New Malec/Petty partnership one of many coaching changes in Lake County

When Chris Malec got a speeding ticket in high school, he was … relieved. Yes, relieved.

At least he wouldn't lose any innings on the mound.

A speeding ticket or a doctor's note were the only acceptable forms of proof for being late to Antioch's 5 a.m. baseball practices. Otherwise, tardiness was punished by head coach Paul Petty with a benching for the next game.

And Malec, a 2002 graduate and one of the best pitchers in Antioch history, never wanted to miss his turn to pitch.

"Those 5 a.m. practices were tough, so I showed up with a speeding ticket one morning," Malec said. "I was running late. Coach would get on me about that sometimes."

It's funny how Malec's relationship with Petty has come full circle.

After pitching at Michigan State in the mid-2000s, Malec returned home and took a job under Petty as Antioch's pitching coach. He held that spot for the last eight years.

Now, Malec is taking over the entire program for Petty. Malec is Antioch's new varsity baseball coach, and he has kept Petty, who retired from teaching at the end of last year after more than 30 years on the job, as his assistant.

Malec is one of two recent graduates of Lake County high schools who was named the new head varsity baseball coach at his alma mater for this season. Overall, he is one of five new head baseball coaches in the county who are kicking off the 2016 season this week.

Patrick Block, who graduated from Stevenson in 2001, is now the head varsity baseball coach at Stevenson. He had been the freshman coach there for the last nine years.

Meanwhile, Sean Ferrell, who had been an assistant at Libertyville since 2003 and was the head coach at Grayslake (Central) for six years prior to that, is the new varsity head coach at Libertyville. At Grayslake North, Brett Hill takes over as head varsity coach after spending the last eight years as an assistant coach at Vernon Hills. And Bill Taylor takes over as head coach at Carmel after spending the last 23 years as an assistant and pitching coach there.

"As a coach, one of the greatest pats on the back you can ever get is when ex-players come back to coach for you," Petty said. "I've had about 10 over the years and that just makes you feel so good.

"When Chris played for me, I always saw him as a student of the game. He was just really smart with how he took care of himself and the sequences of pitches he pitched. I always figured he'd be a good coach and when he came back to coach for me, I really saw it.

"He's who I wanted to take over the program for me."

Malec, who works on the Chicago Board of Trade and hustles back to Antioch from the city every day for practices and games, has aspired for years now to be a head coach.

"At the end of my playing career at Michigan State, I knew I wanted to get into coaching," said Malec, a two-time all-area pick who holds Antioch's all-time records for strikeouts and wins. "When you're done playing, you look for other arenas to stay involved in sports and I knew coaching was a good way to go.

"I liked being an assistant and working with Paul but I'm excited to take over now. I'm excited to make it my own program."

Not that Malec will be afraid to turn to Petty for advice.

"I have such a respect for (Petty)," Malec said. "When he suggests things, I mean, he's been doing this for 30 years. I'll want his expertise.

"There may be things that I want to do differently and that might be a little strange for me, but I know that we both are just looking out for the best interest of the program."

For Block at Stevenson, he is also getting help from his predecessor, but behind the scenes.

Block and Paul Mazzuca share a desk during the day. They are both teachers in the history department.

"Paul is always helping me, like on an hourly basis," Block said with a laugh. "He's been great with all the behind-the-scenes stuff, all the paperwork. He's been a big support."

Mazzuca's first year in the program was Block's junior year at Stevenson. That season, Mazzuca was the pitching coach under former head coach Bob Mackey.

Mazzuca was in his eighth season as head coach last year and caught his staff, including Block, by surprise when he announced his resignation at the end of the season so that he could spend more time with his young kids.

"Paul told us and then pulled me over and asked me to apply for the job. He told me he thought I would do a good job," Block said. "I really had no aspirations of moving up at that point, but I decided to give it a chance."

Block, who has run Stevenson's American Legion program for years and had success coaching the freshman team, is excited to build on the success at Stevenson started by Mackey and continued by Mazzuca.

"I want to teach our players about what it means to play baseball in the 'Patriot Way,'" said Block, who was a second baseman and centerfielder for Stevenson and went on to play four years of baseball at Cornell College in Iowa.

The teaching of the "Patriot Way" started right away at the first practice of the season. It's a day Block will commit to memory.

"I come from a family of teachers and I always told myself that I wanted to be a teacher, that teaching was my first priority and that if I ever got a chance to be a coach, that would be nice, too," Block said. "But then I left my first varsity practice and I was so excited. It was one of the biggest highs. That's a feeling that I never want to forget."

Sean Ferrell certainly hasn't forgotten what it's like to be a head coach. He used to run the baseball program at Grayslake before it became Grayslake Central.

An assistant coach at Libertyville for the last 12 years, he was name the interim head coach when Jim Schurr abruptly resigned last month after 13 years as the head coach.

"I think (Libertyville athletic director) Bryant (Kelly) felt confident in me that with my past experience having done the job as a head coach that I would be able to handle this job," Ferrell said. "I think I'm providing some stability, too. I've coached all the kids on varsity when they were younger on the freshman team.

"When I was the head coach at Grayslake, I was young and looking back on that, I see things that I did well and I also see things I could have done better. But all of those experiences prepared me for this now."

Brett Hill believes his experience as an assistant coach under some very tenured and successful head coaches prepared him for his big moment at Grayslake North.

Hill worked as an assistant at Lake Forest, Warren and Vernon Hills under head coaches Tommy Myers, Dar Townsend and Jay Czarnecki, respectively.

"Needless to say, I learned from some great coaches," said Hill, a former standout at Warren who went on to play baseball at CLC and Quincy. "Those guys probably have 1,000 combined wins.

Hill's father was a baseball coach too, for years in the Gurnee American Legion and as an assistant at Warren and Vernon Hills.

"He's no doubt my inspiration and biggest fan," Hill said of his father. "I think I was born to coach. I have always aspired to coach at the highest level possible."

Carmel's Bill Taylor got to a high level himself as a player. In the late 1980s, he played minor league ball in the Oakland A's farm system.

Soon after his own career ended, Taylor ended up at Carmel. He's been an assistant coach there for 23 years, and is now getting his chance to be the head coach.

This is his first job ever as a head coach.

"I've been an assistant for a looooooong time," Taylor said. "I've seen a lot of styles and was here (under three different head coaches)."

Taylor is anxious to bring Carmel back to the level of success it had in the 1990s and 2000s under former head coach Chuck Gandolfi, now the head coach at Lake Zurich.

"We are coming off a 14-22 season, which is very uncharacteristic of a Carmel team," Taylor said. "To change results, you have to change your approach."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

• Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw