SPECIAL EVENTS COMING UP IN 2014 SEASON

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1 PORTER BASEBALL NEWSLETTER ISSUE 17 FALL/WINTER was a banner year for the Porters and one of the most successful in the program s history. The season saw the Porters finish with a 32-8 overall record that included their 28 th Conference, 15 th Regional and 7 th Sectional titles. The overall program amassed a tremendous (.800) record that included conference titles for both the sophomores and freshman teams. Along with the on field accomplishments, 10 of the 2013 Porter seniors will go on to play baseball at the next level. Future newsletters and our website (porterbaseball.org) will keep you up to date on how their seasons go. All of the seniors on the team will be going to college. We are all tremendously proud of that. The baseball program expanded the number of teams in their summer program this season and fielded three teams. Varsity, JV and a new travel Porter Baseball PORTERS FINISH BUSY SUMMER GET READY FOR 2014 AREA YOUTH COACHES BASEBALL CLINIC Thurs. 1/30 & 2/13 6:30-9pm Mullet s Homer Glen BASEBALL SEASON OFFICIALLY BEGINS Monday February 25 th, 2012 PORTER BASEBALL TRYOUTS Mon-Fri 3/3-3/7..@ East Field-house Times TBA SPRING YOUTH CLINIC Sat. March 16 th 8:00 & 12:00 LTHS Fieldhouse MARCH MADNESS FUNDRAISER Sat. March 22 nd..mullets Bar & Grill TBA MINERS/MARION TOURNAMENT Mon-Thurs..3/24-3/27..@Rent One Park, Marion, Il. (Tankermen) team competed. The intent is to allow as many of our players an opportunity to compete on the next level, improve their skills and also allow coaches to get a good look under competitive game conditions the players that will be trying out in the spring. Three day tryouts were observed by varsity and sophomore coaches. Each day players were put through practices and drills and then competed in a scrimmage game. The varsity summer team, coached by head coach Andy Satunas and assisted by Tim Harmatys and Ken Dobson played a full schedule of games with other high school summer teams. It also included their annual trek to Omaha to compete in the Battle of Omaha 19U tournament which coincided with the College World Series that was being played at Omaha s TD Ameritrade Park. The Porters played 4 games in the tourna- SPECIAL EVENTS COMING UP IN 2014 SEASON ment and also attended two World Series games. The varsity season ended with a loss to Minooka in the IHSBCA Summer State Tournament. 2 The JV team was coached by sophomore coaches Dan Blaskovitz and Andrew Leonard. Coaches Corner They competed in the In Southwest this issue Assistant Suburban Varsity JV and League that included Hitting Coach a season Matt Bartley ending finishes summer his article on batting tips. tournament The Porters finished 4 third defeating Lincoln-Way East in the 3 rd Place game. In its inaugural season the Tankermen 4 travel team, coached collectively by Andy Satunas, Dan Blaskovitz and Tim Harmatys, played a full schedule which consisted mainly of American Legion teams. The team was cosponsored by Midwest Tankerman 5 Inc. of Lockport and American Legion John Olson Post 18. They played locally as well as traveled to tournaments throughout the Midwest. WJOL TOURNAMENT Fri-Sat....4/4 & 4/5....Times/Location TBA YOUTH BASEBALL DAY April 12 th Time TBA..Flink Field STRIKEOUT CANCER DAY AT FLINK Sat 4/19 Times TBA...All Games@ Flink Field TIGER CLASSIC TOURNAMENT Fri-Sat May 9th -10 th Edwardsville Times.TBA MILITARY APPRECIATION GAME TBA ALUMNI APPRECIATION GAME TBA SENIOR NIGHT Fri. 5/23 vs. Plainfield East...7:00pm 8

2 2013 Porter WINTER INDOOR HITTING LEAGUE NEWS 2

3 PORTER COACHING NEWS Long time Porter assistant coach Dave Jeglinski will be leaving the coaching staff to enjoy some much deserved time away from coaching. Jegs first became an assistant in 2002 when he was tapped by then head coach Jim Hall to be the Porters head freshman B coach where he compiled an impressive 42-8 record over 3 seasons. He later became head freshman coach for one season in which the Frosh Porters went He became a sophomore assistant and was on the staff during the Porters 2005 State Championship season. While a Porter coach he has been on the staff of some pretty good teams. He has helped the sophomores in 2012 win the most games in history (31), the freshman team have its best season in 2006 (32-3) and lead the Frosh B Bombers win its most ever games (15). He has always emphasized to his players to wear the Porter uniform with pride. Coach Jeglinski says, it has been an honor and a great privilege to coach baseball at LTHS. The experiences and lifelong friendships that I ve made coaching have been such a blessing to me. The baseball program has always considered his coaching as a steady and consistently positive influence on his players and fellow coaches. Needless to say he has many memories having been here for 12 seasons. Jegs states some of the memories have left a great impact on me. Experiences such as organizing and planning Military Appreciation Day, my first year coaching (the B Bombers ), learning the ins and outs of coaching from the best mentors around (Porter coaches), winning conference championships and the 2005 State Championship season. He laughs when he says of course I can t forget Coach Hall grabbing my arm and yelling at me to make a point after a semi-final tournament game in He probably thought he was a goner on that one! These are just a few of the great memories. He sees the program in good hands stating under Coach Satunas, the program is as strong as it has ever been. Even though he won t be in the dugout, Coach Jegs will not be a stranger at Flink Field. He looks forward to seeing the Porters bring home another state championship in the near future. What has impressed Jegs the most about being a Porter coach and will be the main thing he misses is coaching all of the fine young men that have played in this program. There isn t a better place to coach baseball than Lockport High School. Good luck Jegs! The Porters will also be losing sophomore assistant coach Andy Leonard who will be leaving to join the staff at the University Of Illinois-Chicago as Director of Baseball Operations. Leonard served on the sophomore level for the past two seasons after graduating from UIC in At UIC he was the all-time leader in doubles and at-bats. While at UIC, Andy will continue to pursue his master s degree in accounting. Coach Leonard was a valued member of our staff who related well to our players. He worked specifically with hitters and infielders and will be sorely missed. We wish him well! The Porters will also see a former head coach go back to the coaches box as Steve Stanicek became the head coach at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois. Stano left LTHS in 2010 to become Instructional Supervisor of Physical/Health/Driver Education at South. Stano coached the Porters for 4 years becoming head coach after the retirement of Coach Hall. Coach Stanicek compiled a record at LTHS that included 3 conference titles ( ) and 3 regional titles ( ). We look forward to mixing it up with Stano and his Titans in the future! 3

4 FLINK FIELD NEWS AND UPDATE Flink Field saw a lot of action during the summer as Porter summer varsity, JV and travel teams played a full slate of games. That continued into the fall as Flink was the site of the Little Seven junior high All-Star game. Players representing Kelvin-Grove, Oak Prairie, Richland and Homer junior high schools competed under the lights. The new grandstand behind home plate was well utilized and looked great. The old 3 rd base bleachers were moved and located behind home plate and then upgraded to current safety standards. The Boosters then added a beautiful brick wall and handicapped area in front and a paver pathway with new mulch that allows easy access. Individual maroon seats were installed to its present look. The view from the grandstand seats is spectacular and will afford fans seating during and after wet weather. Again, the Porters would like to thank the many Boosters who headed the project. It will be a great asset that enhances the spectator experience at Flink for many years to come. Additional landscaping and picnic tables will be added around the grandstand soon. We are also planning on building a new and larger more efficient press box behind the grandstand. The present press box was built in 1999 by boosters as an addition to the old original one which was demolished in the bleacher project. The current box is too small to handle members of the press, announcers and scoreboard managers. Discussions have already started with a former baseball alumna to build it. In a related issue, the Porters have initiated an important project that it would like to complete for the 2014 season. That would be a new batting cage complex along the 3 rd base-left field line. The old batting cages (right) located along the right field fence beyond the visitor s bleachers, are in poor shape and have limited use for the Porters. Among the concerns are the chain link which constitutes the cage is bent and sagging. The metal pipe frame is rusty and sagging and in many places loose especially overhead. The surface is not graded, consists of mostly dirt and when it rains it becomes unusable. In addition, the cage s location makes it impractical for use during games. In fact, many times the visiting team uses it during games. Porter players need and deserve a better place to train and work with coaches. What the Porters are proposing is a simple, relatively inexpensive roofed and lighted two tunnel cage (similar to the one to the left) that would be located in the area near where the old bleachers stood. This location benefits the players and coaches by providing them easy access to the cages from their locker room as well as the dugout. Having a roof and lights would enable the team to use it during inclement weather. The structure as planned would easily fit within the space available. We will provide more information on this as we progress. Coach Satunas and the Boosters are in the process of trying to acquire the school s approval for the project which would not need their financial support. The new batting cages will provide the players with a better hitting environment that would improve the game experience for our fans and more importantly improve the quality of instruction, practice and skill development of our players. 4

5 ED FLINK AND THE FIELD THAT BEARS HIS NAME Just who was Edward Flink and why does our field bear his name? How many of us today know the story of Coach Flink? The story of this great Porter and why the field was named in his honor is one that bears being told. It is a story that those of us today that are involved in Porter baseball need to know, appreciate and most importantly- respect. Ed Flink was born around 1901 in Lockport to Frank and Leontina Flink. Frank was a blacksmith who had emigrated to the U.S. from Gothenburg, Sweden in 1899 and settled in Joliet. He left Joliet and eventually came to settle in Ward 3 in Lockport. According to 1900 U.S. Census records Frank, a blacksmith employed in a mill, was married to wife Leontina also a Swedish immigrant. They had a daughter Florence 4 months old. By the time of the 1910 U.S. Census Frank was widowed and still living in Lockport with his ten year old daughter and 9 year old son Edward. No wife was listed. It is unclear if Leontina was Edward s mother but another later document states that Florence (later Florence Rowley) was Edward s 1/2 sibling. By 1920, census records show that Edward s father had remarried (we assume to Edward s mother named Emma) and the family, now consisting of new sister Ruth, lived on 13 th Street in Lockport. Edward, now 18 and graduated from LTHS (we think class of 1920),will soon be attending Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois. Coach Flink attended Lombard from 1920 through 1926 playing 3 sports. After graduating from Lombard, Flink began his teaching and coaching careers at Lemont High School. He is considered the Pioneer of the Lemont High School athletic program where he was the school s first three-sport head coach. He led the baseball, boys basketball and football teams and in fact began Lemont High School s baseball program. Coach Flink was also a standout semi-pro baseball player known as a peppery third baseman. He was inducted to Lemont s Athletic Hall of Fame in Ed Flink Lombard College He joined the staff at LTHS in as a social studies teacher and coach. He became head baseball coach for that 37 season and remained for 17 seasons until handing over the reins to Coach Van Deven in Under his leadership Flink expanded the program by increasing the number of games and adding lower levels. Most of what we know about Coach Flink is from the yearbooks we were able to access and other information from Ancestry.com. His career at LTHS was phenomenal. Coach Flink, in addition to his coaching duties (which also included asst. football coach) was soon given extra responsibilities. He was Dean of Students, athletic director, assistant principal, principal and asst. superintendant. In the 1954 yearbook The Lock, it states that Mr. Flink was responsible for operation of the school program and headed attendance, discipline, transportation, student records and activity programs. No wonder he decided to retire from coaching that year! In 1966 Coach Flink retired from LTHS (See picture). To demonstrate the respect folks had for Edward Flink, a special award was given that year, The Flink Award, to the student in each class that achieved the highest scholastic average. In October of 1980 Edward Flink passed away. The following baseball season, Porter AD Bob Allen and the baseball program officially received the OK to name the baseball field Edward Ed Flink Field in ceremonies on May 16, Ever since, the baseball field has carried the name of this wonderful man who gave so much to this program, his school and the community of Lockport. SIDE NOTE: Did you know that Flink Field is in all likelihood the oldest high school baseball field in Illinois? For a fact it is the oldest field with lights, but it may be the oldest altogether. Available information tells us that the field was first used in the 1920 s if not earlier. We can find no other high school field still in use that is older. What a great honor and source of pride! It is also a great responsibility for us to maintain it and treat it with the respect it deserves. The older it gets the more care it takes. At times, especially during the summer old Flink shows its age. Both the Porters, who are its caretakers and LTHS need to remember this and do everything they can to help keep it as one of the best places to watch a high school baseball game. 5

6 BOOSTER CLUB NEWS New officers were chosen after the completion of the 2013 season. The Porters welcome new President Larry Wishba, Vice-President Suzanne Cronberg, Treasurer Bob Duplessis and Secretary Karyn Lochow. Their regular meeting schedule is as follows: Tues 11/05/13 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 12/10/13 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 01/07/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 02/11/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 03/04/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 04/01/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 05/06/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 06/03/14 East Campus Maroon Room Tues 07/08/14 East Campus Maroon Room One of the issues that have been discussed is the expansion of the club to include non-parents such as alumni and community residents that support Lockport baseball. This would also include expanding the board structure beyond the four officers to include a representative of these two groups. A few alumni have already approached us and stated that they would like to become more involved with the program. We would like to invite anyone that cares about Porter baseball to become involved with our boosters. People mistakenly think that this will automatically mean that they will be required to constantly raise money over and over again. While fundraising is part of what the boosters do, more significantly they assist the coaches and players during the season with special events and games that are planned during the season. Currently, Coach Satunas and the boosters would like to upgrade/modernize parts of Flink Field. Garnering support from school officials is becoming an increasingly important part of this. We are looking for these new board members to play an integral part in that effort. Please contact Coach Satunas (asatunas@lths.org) if you have any interest or questions. ANDY SATUNAS NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR The Joliet Herald-News named Porter Head Coach Andy Satunas was named its Baseball Coach of the Year. As the Herald-News stated its quite an honor in a season in which JCA s Jared Voss won the 3A title and Joliet West s John Karczewski, Plainfield South s Phil Bodine and Minooka s Jeff Petrovic were among many other also worthy. Coach Satunas will begin his 13 th season in 2014 and looks forward to the challenge of following last year s 32-8 season with another success story. Even though the Porters had a senior laden squad in last season and will be losing all eight starters and his four top pitchers he is confident that the incoming seniors and junior will accept the challenge. NOAH MASA DECLARES FOR UIC Senior pitcher Noah Masa recently stated his intent to continue playing baseball at the University of Illinois- Chicago. SETTA WORKOUTS BEGIN The Porters will begin their winter conditioning workouts for players not playing a winter sport. Former Porter athlete Nick Setta will conduct the camp beginning on Monday November 4 th. Sometimes called Camp Setta, workouts will be after school at East on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Noah was an important part of the Porter staff in 2013 mainly as their closer out of the bullpen. In 14 games he pitched 18+ innings with a 3.43 ERA. His K/BB ratio was outstanding as he struck out 21 opposing batters while walking only 12. Noah will move into the Porters starting rotation in The Porters look forward to his tenacity and competitiveness on the mound. 6

7 ALUMNI NEWS UPDATE Steve Sabatino (Class of 09 ) just finished his 2nd season of professional baseball in the St. Louis Cardinal system. Sabs split time between the Johnson City Cardinals, a Rookie League team in the Appalachian League (where he played in 4 games in 2012) and the Peoria Chiefs, a Class A team in the Midwest League. Steve had a combined record of 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA. He pitched in 18 games (all in relief) and 34 innings. His K/BB ratio was outstanding striking out 48 in those 34 innings while walking only 17. He held opposing batters to a.231 batting average allowing only 30 hits and 14 earned runs. Ted Snidanko (13 ) had a great summer and just participated in the annual Black and Gold Series at Purdue. Ted played for the Black squad and finished hitting.381. He went 8 for 21 with two 2B's, a triple and a big three run home run in game four (see picture to the right). Ted finished with five runs batted in and also played perfect centerfield for the Black team making fourteen putouts with an assist. You can see Ted's full stats at the Purdue baseball website at: Ted rounds 3B after HR Eric Duzan (13 ) and Connor Ryan (13 ) both had a great summer/fall playing for the Illinois Sparks and Prairie State College. The picture to the left is of Ryan (L) and Eric (R) with their host family in Farmington, New Mexico during the Connie Mack World Series. Their team qualified for the most prestigious 18U Tournament in the nation by winning the Battle Creek Regional. The family shown is Uriah and Marveen and son Trenton. Both followed this great experience with a productive fall for Prairie State. Pioneer Coach Bill Storrs said both contributed to a great fall season. Duzzy s arm was a bit tired from his spring and summer workload so he was shut down. Before that Coach Stoors said Duzzy was lights out. In his words the Pioneers are expecting Eric to step into the front end of a very talented rotation. As for Connor he did a great job with both starting and closer roles this fall. He had the lowest ERA on the team. Connor s hard work and leadership are on full display every day and we expect huge success for him. Matt DeGraw (12 ), who plays for Joliet Junior College, competed this summer in the Lake Michigan Summer League. NAIA, Division III and Junior College players from all over the country and Canada played a 24 game schedule. Matt led the league in strikeouts. He also told us he worked the field at JJC when travel tournaments were held there. This is not surprising. Those who know Matt remember him as one of the first players to grab a rake after games when he was a Porter. Nobody ever had to ask Matt to help. Looks like some things never change! 7

8 PORTER BASEBALL AND FOOTBALL- WE ARE ONE Many people might think the connection between sports in different seasons isn t very strong. When you think of how much time today s athletes specialize on one sport it is a wonder that there is any connection at all. Years ago back in the day, it was very common to see three sport athletes. Many times you would see an athlete wearing his school jacket or sweater displaying his varsity letters from multiple sports. They did so with a lot of pride. True, today things are a little different. The concentration seems to be more on the individual than the school. They go to lessons in the off season, play for club teams or in travel leagues apart from school. Consequently many athletes concentrate on just one sport. Preparation in that sport is almost full-time working on their skills. The sacrifice for this in many cases is playing in other sports at school. Many people though mistakenly believe that the absence of multi-sport athletes means there is a lack of school spirit on their part or that the members of the various sports don t have the time or desire to support one another. But does this mean school spirit doesn t exist? Does it mean for example that baseball players don t support football players or volleyball has no time to support softball? We don t think so. Let s be clear. Porter Pride is alive and well at LTHS. A recent example of that is a group of students in the home stands at our football games that call themselves L Town (left). Many of those students are athletes from other Porter sports programs. They are crazy and enthusiastic supporters of their fellow Porters. In this group you ll see many baseball players. Some of the more enthusiastic members are seniors Dan Kaleel, Noah Masa and Tony Walthers (below). Dan s brother Nick says L Town is one big family that comes together for our brothers in other sports that need us to cheer them on. You ll probably see them in the stands when basketball starts as well. Porters are Porters PERIOD. Not football Porters or baseball Porters but PORTERS. That hasn t changed over the decades. They might look different, say different chants but the spirit in support of the Porters on the field/court remains the same. The baseball program supports all school activities and encourages our players to become involved. That is an important part of the high school experience. Jeremy Quade is a junior baseball player that took over at QB after another Porter baseball player, Ryan Dalton was hurt. He was also a starting safety. He says this about L Town; that student section means everything. Knowing that you have all your friends behind our team as we play is a great thing. It s a big confidence booster and it keeps the whole team in the game. Those thoughts are echoed by another Porter baseball player on the football team, starting running back Corey Savage. Corey adds; To me L Town represents Lockport as a family. No matter what the situation, we will always be there for each other. 8

9 PORTER BASEBALL NEWSLETTER ISSUE 17 FALL/WINTER WHO IS THIS GUY? DO YOU REMEMBER HIM? Recently, we had a chance to watch college women s volleyball the other night when the Women Huskies of NIU faced off against Western Michigan in a big Mid-America Conference match. Even though the there was a small crowd we noticed the great enthusiasm the NIU student section had in support of their team. In fact at one point, to the great dismay of the crowd we might add, the very uptight referee blew her whistle to admonish a Huskie fan for being too supportive in his support for the home team. Does anyone recognize this fan? Does he look familiar? Well we did. Nothing has changed for this former Porter baseball player. Porter baseball fans still remember the great enthusiasm that this player brought with him to the field each and every day without fail. If you still don t know who he is maybe you will remember him as the guy who replaced a tired Coach Dobson in the 1B coaches box (left) during a JV game against Stevenson? That s right. It s none other than our very own Tommy Hook. In the picture to the right Tommy is seen playing in the annual Red and Black Series that the Northern Illinois baseball team plays every fall. Typical of Tommy, he played outfield, infield and even caught behind the plate during this inter- squad competition. Website: Porter Baseball Coach Andy Satunas (asatunas@lths.org) Lockport Township High School East Seventh Street Lockport, Illinois Contact Us: porterbball@comcast.net Our next issue will be a pre-season special with updated schedules, News from the Dugout from Coach Satunas and much more!!!!!