From the PORTERS to EVERYONE: Have A VERY JOYOUS Holiday!

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1 ISSUE 21 HOLIDAY Porter Baseball From the PORTERS to EVERYONE: Have A VERY JOYOUS Holiday! The Porter baseball program has completed another successful year in its long and storied tradition. All levels enjoyed a successful spring season, the summer was filled with games and tournaments and the coaches were able to evaluate those who participated. The program also saw many of its graduating seniors commit to play at the collegiate level. The Porter program is truly blessed with fine young men, supportive parents and hard working, dedicated coaches. We continued with our traditional theme of Porter Baseball being a family. We emphasize to our players that staying together, working together and being supportive of each other is more important than competing in a sport. Our baseball family is busy during this holiday season helping and thinking of others less fortunate as well. Team members collected food for the annual ROTC food drive at LTHS. Being a part of a community is a big responsibility and one that extends beyond the playing field. We are very proud of our family because of the way they have responded. Several of our players participated in fall sports while others are now taking part in their winter sports. As usual Porter alum, former Notre Dame athlete and professional athlete, Nick Setta is helping our guys be the best they can be. His rigorous workouts after school helps bring out the best in themselves in preparation for the coming season. His program is extensive and comprehensive. All of this is leading Coaches up to the Corner week of February In this 29th issue Assistant when baseball Varsity and season officially Hitting begins Coach Matt with Bartley a week finishes of his article on batting tips. tryouts. It can t get here fast enough. 4 The Porter Baseball family would like to take this opportunity to extend holiday greetings to everyone. We 4 hope that this coming year will find you healthy and prosperous. HAPPY 5 HOLIDAYS!!!! 8 2 Winter Skills Camp WHEN: Dec. 20, 22, 27 and 27 WHO: K-4 5 th -8 6pm-8pm WHERE: Quarry Fieldhouse and Bo Jackson Dome COST: $75.00 See brochure on page 7 of newsletter Porters Winter Hitting League WHEN: Tuesdays 1/5 thru 2/23 WHERE: Quarry Fieldhouse 535 Anderson Drive Romeoville, IL WHO: 4 th -8 th Grades COST: $ See brochure on page 9 of newsletter Porters FREE Winter Camp Porter Baseball will host a FREE winter camp for 5 th through 8 th graders from our LTHS community. WHEN: Saturday, February 6th 6:00-7:30 pm WHERE: LTHS East Field House 1333 E. 7 th Street REGISTER: (deadline is 1/18/16) *FREE Football camp 4pm Brochure on page 8 of newsletter

2 2016 PORTERS COMMIT Early TO COLLEGE Anthony Cocco Two Porters have committed early to play at the next level in 2017: *Infielder Anthony Cocco (l) will take his game downstate to play for the Blue Devils of Kaskaskia College. *Joe McGuire (r), a senior catcher, will play for the Black Hawk College Braves in Moline, Illinois Joe McGuire Class of 15 MoviNG On Up! Eight 2015 grads have moved on to the next level. Cole Bellair (University of Illinois), Tyler Hair (Northern State U.), Jordan Johnston and Austin Moralis (Heartland Community College), Trevor Cielenski (Kishwaukee College), Davis Purviance (Joliet Junior College), Jeremy Quade (North Central College) and Ben Wishba (Saint Xavier U./Chgo.) all will be playing on collegiate diamonds this coming season. Good luck guys and remember..go to class! IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2016 SEASON The Porters have TENTATIVELY scheduled some important events and games for the 2016 season. It should be noted that these events are subject to change due to weather, opponent schedule changes, etc. As you can see the Porters have emphasized playing in tournaments this season for many non-conference games. The tournament experience will benefit the Porters later in the season as they enter the IHSA State Tournament. February 10 th : February Booster Meeting (Tryout information will be distributed) March 5 th : Program Practice and Unity Breakfast March 12 th : Flink Field Clean-up Day/Team-Player Pictures March 13 th : Lockport Porter Baseball Spring Youth Camp Morning and afternoon sessions with Porter coaches/players instructing baseball fundamentals. March 18 th : Maroon and White Night Intra-squad games to kick-off the 2016 season. March 19 th : March Madness Fundraiser (7:00pm-11:00pm-Olson American Legion Post 18, Lockport, IL) March 28 th Brother Rice 1st Round of Steven Bajenski Memorial Tournament. March 31 st- April 2 nd : WJOL Tournament (3/31 & Flink, Silver Cross.Opponents/Times TBA) April 7 th -9 th : PBR Super Preps Tournament, Louisville, KY April 10 th : vs. Standard Bank Field, Crestwood, IL (SSC/SWSC Crossover) April 15 th : Joliet West (Youth Baseball Night) Flink Field) April 16 th : Strike-Out Cancer Day vs. Minooka (Games all day starting with Frosh A at 10am) April 22 nd : Military Appreciation Game vs. JCA Flink Field) April 29 th : Alumni Night vs. Stagg Flink Field) May 5 th : Senior Night vs. Joliet Central Flink Field) May 6 th- 7 th : Tiger Classic Tournament, Edwardsville, IL 7pm, 10am and 1pm) May 19 th- 21 st : Steven Bajenski Memorial Tournament (Pool Play- Opp., Places & Times TBA) May 28 th : Program Picnic at Flink Field (Time TBA) June 19 th- June 22 nd : Summer Trip to Omaha (Battle of Omaha 19U Tourney & College World Series) July 11 th -July 14 th : Summer Regional (Places/times TBA) July 18 th -July 21 st : Summer State Tournament (Places/Times TBA) Mark your calendar and please plan on attending!!!!

3 Porter Baseball Gets Into Holiday Spirit The Porters again participated in the 2016 LTHS Junior Air Force ROTC Christmas Food Drive Porter ALUMNI PLAY SUMMER PRO BALL This past spring, Josh Altmann (12 ) got word that he had been drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 22 nd round of the MLB draft. Josh had just completed his junior season at Olivet Nazarene U. where he hit.432 in 50 games with 6 HR s and 36 RBI. Josh became only the 10 th ONU player to be drafted and joins the likes of the Cubs Ben Zobrist. Josh split time between the High Desert Mavericks of the Class A Advanced California league and then finished with the Arizona Rangers in the Arizona Rookie League. He finished with a combined.250 BA with 2 HR s and 29 RBI in 53 games. In a Chicago Tribune story published June 16 th, Josh stated, this moment has been a dream come true for me since I started playing the game. From here, I look to continue with hard work and to run with this opportunity. I don t lose focus that there is still a ways to go in the organization, but I am going to put in the work. As you can see by the special graphic from the Peoria Chiefs website, this past season contained a special moment for Steve Sabatino (08 ). Sabs, along with teammates Jaime Garcia and Cody Schumacher combined for a no-hitter on July 23 rd. Garcia pitched the first innings and then Sabs, a relief left-hander for the Chiefs, came on and pitched into the 8 th. Schumacher mopped up for the no no. After Steve left LTHS he went to Notre Dame where he pitched two seasons. Though missing 2011 because of Tommy John surgery, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012 in the 26 th round. In his 4 professional seasons Steve has pitched in 94 games throwing 136 innings. He has a great ERA of 3.24 and an awesome K-BB ratio of His career WHIP is Steve says, Being able to play professional baseball has been my dream for as long as I can remember.

4 Porter Baseball Booster News Despite the season being over, the baseball boosters have been very busy. In addition to holding monthly meetings, they have developed their own website that focuses on activities, plans and announcements pertaining to the boosters. The web address is: The boosters, under the direction of Pres. Bob Lovesky, also organized and participated in a Flink Field Cleanup Day on Saturday, October 10 th. Over 30 parents, players and coaches worked together to complete some necessary maintenance and general cleaning of the field s buildings and areas. The biggest undertaking was led by Coach Satunas. His group cleaned out the old batting cages of all nets, removed old buried timbers, leveled the surface, spread two truckloads of crushed limestone rock and then covered the hitting areas with rubber mats (below). Coach Satunas acquired the mats after the weight room at East campus was remodeled. Another group of parents painted areas of the locker room, the façade and doors of the concession stand (r), the press box deck and the new sponsor board. Others washed out both dugouts and installed wood barriers and sand bags around the entrances to prevent flooding by rain and spring melt. In addition to all of this, the old tarps were cut up into smaller pieces to be used to cover both home and visitor bullpen dirt areas which had been cleaned up and leveled. We wish to thank all of the parents and players who donated their time and labor to help spruce up beautiful Flink Field. It was a wonderful experience and one that we hope to make an annual event. SPECIAL THANKS: A big special thank you goes out to Mike and Pam Strysik, parents of junior Nick, for donating time and materials to help construct some much needed improvements inside the locker room. Mike, owner of Cabinetworks, Inc., constructed a huge cabinet for player uniforms (below). He also installed a wall and door securing this uniform area. Mike wasn t done yet as he then constructed a large 3 compartment bench that created additional storage space for much of Coach Satunas coaching materials. Pam Strysik put together a large cushion for the top of the bench that helps replace the very old sofa that was previously located in the coach s room. This will enable Coach Markelz to continue his practice of conducting pre-game meditation sessions. A big thank you also goes out to Tyler Hair for all of his hard work. We appreciate it. The Porter Baseball Program wishes to thank everyone who has supported us through the season. Please know your efforts do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. With the expert assistance of his sidekick, alum Tyler Hair (15 ), Mike also moved lockers in the player s room and relocated a white board for use by coaches (pic on next page). In addition to that, he relocated three coach s lockers in the coach s locker room and built and installed 4 additional lockers for new coaches (below right).

5 VARSITY LOCKER MAKEOVER When the varsity players arrive at Flink Field this spring and walk into their locker room they will notice a few changes. As they enter they will notice a completely new paint scheme. Now they will see gray walls with maroon stripes as well as the inside of their lockers are maroon as well. Some lockers have been relocated and a white board in the front has been installed Another change they will notice is that the benches have been removed and replaced by gray/maroon cushioned folding chairs courtesy of the Baseball Boosters. Each chair has the program logo on the back. The chairs will be able to be folded and placed inside their lockers for easier clean-up of the floor area. A big thank you to the Boosters for the early Christmas present! Reminders of our program s history are located throughout the room. Team pictures from 1926 to 2015 are located on the entryway wall as are pictures of Porter head coaches (see above left). Above the white board are team pictures of all Porter teams that participated in the IHSA state tournament. All-State and All-Area plaques are also placed throughout the room as well in various places. All serve as visual reminders of the deep tradition of success and excellence on the field. The coach s locker/office area has also seen some drastic changes as well (above right). Lockers have been relocated and a new cushioned bench (thank you again Mr. and Mrs. Strysik) has been installed. Changes will provide much needed space especially when coaches have meetings. All in all a new look for a new start to a new season.

6 A look Into the past Coach Joseph Ignatius Corcoran A recent issue of the newsletter for the Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society (LAGHS) contained a great article written by its archivist and former Porter Baseball coach John Johnson on Joseph Ignatius Corcoran. Coach Corcoran was the LTHS baseball coach from 1925 to In fact, he coached everything else at Lockport as the football and basketball coach as well. Coach Corcoran was born in 1893 in Lockport. He attended South Lockport School and graduated from LTHS in He was a 3 sport athlete playing and captaining the football, basketball and baseball teams. The picture to the left shows him in his football uniform. He graduated from Washington U. in St. Louis and enlisted in the Navy in 1917 (photo right). Information is sketchy at this stage of his life but we do know after WWI he sought medical treatment at the veteran s hospital in Proviso Twp, IL at what is today Hines VA Hospital in Maywood. He had been trained as a medic in the navy and some suspect he might have been gassed while serving in Europe. There is a gap between the end of WWI and his return to LTHS as a teacher and coach in In fact he is not accounted for in the 1920 census as well. As stated, he joined the faculty of LTHS in 1921 (his yearbook picture below right) and became head coach in all three major sports from then until His basketball teams went , his football teams 45-38, but won-lost records for baseball are not available. You can seem him with his 1927 team below. Coach Corcoran passed away at Hines Hospital in 1945 and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Joliet. We d like to thank John Johnson for his article which served as the basis of this story. Remember this? In 1981, LTHS dedicated the baseball field in honor of longtime coach Edward Flink. In the picture to the left you can see the sign that was placed on the old pipe and chain link backstop in his honor and designating the field from then on as Flink Field. Later, that backstop was removed and replaced by the efforts of Coach Steve Stanicek and boosters with a brick backstop and net. Many began asking; where is the Flink sign that was on the backstop? Well, after searching around, it was found last year in the old field shed (far right). It has since been restored, repainted and is now located near the intersection of Briggs and Division Streets (below center). As you can see, an addition has been made to mark when the field was established in In that year, the corner athletic field land was purchased by the Lockport High School board of education at the time for $8,000.

7 baseball/ Quarry Field House Bo Jackson Dome

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9 Andy Satunas: website:

10 @coachsatunas on twitter on twitter

11 Happy Holidays Porter Baseball Coach Andy Satunas Lockport Township High School East Seventh Street Lockport, Illinois Website: Contact us: