I have built this thing together, and I’ve worked so hard that I wouldn’t want to hand this over to anyone else. I trust the guy with my life.”
The coaching duo will face a challenge in 2027 in trying to repeat last season’s success. The Wolverines finished 17-10, won the Western Highlands Conference championship and reached the third round of the 3A state playoffs with a large senior class that included Gunnar Alm, the WHC Player of the Year.
“We lost 11 seniors last year, many of them starters, so we know we’re heading into a rebuilding phase,” Money said. “We are going to be young and inexperienced, but our expectations will still be high.
“We’re going to keep working hard this offseason and prepare our team for the upcoming season.”
