2010 Season Notes

June 4, 2010

It has been a great run for the Lancer varsity baseball team but last night it came to an end. The Lancers lost to a good Wheaton North team 7-6. Our team battled and our seniors stepped up to try to extend the season. Matt Kaiser hit his Lake Park single season record extending 10^th homerun. I want to thank everyone that has been involved in LP baseball this past year. Thank to all of the players that have busted their tails during the off season, pre season, and during the season. Thanks for the seniors for making this memorable. Thanks to all of the coaches that have put in the time and effort on all levels this year. We hope to build on this success and look to bring home more championships in the future. Thank you to all of the parents that have supported us throughout the year. You have been fantastic! Thanks goes out to all of the baseball families out there. I know it is difficult at times when the coaches aren’t getting home late. Thanks to our athletic department for all of the work that they do. Also thanks to the Booster Club for the generosity of the press box, scoreboard, and sound system. We can’t wait to get those going!

Summer league practice starts on Monday June 7^th at 1 pm for both levels. Players have already been contacted about the summer league. We look forward to getting things going again with a new group of players.

Thanks again.

May 19, 2010

Thanks to the parents for putting on a great Senior Day last night. The Lancers were also victorious in the game which made the great food taste even better. A variety of LP pitchers threw yesterday with Brian Madaj picking up the win with a scoreless 6^th inning. Elgin got on the board first with a run in the first inning but the Lancers answered back with two of their own on a single by Jake McNamara, an RBI double by Matt Kaiser, and a homerun by Peter Spear. Elgin took the lead in the second with two runs, but again the Lancers answered with a run of their own on a single by Gajewski and Rapshus, and an infield RBI ground out by Kevin Miller. The scoring then stopped until the bottom of the 6^th. Gajewski started things off with a single. Ryan Rapshus bunted him over and Gajeswki went all the way to third on the bunt. Zach Tsiodras (junior) pinch hit and drove Gajewski in with a sac fly. It was a great at bat by Zach to drive in the game winner. Brian Konecke came in to the game in the 7^th for the save.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Elgin	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	3
Lake Park	2	1	0	0	0	1	X	4	7	0

WP: Madaj (1-0) 1 IP 2K 1BB

Save: Konecke 1 IP 2BB

2B: Kaiser

HR: Spear

RBI: Kaiser, Spear, Miller, and Tsiodras

SB: Rapshus

KJHPOD: Rapshus for his hustle backing up a throw to 1B. Good work Ryan.

Current record: 18-13, 12-11

May 17, 2010

It has been a while since I have posted last. The Lancers just broke out of a six game losing streak against South Elgin, St. Charles North, and Streamwood. During this tough streak the little things cost the Lancers in a big way. I am not taking anything away from the teams that we played, since they were all fine opponents with very good records. It is my hope that we begin playing like we did earlier this year. During the beginning of the season we had solid pitching, excellent defense, and an explosive offense. During the next five regular season games the Lancers will face their final UEC opponent Elgin and next week will play Naperville North and Maine West in tune up games leading into the regional game against Wheaton Warrenville South.

Sometimes it is difficult for players and teams to go through a “slump”. It is important to know that as a player you control a few variable that can help you battle your way out. 1. Your attitude. 2. Your preparation and focus. 3. Adjustments. 4. Relaxation. 5. Team first.

1. Your Attitude is an essential piece of the puzzle that can help you battle out of a slump. Believe it or not, but your attitude is seen by others. It is contagious. Good attitudes can be as infectious as bad attitudes. When someone is slumping and pouts, mopes, doesn’t hustle, or doesn’t support their team they are telling everyone around them including the coaches that they are selfish players. This is not the type of attitude that will help get a player or team out of a slump. A player is in total control of his attitude and should be aware of how this attitude is perceived by others on the team.

2. Your preparation is essential in busting a team or an individual slump. We all can control our level of preparation. We should have and trust in a routine that gets us mentally and physically ready to compete on a daily basis. Sometimes when a player or team struggles they abandon their preparation and fall into the poor me mode. They look to blame others for their failures. The coach has a responsibility to put the players on the field that will give the team the best chance of winning. Nowhere is it written that coach needs to watch a player struggle until he gets himself out of a slump. We have other players that deserve a chance if others aren’t performing. Trust your preparation and always come to the park preparing yourself as if you are starting the game. Focus is something that sometimes gets away from us when we slump. We begin thinking of past plays, at bats, pitches, etc instead of focusing in the present. We can only effect what is happening to us right now, so focus on being successful at the task at hand.

3. Your adjustments. Baseball is a game of adjustments. You can’t always use a hammer. Sometimes you need a screw driver. If you force the screw in with a hammer you will probably break the wood and have to do things all over again. So when a team or an individual are struggling they need to make adjustments. Bunt for a base hit. Hit the ball the other way. Tweak your mechanics. Those that make the proper adjustments will get themselves out of their slump quicker than those that pick up a hammer for every job.

4. Relaxation. Trying harder will not yield positive results. Players and teams that “TRY” too hard will only play tight and put too much undo pressure on themselves. This is never good for performances. Instead players must be able to relax and focus on the process instead of the results. 0-4 with four rockets right at someone is not failure. Players can’t control that. Making a perfect pitch that the umpire misses cannot be controlled. Being able to relax and focus on the next pitch not the last pitch will help. We cannot control what happened, only what has yet to happen. By trying too hard you let the past influence your future. Control your breathing, keep your jaw and neck relaxed, and focus on only a few essentials.

5. Team first. When we stop thinking so much about ourselves and do whatever we can to help the team succeed we will put less pressure on ourselves. Remember success is contagious.

All of the stats are updated and can be found on www.maxpreps.com Search for Lake Park, then click on baseball.

Tomorrow is Senior Day. We will be honoring the senior class and their parents.

The Lancers current record is 17-13, 11-11

May 6, 2010

Over the past two days the Lancers have played solid baseball against UEC opponent South Elgin. South Elgin came into the series 10-3 and two games ahead of the Lancers in the standings. We have won the first two games of the series 6-5 and 6-4. In game one South Elgin got out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Lancers battled back and took the lead in the 5^th on a Marc Ostrowski pinch hit two run single. Matt Kaiser got the Lancers on the board in the first with a 2 run double. Brian Konecke fought hard for 6 innings for the win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
South Elgin	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	6	3
Lake Park	2	0	0	0	4	0	X	6	8	3

WP: Konecke (3-1) 6 IP 6H 6K 4BB 1 ER

2B: Kaiser, McNamara, Tsiodras, Rapshus, and Monaco

RBI: Kaiser (2), Ostrowski (2), Monaco,

KJ HPOD: Brandon Boyle for his 100% hustle chasing down foul balls.

In game two of the series LP took the lead on a third inning balk scoring Dave Dial and extended the lead with four more in the 5^th. The big hits being a two run double by Matt Kaiser, sac fly by Artie Monaco, and a single by Zach Tsiodras. The Lancers added one more in the 7^th as Artie Monaco stole home (see YouTube video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh7BwvqPgFg) . Kevin Miller did a nice job starting, Ricky Palandri got the win in relief, Trevor Koehn pitched two solid innings, with Brian Madaj and Peter Spear combined to shut the door in the 7^th.

The Lancers look for the series sweep today as Kevin Steger takes the mound at home.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	6	8	1
South Elgin	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	4	6	1

WP: Palandri (2-0) 1 IP 2BB 0H 0R

2B: Kaiser

RBI: Kaiser (2), Tsiodras, and Monaco

SB: Monaco (2), Valldeperas

KJHPOD: Artie Monaco for his steal of home. Great job Artie!

Record: 16-7 and 10-5 UEC

May 4, 2010

On Saturday the Lancers split with St. Charles East. Game one was 3-2 in favor of the Saints and LP came back in game two for an 11-0 win in 6 innings. Peter Spear got the tough luck loss in game one and Trevor Koehn threw a gem in game two. The split gave LP the series 2-1 and a conference record of 8-5. We are currently three games behind the leader St. Charles North with 12 conference games to go.

Today the Lancers begin a challenging week with the opening of a three game series against South Elgin. We close the week with a double header against St. Charles North. Both teams are currently ahead of the Lancers in the UEC.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	6	1
St. Charles East	1	0	1	0	0	1	X	3	7	0

LP: Spear (2-2) 6 IP 3 ER 7 K 1BB 7H

2B: Valldeperas, Tsiodras, and Spear

RBI: Valldeperas (2)

SB: McNamara

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	2	5	0	0	4	11	9	1
St. Charles East	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3

WP: Koehn (4-2) 6IP 10K 1BB 6H

2B: McNamara and Kaiser

3B: McNamara

RBI: Kaiser (3), Boyle (2), Valldeperas, Spear, and Dial

SB: Boyle

Record: 14-7, 8-5

April 30, 2010

The Lancers enjoyed a breezy day out at the field yesterday against long time Upstate Eight rival St. Charles East. Ricky Palandri kept the game close pitching 3 2/3 innings while giving up only one earned run. Trevor Koehn came into the game with the bases loaded and two outs and recorded a big third out before going on to pitch two more scoreless innings for the win. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth Jake McNamara lead the inning off with an opposite field homerun. Matt Kaiser followed up with a back-to-back shot. After a few singles, walks, and an error loaded the bases, Marc Ostrowski blasted a Grand Slam to center to make it an 8 run inning putting the Lancers up 11-3. We finished the game in the 6^th 13-3. The Lancers play St. Charles East again on Saturday in a double header.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
St. Charles East	1	0	1	1	0	0	3	6	3
Lake Park	0	1	1	1	8	2	13	14	3

WP: Koehn (3-2) 2 1/3IP 4K 0H

2B: Monaco and Kaiser

HR: McNamara, Kaiser, and GS by Ostrowski

RBI: Ostrowski (4), Kaiser (2), Valldeperas, McNamara, Madaj, and Boyle

SB: Valldeperas and Spear

KJ HPOD: Artie Monaco for attempting to bunt after the back-to-back homeruns

Overall Record 13-6

Tuesday the Lancers lost a tough one to Waubonsie Valley. With a 3-0 lead going into the 5^th inning the Lancers gave up the lead as Waubonsie scored four times and added two more in the 6^th to win 6-3.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	3	8	3
Waubonsie Valley	0	0	0	0	4	2	X	6	6	4

LP: Konecke (2-1) 5IP 2ER 4K 3BB 3H

2B: Tsiodras and Monaco

RBI: Monaco (2) and Tsiodras

SB: Boyle

April 27, 2010

The beginning of a big varsity conference week did not go well for the Lancers. Waubonsie Valley defeated the Lancers 3-0. I will give lots of credit to the Waubonsie Valley pitcher for a great effort. He struck out 12 Lancers and most of the other outs were easy plays. We did not pressure the defense like we intend on doing every game. It appeared to me that our players lost some of their swagger. If we expect to be a team that can contend for the conference championship we must step up the intensity, focus, hustle, and aggressiveness in games such as these. Peter Spear pitched a quality game going 6 innings and giving up one earned run. The Lancers committed three errors, had two passed balls, while WV played error free ball. We expect to play in and win close games and the teams that play solid defense, and execute will win those games.

Brian Konecke will take the mound today for the Lancers as we look to split the season series with Waubonsie. A win will put our conference record at 7-3 going into the 15 games on our half of the conference. The time is now to put last night’s loss behind us and to look to correct the mistakes going in to today’s game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Waubonsie Valley	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	3	0
Lake Park	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3

LP: Spear (2-1) 6IP 7K 4BB 3H 1ER

2B: Spear

Overall: 12-5

Conference: 6-3

April 26, 2010

The Lancers played East Aurora last Thursday and Friday winning both. Trevor Koehn and Kevin Miller both got wins. The Lancers are now 12-4 overall and 6-2 in conference. We play Waubonsie Valley today at home. This week is the week we have been waiting for. Waubonsie and St. Charles East are two quality teams and if we do well this week this will put us in position to do well in conference. The keys to the week of course will be our pitching and defense.

Thursday’s Box Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
East Aurora	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	2
Lake Park	5	2	0	5	X	12	11	1

WP: Koehn (2-2) 3IP 7K 2H 0R

2B: McNamara, Kaiser, Monaco, Spear, and Kise

RBI: Monaco (3), Valldeperas (3), Kaiser, Spear, and Kise

SB: Monaco (3)

April 21, 2010

The Lake Park Varsity squad has had a few days off to gather their thoughts, refocus their minds, and tighten their game. On Saturday the Lancers sprinted out to a 6-1 lead against host Fremd. Our 7-3 lead quickly turned into a 10-7deficit in the 4^th and the Lancer bats went silent not scoring in the final 4 innings. The final score was 13-7. The Lancers record now stands at 10-4. We have had a few really good days to get our minds and bodies healed and ready for the challenges that are ahead. The cliché “Take it one day at a time” applies. We have to look forward and have to keep our focus on our goals. I explained yesterday during practice what type of focus and effort it takes to be a champion. We have to take every rep seriously and with intent. We must push ourselves and our teammates. Anything in life that is worthwhile is worth working to attain.

Leave a Legacy Lancers!!

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	2
Fremd	1	2	0	7	0	3	X	13	16	2

LP: Steger (2-1)

2B: McNamara, Kise, and Valldeperas

RBI: Valldeperas (3), Ostrowski, Tsiodras, and Rapshus

April 16, 2010

The Lancers got back to winning on Thursday with a 10-4 win over Larkin. Brian Konecke pitched a complete game. He struck out 10 and gave up only 4 hits. Zach Tsiodras, Anthony Valldeperas, and Marc Ostrowski each had two doubles. Zach drove in four runs. We conclude our series against Larkin today and play Mid Suburban Conference Fremd on Saturday. Kevin Miller will take the mound today for the Lancers.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Larkin	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	4	4	1
Lake Park	0	0	0	3	3	4	X	10	13	4

WP: Konecke (2-0) 7IP 4H 10K 4BB 1ER

2B: Ostrowski (2), Valldeperas (2), Tsiodras (2), and McNamara

RBI: Tsiodras (4), McNamara (2), and Boyle (2)

SB: McNamara (2), Monaco, Spear, and Rapshus

KJ HPOD: Unknown!

Lancers 10-2 and 4-1

April 15, 2010

Last night the Lancers played Neuqua Valley for the final time this season. The Lancers were up 2-1 going into the 4^th inning when the Wildcat bats and offense came alive to score 11 runs to put the Lancers away in five innings 12-2.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Neuqua Valley	1	0	0	5	6	12	13	1
Lake Park	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	3

LP: Koehn (1-2) 3IP 4K 0BB 9H 4ER

RBI: Ostrowski (2)

SB: Gajewski and Monaco

Overall 9-2

Conference 3-1

On Tuesday the Lancers beat Bartlett 5-1 behind a complete game effort by junior Kevin Steger. Ryan Rapshus drove in 3 of the 5 Lancer runs to lead the offense.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	5	10	3
Bartlett	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	2

WP: Steger 7IP OER 3H 7K 0BB

2B: Tsiodras

RBI: Rapshus (3)

SB: Gajewski, Kaiser, Monaco, and Valldeperas

KJ HPOD: Matt Kaiser for his great read on a ball in the dirt. Keep up the good work.

April 13, 2010

The week got off to a good start against Bartlett Monday. The Lancers won a back and forth game 8-5. Bartlett took the lead in the second inning, but the Lancers answered with two of their own in the bottom half. In the fourth the Hawks scored once and again the Lancers answered with a run in their half on a triple by Dave Dial and a two out bunt single by Garrett Gajewski. In the fifth the Lancers took the lead for good with a three run homerun by Anthony Valldeperas his third HR on the year. He has driven in 20 runs in the first 9 games of the season. This rally got started after two outs and no one on. Matt Kaiser hit a single then Artie Monaco had a great at bat singling to right after two strikes to get the inning to Valldeperas. The concept of moving the line and trusting your teammates worked in this case. Ricky Palandri pitched four solid innings giving way to Chad Harvey in the 5^th. Peter Spear came in the game with two outs in the 6^th to get the save. The play of the game was a triple play in the third inning. Bartlett had guys on first and second with their number three hitter up. The hitter laced a sinking line drive to Spear at short and he then stepped on second and threw to first to complete the triple play. This is the first one I can remember ever happening during my 12 years as a head coach. It sure helped.

We play Bartlett again today at Bartlett.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bartlett	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	5	7	2
Lake Park	0	2	0	1	3	2	X	8	10	4

WP: Harvey (1-0) 1 2/3 IP 2H 1ER 1K 1HBP

Save: Spear (2-0-1) 1 1/3 IP 2K

2B: Gajewski and Ostrowski

3B: Dial

HR: Valldeperas

RBI: Valldeperas (3), Gajewski, Ostrowski, and McNamara

KJ HPOD: Dave Dial for his hustle backing up throws to the pitcher. Great work Dave!

Overall Record (8-1)

Conference (2-0)

April 12, 2010

Here is a quick recap in the weekend. Friday the Lancers came back against Neuqua Valley down 10-2 to win 13-10. Matt Kaiser’s 3 home runs and 6 RBI’s sparked the comeback. Peter Spear got the win with 3 innings of shutout ball.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R	H	E
Lake Park	0	0	0	2	0	8	0	3	13	13	7
Neuqua Valley	4	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	10	11	2

WP: Spear (2-0) 3IP 4H 6K 0BB

2B: Monaco (3)

HR: Kaiser (3) and Dial

RBI: Kaiser (6), Dial (2), McNamara, Tsiodras, and Rapshus

KJ HPOD: Artie Monaco’s “stolen” base at home in the 7^th inning. Incredible jump on the left handed pitcher. Too bad there were two outs and two strikes on the batter. The pitch was called strike three and the stolen base didn’t count.

Saturday the Lancer parents put on a wonderful “Unofficial Opening Day Ceremony” complete with all the trimmings. I was rather pleased with all of the work that they did prior to the game. I wasn’t expecting them to go as all out as they did. They really set the bar high for future varsity parents. We had five alumni show to throw out the first pitch. Justin Burgos, John Orozon, Matt Vittal, Mark Hansen, and Anthony Kouba from the 2000 Regional Championship team came out. When the game got started, the Lancers continued the hot hitting from the previous day. A five run first and an eleven run second made for a great start.

Game One:

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Hoffman Estates	2	0	0	1	0	3	5	1
Lake Park	5	11	1	2	X	19	15	2

WP: Konecke (1-0) 3 IP 2ER 7K 2BB 2H

2B: Ostrowski, Kaiser, Monaco, Madaj, and Rapshus

RBI: Rapshus (3), Kaiser (3), Monaco (3), Madaj (2), Valldeperas (2), McNamara, and Ostrowski

SB: Monaco and Dial

KJ HPOD: Jake McNamara on his hustle backing up first base on an overthrow. It prevented the runner from moving up to second. Great hustle as always Jake!

Runner Up HPOD: KJ’s daring climb up the fence to retrieve a stuck foul ball which was lodged about ¾ of the way up the backstop. The Hoffman parents gave him a nice round of applause.

Game two:

The Lancers had many opportunities in game two to drive in runs but didn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Credit the HE pitching for throwing a nice game. The Lancers fell 5-4 in their first loss of the year. We will bounce back.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Hoffman Estates	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	5	13	1
Lake Park	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	6	3

LP: Koehn (1-1) 1 IP 4H 2ER

2B: Valldeperas

RBI: Valldeperas (2) and Monaco

Overall Record (7-1)

Conference (1-0)

The Lancers have a big UEC week ahead of them with Bartlett Monday and Tuesday, Neuqua Valley Wednesday, and Larkin on Thursday and Friday. We close out the week with Fremd on Saturday.

April 8, 2010

The weather has kept the Lancers from playing the last few days. Our field is not in playable condition today. We hope to play at Neuqua and are awaiting word from them.

The BBK orders are coming in. We are still waiting on the grey t shirts and the Majestic pullovers. These should be in soon. We have had BBK reopen the store for anyone that wants to purchase more attire. Please go to www.bbksports.com and click on the link to the Lake Park Spirit wear.

On Saturday our parents are throwing an “Opening Day” ceremony at the varsity field starting at 10:30 am. Come out to see the Lancers play Hoffman Estates in a double header and for some fun. We have members of the 2000 Regional Championship team coming back to throw out the first pitch. It should be fun and the weather is supposed to be nice.

We have some pictures up on www.maxpreps.com now and are looking for more. Let’s get some more shots of our players on the site!!

April 6, 2010

I have lots of work to do today to catch everyone up on the Lancer’s successful spring break. The Lancers came back to school today 5-0. We played great baseball with our pitching, defense, and hitting all clicking. The guys are having fun and playing relaxed baseball. Here are the box scores.

Tuesday March 30^th

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Prospect	2	4	0	1	1	0	8	12	2
Lake Park	4	6	1	0	0	X	11	6	4

WP: Koehn (1-0) 3IP 2ER 4K 1BB 7H

Save: Steger (1) 11/3 IP 0R 2K 2BB 1H

2B: Spear

3B: Valdeperas

RBI: Valldeperas (4), Spear (2), Kaiser, Ostrowski, and Tsiodras

SB: Dial

KJ HPOD: Garrett Gajewski for a great read on a ball in the dirt and taking 2^nd base.

Overall: 1-0

Wednesday March 31

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Elk Grove	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	3
Lake Park	1	1	5	2	2	11	9	0

WP: Spear (1-0) 4IP 1ER 5K 1BB 1H

2B: Gajewski (2) and Tsiodras

3B: Gajewski

RBI: Gajewski (4), Monaco (2), Tsiodras, Valldeperas, and Boyle

SB: Valldeperas and Tsiodras

KJ HPOD: Jake McNamara on running a 4.2 to first base on a ball back to the pitcher. Great hustle!!

Overall 2-0

Thursday April 1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Lake Park	5	2	9	0	0	16	14	2
Schaumburg	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

WP: Palandri (1-0) 5IP 0R 1H 5K 2BB

2B: McNamara, Monaco, and Valldeperas

HR: Valldeperas (2), Kaiser, and Schram

RBI: Valldeperas (7), Monaco (3), Kaiser (2), Ostrowski (2), and Schram (2)

KJ HPOD: Brian Madaj for his fierce hustle getting foul balls at the screen. Great job! Lancer Pride!

Friday April 2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Glenbard North	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	2
Lake Park	6	1	1	2	1	11	10	0

WP: Steger (1-0 1 save) 4IP 1ER 3H 1K 3BB

3B: Tsiodras and Rapshus

HR: Tsiodras

RBI: Tsiodras (5), Rapshus, McNamara, Spear, Monaco, and Valldeperas

KJ HPOD: Ryan Rapshus for hustling to back up first from RF on a throw from the catcher. Great job!!

Monday April 5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lake Park	1	2	0	0	1	0	1	5	5	0
Glenbard East	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2

WP: Miller (1-0) 5IP 0R 6K 2BB 1H

2B: Kaiser, Rapshus, and Monaco

RBI: Kaiser, Dial, Rapshus, Spear, and Tsiodras

SB: Gajewski (2), Tsiodras, Monaco, and Kaiser

KJ HPOD: Zach Tsiodras on his relentless back up of the pitcher on every throw back from first base.

Overall Record (5-0)

Don’t forget to check www.Maxpreps.com for updated stats and pictures of the Lancers in action.

March 30, 2010

Today is the day! Game one against Prospect High School. The Lancers are done with practicing and want to get out to play. Trevor Koehn takes the mound for the Lancers today.

Special thanks to all of the players and parents that helped with the field on Saturday. Great job!!!

I encourage parents to sign up at www.maxpreps.com and submit your fan photos of the games to the Lancer page there. I will be updating both websites this year. It would be great to get some good action shots of the boys.

March 26, 2010

Today marks the final day before spring break. The Lancers have taken the field quite a bit this week. It is nice to see some live action. This is the first time in a few years that we have been able to do this. We look to have a busy week next week with games Tuesday through Saturday. The weather looks nice in the forecast so we should see a lot of action this next week. By the time we get back from break we will have played six games and should have a good feel for the team this year.

We haven’t announced our opening day starter yet, but I would venture to say that with six games being played in five days that most of our pitchers will get an opportunity to show their stuff.

Tomorrow is our field maintenance day. We will start right at 11:30 and have specific things that need to get done. I will have a list of jobs to do tomorrow and we will put in a little sweat equity into the field. See you tomorrow!

March 23, 2010

It looks to be a great week weather wise and we may get onto our field before the week is out. We have moved from the parking lot to the grass and should make it to the field. I think our players are ready to get out and see what they can do against some real competition to see where we stand.

Last night I was checking out the Cubs website and found two great articles that further reinforce the things that KJ and I always tell our players. I will quote from the two articles as well as provide a link to the full story here. The first article was on Marlon Byrd and his daily routine which he feels prepares himself mentally and physically. The key to Byrd's success is keeping a routine. He learned that when he was in the Phillies' spring camp -- find a daily ritual that works was the advice he got from Jim Thome. "Routine," Byrd said. "[Batting] cage routine. He said, 'You do the same routine every single day in the cage, never change.' Over the years, it's developed." Having a routine will insure that a player is properly prepared to compete at a higher level. Preparation never slumps. Players have 100% total control over their mental and physical preparation. I encourage all of my players to develop their own routines that prepare themselves on a daily basis.

Marlon Byrd article

The next article on the Cubs site was an article on new hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. “What Jaramillo focuses on is being prepared. It gives the hitter a huge advantage. And they work on that in batting practice, thinking about situations each and every at-bat”. KJ and I are always talking to hitters about preparing themselves by always hitting in situations. We talk about getting the job done. Get on, get someone over, or get someone in. It is good to get one of these done, better two, and best all three. “Every round [of batting practice], the first guy calls out the round," Theriot said. "Every round is a situation.” We always want our players to take meaningful cuts.

Jaramillo Article

Don’t forget that Saturday at 11:30 is our field day. Parents and players freshman through senior are invited to come help.

Thursday is picture day. We will have to coordinate to get the freshmen some shirts, pants, and belts. The freshmen may not look perfect, but they will be in uniform.

March 19, 2010

The 2010 Lancer baseball team has chosen a theme for the year. After much debate and many ideas the theme “Leave a Legacy” came to fruition. We are always talking to the players about how they will impact this program in their short time here. What will they do to ensure that their legacy lives on? It may live on in stats, wins, records, championships, or it can live on in the coaches and younger players that they work with during their time here. I want each player to realize that this program is dedicated to creating an environment of hard work, hustle, and determination, and ultimately success.

There is a new way to track the Lancers this year. Check out www.maxpreps.com and search for Lake Park High School. I have the schedule and varsity roster currently up. There is a spot for fans to upload photos and videos once they register for the site. I will be adding some stats and results on this page as well.

March 17, 2010

Are you a race car or a show car?

This is a question that can relate to the new game of baseball. Here is how I will describe it in my own way. Some players and parents are concerned about how they or their son looks (show car) and not how they perform (race car). Players think to get noticed by college and pro scouts they must be seen (show car) in as many showcases and clinics possible spending a lot of money on trying to look good for the scouts. Let's show the scout my perfect swing. Let's light up the radar gun and wow everyone. Well, here is the problem; no game has ever been won based on a pitcher's radar gun reading. This is not and will never be a tie breaker. Could you imagine if an umpire asked to "See the gun" before calling a strike. How about an umpire asking how fast a player was in the 60 yard dash before calling him out or safe on the bases. Having the perfect swing in the cage off a 60 MPH BP fastball for ten cuts in front of the scouts doesn't mean a player has the focus, attitude, approach, mental abilities, or even the proper fundamentals for that matter to be successful at the high school or collegiate level. It is all show and no go. At LP we want to be in the business of building race cars. We may not be much to look at. Our uniforms may be a bit dirty. We may have some bumps and bruises. But boy will we perform when you put the pedal to the metal. We want to teach our players the value of what's under the hood (one's heart) and the value of a great suspension (conditioning), the importance of the computer system (brain) when it comes to the ultimate gauge of one's performance success on the field: Wins. Wins are the ultimate gauge of your performance. Games are not won in the cage or with a radar gun. Your competition will let you know if your radar gun speed matters. Your competition will let you know if you have a great swing. A show car is nice to look at. Some are trailer queens that are only started to get them on and off the trailer. What fun is that? Like I want to be afraid of my show car breaking down after driving it hard once in a while.

So the moral of the story is: it is nice to look good, but much more fun to be able to kick butt.

Let's kick some butt this year and put the pedal to the metal guys.

March 16, 2010

So far I couldn’t be happier in regards to how our team is coming together. The players are working hard, having fun, and seem to be learning in the process. I am sure there are many coaches out there that are thinking the same thing I am, but my expectations are high for this year’s varsity squad.

The quote of the day:

“If better is possible, good is not good enough”.

March 12, 2010

The second week of baseball is coming to an end. Our teams have been chosen and today will be our first all level practice. This will give the varsity players the opportunity to impart some of their knowledge unto the sophomores and freshmen. We will have plenty of coaches in attendance. It is a nice luxury to have the volunteers we have this year. It will really help us specialize and give additional attention to individual development.

I would like to congratulate all of the players that made the team this year. This is not where the hard work stops though. You have attained your first goal which may have been to make the team. It is time to look toward bigger and better things. A few exciting things will be happening this year on the varsity level. We have a wonderful group of parents that are organizing an “Opening Day” scheduled for April 10^th. There will be more information on this to follow. I appreciate the hard work that the senior parents are putting into this. I was very impressed with their desire to do this for the boys and the program. I was also excited about their plans! It is my goal to bring parents, players, and community together to help us (the coaches) creates a great experience for the players that come through the program at Lake Park High School. We are moving in the right direction.

I have also received some other very exciting news that I cannot share with the world yet. I will keep you all guessing on that one. I assure you all that it is very exciting and I am pumped up about it.

I would like to now introduce the 2010 Varsity Baseball team.

Player's	Name	Year	Positon	Number
Boyle	Brandon	Jr	INF	13
Dailey	Cody	Jr	RHP	37
Dial	David	Sr	INF	17
Gajewski	Garrett	Sr	OF	18
Harvey	Chad	Jr	RHP	30
Kaiser	Matt	Sr	INF	50
Kise	Dean	Jr	INF	55
Koehn	Trevor	Sr	RHP	12
Konecke	Brian	Sr	RHP	16
Madaj	Brian	Sr	RHP	19
McNamara	Jake	Sr	C	3
Miller	Kevin	Sr	RHP	28
Monaco	Artie	Sr	OF	33
Ostrowski	Marc	Sr	INF/RHP	35
Palandri	Rick	Sr	LHP	24
Pygman	Jake	Jr	OF/RHP	5
Rapshus	Ryan	Sr	OF	29
Schram	John	So	C/INF/RHP	42
Spear	Peter	Sr	INF/RHP	10
Steger	Kevin	Jr	RHP	32
Tsiodras	Zach	Jr	INF	44
Valldeperas	Anthony	Jr	INF/RHP/OF	20
Williams	David	Sr	LHP	11

Season Preview:

The Lancers are 23 strong to start the 2010 season. This number may seem a bit heavy, but considering we have 9 players that are pitchers only and a pitching coach (Erik Kehoe) the number is very manageable. We have fourteen seniors on the team this season with David Williams coming back to baseball after taking a year off and Peter Spear back after missing his junior season. The senior class looks forward to erasing the memories of the poor 2009 season and writing some history of their own. We have eight juniors and a sophomore rounding out the rest of the team. We are excited about the possibilities for the upcoming season.

Pitching

The Lancers have some depth and experience coming back in 2010. We have twelve pitchers on staff currently. Our returning seniors bring back quite a few varsity innings and experience. Peter Spear returns after a year off due to an injury. Trevor Koehn, marc Ostrowski, Ricky Palandri, Kevin Miller, Brian Konecke, David Williams, and Brian Madaj round out the senior pitchers on staff. We also have a good core of younger pitchers that are ready to contribute. Kevin Steger, Chad Harvey, Cody Dailey, Jake Pygman, Anthony Valldeperas, and John Schram are working hard and ready to go.

I would like to welcome Erik Kehoe to the LP staff. Erik comes to us from Glenbard North. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience as a pitching coach and a head coach at the high school level. Our pitchers are in good hands.

Offense

Last year the Lancers broke a school record for most homeruns. Most of those are coming back this year. Matt Kaiser (4), Jake McNamara (6), and Artie Monaco (6) contributed 16 homeruns to the team last year. Our lineup looks to be pretty solid throughout. We have some speed, power, and the ability to control the bat. It will be important to stay focused on our approach throughout the year to get ourselves into good hitter’s counts.

Defense:

It is hard to judge a defense by what they show on the gym floor or parking lot but this I can say. We have experience and athleticism coming back and we should play solid defense this year.

Overall

We are looking for the seniors to step up and take the lead. We (the coaching staff) are excited to have the group of players that we have this year. They are excited to play and are pushing themselves and each other every day in practice.

Don’t forget that www.bbksports.com is only open until the 14^th to get orders in.

February 25, 2010

Here are the final results of the Lancer Off Season conditioning program. As a team we improved in all areas of our testing. We improved our pushup average by 17%. A whopping 60% increase in our leg lifts. We had a 24%+ improvement in our dips scores. We improved our long jump average by 6% and our hang time by almost 9.5%. Our squat average increased by 15.4% and our board times fell by about 19%. Overall this was a very productive offseason for most of our players that consistently put in the time and effort. Here are the scores and rankings for the team. I think we are ready to start playing baseball.

Name	Push Ups	Rank	Knee Lifts 15 lbs.	Rank	Dips	Rank	Standing Long Jump in inches	Rank	Pull Up Hang (sec)	Rank	Squat Max (chart)	Rank	Board down and back (x2)	Rank	Overall Rank
Boyle	54	12	57	12	25	6	88	21	89.0	2	247	25	24.50	1	11.29
Castello	46	16	36	22	17	16	85	25	69.0	5	171	29	28.32	16	18.43
Dailey	29	27	39	19	5	28	104	1	48.0	17	285	17	29.60	22	18.71
Dial	60	7	60	10	20	13	90	17	51.0	13	285	17	27.80	14	13.00
Donovan	30	25	30	26	5	28	76	29	54.0	12	207	28	39.45	29	25.29
Gajewski	47	14	38	20	25	6	92	13	38.0	22	310	12	26.80	10	13.86
Harvey	30	25	38	20	6	26	87	22	48.0	17	253	23	28.20	15	21.14
Henry	55	11	70	5	20	13	95	10	41.5	21	301	14	25.50	4	11.14
Kaiser	76	2	70	5	21	12	90	17	35.0	24	444	1	28.40	17	11.14
Kise	59	9	78	3	23	11	92	13	67.0	6	330	5	26.80	11	8.29
Koehn	44	19	44	15	19	15	99	4	91.0	1	293	16	25.30	3	10.43
Konecke	29	27	33	25	9	24	75	30	35.5	23	272	19	33.60	26	24.86
Madaj	31	24	30	26	2	30	86	23	na		247	25	37.30	28	26.00
McNamara	65	4	66	8	33	2	92	13	49.0	15	391	2	26.70	8	7.43
Miller	56	10	80	2	25	6	95	10	66.0	7	344	4	27.70	13	7.43
Monaco	80	1	56	13	40	1	103	2	60.0	11	323	10	24.82	2	5.71
Ostrowski	40	21	71	4	11	22	90	17	50.5	14	300	15	29.30	21	16.29
Palandri	46	16	40	17	17	16	97	7	78.0	3	270	20	26.71	9	12.57
Panzeca	39	22	35	23	10	23	96	9	30.4	27	380	3	25.86	5	16.00
Patel	47	14	62	9	16	18	86	23	49.0	15	263	22	27.40	12	16.14
Pygman	44	19	40	17	15	19	90	17	61.0	9	233	27	31.60	25	19.00
Rapshus	65	4	50	14	29	4	100	3	43.0	20	330	5	26.07	6	8.00
Saracino	17	30	27	26	6	26	81	28	5.0	29	306	13	35.80	27	25.57
Smith	37	23	60	10	15	19	85	25	48.0	17	na		29.80	23	19.50
Spear	63	6	81	1	24	10	99	4	60.5	10	327	9	26.44	7	6.71
Steger	45	18	22	30	15	19	99	4	34.0	25	253	23	29.10	20	19.86
Tsiodras	29	27	30	26	9	24	82	27	13.0	28	321	11	44.25	30	24.71
Turi	50	13	34	24	27	5	91	16	65.0	8	267	21	28.72	18	15.00
Valldeperas	60	7	42	16	25	6	95	10	34.0	25	330	5	28.86	19	12.57
Williams	71	3	70	5	33	2	97	7	71.0	4	328	8	29.90	24	7.57
Average	48.13		49.63		18.23		91.22		51.19		296.93		29.35

Name	Power Rank	Overall Rank
Monaco	5.71	1
Spear	6.71	2
McNamara	7.43	3
Miller	7.43	3
Williams	7.57	5
Rapshus	8.00	6
Kise	8.29	7
Koehn	10.43	8
Henry	11.14	9
Kaiser	11.14	9
Boyle	11.29	11
Palandri	12.57	12
Valldeperas	12.57	12
Dial	13.00	14
Gajewski	13.86	15
Turi	15.00	16
Panzeca	16.00	17
Patel	16.14	18
Ostrowski	16.29	19
Castello	18.43	20
Dailey	18.71	21
Pygman	19.00	22
Smith	19.50	23
Steger	19.86	24
Harvey	21.14	25
Tsiodras	24.71	26
Konecke	24.86	27
Donovan	25.29	28
Saracino	25.57	29
Madaj	26.00	30

Best of luck to everyone next week. See you all on Monday at the Abbott building at 10 for varsity, noon for sophs, and 2 for freshmen.

February 24, 2010

There are only a few more days before the official tryouts for the Lake Park High School baseball team. All tryouts on Monday will be at the old Abbott building on Cirlce just north of Lake Street in Bloomingdale. This is right across the street from the Harris Bank. All players please enter through the back of the building. No parents are allowed to observe during tryouts, please wait outside for your son. All players that intend on trying out MUST have all of their athletic paperwork in prior to tryouts. NO EXCEPTIONS!!

Varsity: 10:00-Noon

Sophs: Noon-2:00

Frosh: 2:00-5:00

Some varsity pitchers will be scheduled to throw at 3:00 on Monday to throw in front of Coach Kehoe. Coach Kehoe is a new addition to the Lake Park staff and will work with our pitchers this year. Coach Kehoe is a long time coach and has coached at Glenbard North, Downers Grove, and was the head coach at Streamwood. He brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the Lancer staff. Having a third coach on the varsity level is a great luxury.

The Lancer staff also welcomes Anthony Carioscia and Mike Gerts back home as the two will help coach at the lower levels this season. It is great to see former players come back to coach. Caleb Hoover also returns to help the Lancers for the third year. We appreciate all of your time and dedication to the Lancer program!!

The Lancers will be going with a company BBK Sports in St. Charles for their uniform and accessory needs this spring. Check out www.bbksports.com and click on Lake Park Baseball Spirit Wear. All purchases will be made through the website. Parents, players, alumni, and fans can order and have the order shipped directly to them. Players will have to get their orders in by a specific date that will be determined later for arrival before the season.

If there are any questions please feel free to contact me at dcolucci@lphs.org

Thanks!!

February 17, 2010

It has been quite a while since I have posted last. Things have been pretty busy around here lately and I have lots of news to share with my readers.

Last night we concluded our Lancer Certification Clinics and Test. Approximately 30 coaches completed the course and took the test last night. To become certified coaches had to pass a 50 question test with at least and 80%. We had one perfect score from Anthony Santoro, and a few 49’s. The youngest certified coach is Jimmy Butler of Bloomingdale who scored a 49 out of 50, Jimmy is currently a junior at Lake Park. Here is the complete list of certified coaches. Any coach not passing the test can schedule a time with me to retake it. Please email me at dcolucci@lphs.org to schedule a retake. I want to thank all of the coaches that took time out of their busy schedules to complete the certification process. It was our first year doing this and I would like to see it grow each year. It is our goal as a staff at LP to help the incoming players be more prepared to compete at the HS level. We hope that the past month will help you achieve your goals as a baseball coach. I will be sending out emails in the next week that will include even more information to help the Lancer Certified Coaches. Congrats to you all you deserve it!

Lancer Certified Coaches for 2010

Bill Ackerly

Patrick Badger

Jack Bedtke

Dan Behling

Scott Boesen

Vince Boyer

Brad Butler

Jimmy Butler

Alan Cuthbertson

Tim Denman

Jim Donofrio

Rick Fowich

Steve Jungs

Tony Kaminski

Faisel Khwaja

Randy Kryczka

Tim Lally

Aaron Leider

Don Lively

Rick Maday

Vic McDonald

John Misasi

Geoff Monacelli

Patrick O’Byrne

Bruce Popp

Anthony Santoro

Bob Schoen

Ron Wegner

Scott Williams

Tryouts Begin Monday March 1^st for all levels!!!!

The next subject is tryouts. Please make sure that all of the players fill out and turn in their required paper work prior to Pulaski Day. Lancer code, physical, and emergency cards can be found in the athletic office at West and the main office at East. Players will not be allowed to tryout without all of the paperwork in and complete. A receipt must be submitted to the coach to be eligible to tryout. NO EXCEPTIONS!

We will be checking semester as well as six week grades on all players that wish to tryout. If a player did not pass at least four classes during their first semester they are NOT eligible to try out for a spring sport. We will take into account grades when choosing our teams for this spring.

November 20, 2009

Before I begin talking about the LP baseball team, I would like to congratulate two members on their outstanding achievements in football this past season. Artie Monaco was named to the All State Team and Matt Kaiser was Honorable Mention All State. Congrats guys. Keep up the good work in baseball.

The Lancer Baseball team began the preseason-conditioning program this week. We did some base line tests to get an idea what we needed to improve upon during the course of our preseason work.

Pushups, Dips, Knee raises with a 15 pound dumbbell, Standing Long Jump, Pull Up Hang for time, Squats for max, and a board down and back on the basketball court twice.

I have compiled the results and have the scores and rankings below.

Name	Push Ups	Rank	Knee Lifts 15 lbs.	Rank	Dips	Rank	Standing Long Jump in inches	Rank	Pull Up Hang (sec)	Rank	Squat Max (chart)	Rank	Board down and back (x2)	Rank	Overall Rank
Boyle	50	5	36	8	26	3	85	20	76.4	2	246	20	28.56	10	9.71
Butler	37	19	15	30	10	19	77	26	66.5	5	111	31	48.19	27	22.43
Castello	41	13	25	21	5	26	80	22	66.1	6	176	27	36.91	24	19.86
Dailey	39	16	32	12	7	23	93	7	56.5	12	186	26	36.70	23	17.00
Dial	39	16	42	6	18	10	87	17	69.0	4	310	8	25.79	2	9.00
Donovan	25	29	11	31	3	28	75	29	32.9	21	153	29	79.74	31	28.29
Gajewski	37	19	21	26	15	12	91	10	55.8	13	300	9	27.84	9	14.00
Harvey	27	28	26	18	0	29	79	23	29.4	25	127	30	46.50	26	25.57
Henry	48	8	37	7	16	11	79	23	42.2	18	216	23	29.24	12	14.57
Kaiser	47	9	43	5	11	17	74	30	23.3	27	399	1	31.54	15	14.86
Kise	50	5	36	8	21	7	89	14	69.9	3	248	19	31.85	17	10.43
Koehn	34	23	30	14	14	15	90	12	94.7	1	210	25	26.64	6	13.71
Konecke	36	21	23	23	8	22	77	26	52.7	14	263	13	31.52	14	19.00
Madaj	NA		26	18	NA		90	13	NA		287	11	33.07	19	15.25
McNamara	46	10	50	3	25	4	92	8	33.5	20	357	2	26.35	4	7.29
Miller	45	12	51	2	19	9	94	5	64.3	7	321	5	28.63	11	7.29
Monaco	69	1	30	14	33	2	100	1	47.0	16	321	5	25.38	1	5.71
Palandri	32	24	26	18	9	21	91	10	60.8	10	259	17	27.62	8	15.43
Palmer	23	30	19	29	6	24	77	26	8.8	28	263	13	31.76	16	23.71
Panzeca	30	26	33	11	11	17	92	8	26.2	26	330	4	27.35	7	14.14
Patel	40	14	25	21	15	12	86	18	29.6	24	176	27	34.80	22	19.71
Pygman	38	28	23	23	13	16	88	16	63.2	9	216	23	51.76	28	20.43
Rapshus	52	3	32	12	24	6	94	5	38.8	19	344	3	25.87	3	7.29
Saracino	28	27	23	23	6	24	61	31	4.6	30	263	13	61.26	29	25.29
Smith	40	14	35	10	15	12	82	21	45.8	17	263	13	39.42	25	16.00
Spear	51	4	50	3	NA		97	2	52.1	15	298	10	26.62	5	6.50
Steger	35	22	20	1	10	19	96	3	32.6	22	240	21	33.93	20	15.43
Tsiodras	32	24	20	27	4	27	79	23	5.3	29	240	21	72.30	30	25.86
Turi	46	10	30	14	25	4	89	14	60.6	11	255	18	32.76	18	12.71
Valldeperas	50	5	30	14	21	7	86	18	31.6	23	285	12	29.25	13	13.14
Williams	66	2	59	1	34	1	95	4	63.3	8	312	7	34.11	21	6.29
Average	41.10		30.94		14.62		85.97		46.78		257.26		36.23
Goal	49.32		37.12		19.01		94.56		56.14		308.71		28.99

Here are the individual rankings.

Name	Power Rank	Overal Rank
Monaco	5.71	1
Williams	6.29	2
Spear	6.50	3
McNamara	7.29	4
Miller	7.29	4
Rapshus	7.29	4
Dial	9.00	7
Boyle	9.71	8
Kise	10.43	9
Turi	12.71	10
Valldeperas	13.14	11
Koehn	13.71	12
Gajewski	14.00	13
Panzeca	14.14	14
Henry	14.57	15
Kaiser	14.86	16
Madaj	15.25	17
Palandri	15.43	18
Steger	15.43	18
Smith	16.00	20
Dailey	17.00	21
Konecke	19.00	22
Patel	19.71	23
Castello	19.86	24
Pygman	20.43	25
Butler	22.43	25
Palmer	23.71	27
Saracino	25.29	28
Harvey	25.57	29
Tsiodras	25.86	30
Donovan	28.29	31