US AIR FORCE ACADEMY, COLO. -- Maj. Mike Kazlausky has been named interim head baseball coach at the Air Force Academy (USAFA) for the 2011 season.

Kazlausky will assume his duties at the end of the current baseball season. He is an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) for cadet squadron 12 at the USAFA.

Kazlausky replaces Mike Hutcheon, whose resignation as 7-year head coach takes effect at the end of the 2010 season.

Kazlausky, known as "Coach Kaz," is a 1991 Academy graduate and has logged six years as an assistant coach at the USAFA.

Kazlausky came to USAFA baseball as a walk-on player and started all four years as an undergraduate. He held eight career records and yet ranks among the top six in nine of the 13 offensive categories. A two-time all-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) selection, Kazlausky led the Falcons in batting in 1989 and 1991.

"Kaz" spent three seasons from 1993 to 1995 as an assistant coach to former Falcon Head Coach Paul Mainieri, now the head coach at Louisiana State University. Each year was a winning season for the Falcons, with the 1994 team leading the nation in batting average, slugging percentage and triples. The 1995 team won 29 games, the second-best record in school history.

Kazlausky next spent four years at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., as a pilot of the C-17 aircraft. He returned to the Academy in the fall of 2000 as a TG4 and T-41/C-150 evaluator pilot in the 94th Flying Training Squadron through 2004. He also then served as the volunteer baseball coach for the Falcons and was the Preparatory School head baseball coach. During his tenure, the 2002 Falcon team set the school record for most Div. I victories, and two Falcon players were drafted into the minor leagues.

Kazlausky moved to Charleston Air Force Base in 2004 and spent the next 2 1/2 years as a C-17 pilot actively serving in the War on Terror before returning to the Academy from 2006-2008 for his third tour as an assistant baseball coach.

In 2007, Kazlausky was inducted into the Lake County Hall of Fame in Lake County, Ill., for outstanding achievement. In 2008, he was inducted into the 14th Airlift Squadron Hall of Fame in Charleston, S.C.

He and his wife, Kris, live in Monument with their daughter, Sammy, 10, and son, Mick, 7.