College baseball: Elgin CC's success continues under Angelo

When he was in his early 20s, Bill Angelo's career GPS did not include the destination of college baseball coach.

"I stumbled through the early part of my 20s," he said.

After stints at Western Illinois University, Elgin Community College and what is now called Benedictine University in Lisle, Angelo went into sales. He sold windows, side doors, copiers and fax machines.

During his foray into sales the opportunity to take over the baseball program at ECC, where he had played and was a two-time all-conference selection, presented itself. He jumped on it.

In the beginning, Angelo continued to work in sales while coaching the Spartans, eventually ditching the salesman gimmick and taking a leap of faith with ECC where he landed additional part-time work and eventually a full-time position in the school's fitness center (where he still works today).

Turns out, that leap of faith 20 years ago was spot on. Angelo, one of this writer's favorite people to interact with over nearly 25 years of covering Fox Valley sports, has ECC once again n the precipice of a berth in the NJCAA World Series. This year, ECC is competing at the Division III level. All that stands between Angelo's crew and a sixth program appearance in the World Series is a best-of-3 battle with Delta Community College out of Michigan at ECC Saturday and possibly Sunday.

In his 20 years at the helm, Angelo, who has a degree in psychology from Benedictine, has won more than 650 games, produced 7 conference champions and had 22 players earn NJCAA all-American status. More than 10 players have either been drafted or signed Major League Baseball contracts.

Further adding to the many coaching awards he's won over the years, Angelo, an Elburn resident, will be inducted into the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Hall of Fame in early June at McHenry County College.

"The award means I've coached for a long time," Angelo said with a laugh. "It means I've been very fortunate to have a lot of quality players come through the program. When I think about it, we've had really great kids come through who have done well and moved on and earned degrees and now have families. And now some of their kids are coming back through here. It's crazy. An award like that makes you feel like you're almost done. I don't feel like I'm done. I love what I'm doing here and I love being around these guys. I want to help them through this part of their baseball journey and their life journey. I want to help them move on to the next step."

Long-term success on the ECC baseball diamond, Angelo said, reverts back to the players on the roster.

"We get the right kind of guys who are hungry and want to take things to the next level and push themselves to be as good as they can be," he said. "I've told every player I have sat down with that the program is built on work ethic, a passion and love of the game and trying to do the right thing. We've tried to get these type of players and people. It's a great environment here. The success is a by-product of being around guys who have similar goals and aspirations. We try to create an environment where guys can get the reps, resources and instruction and guidance to reach their full potential. These guys for the most part come together not knowing each other, but wanting to get together. They have a strong work ethic and a love for baseball."

Angelo said the players he recruits mirror his situation when he played on Spartan Drive.

"When I played at ECC I was a player very similar to what I recruit," he said. "I was underdeveloped and was not overly skilled. I had to try and outwork everybody and try to find some tactical advantage to try and compete with them. What motivated me early on when I took over is when I was a 19- to-23-year-old, I was kind of lost and wandering. I wasn't taking school or a whole lot of stuff serious. I wanted to show these guys if you make good decisions and do things the right way, good things are going to happen. I wanted to provide players my experience where I messed up and made mistakes and teach them not to make the same mistakes I made. I didn't get my college degree until I was almost 27. I wanted to help these guys with more than just baseball and make sure they stayed focused on what is really important and not what is perceived to be important."

Current day, Angelo noted ECC has hit its stride at the perfect time of the season and put the program in familiar territory - playing deep into the NJCAA postseason with a chance to get the Division III promise land in Greenville, Tenn.

"We started out pretty mediocre," he said. "We're finally putting the puzzle pieces in the right places."

Angelo cites strong infield defense as a major key to the team's success. The infield trio of shortstop Tanner Smith (Burlington Central), third baseman Will Drake (Neuqua Valley) and second baseman Zach Fick (St. Charles North) have made a highly impressive combined 30 errors between them. First baseman Tyler Lowe is there to scoop any stray throws.

"We've had some very good infields here over the years, but nothing like this with 30 errors between the three of them," Angelo said.

Angelo added his pitching staff has been steady and the team's bats have heated up of late, with Rhett Wojkovich (Montini) cited for the spark he provides at the top of the order.

"You say you want to be playing your best baseball at the end of the year. You build for that," he said. "It's not always the case, but right now I'd say we're playing pretty good baseball. As we have gotten better we started beating some better teams and that gave us more confidence. We play with more confidence now. It has to do with how you feel when you take the field and these guys feel pretty good about the rest of the guys around them."

And the team's 20-year coach feels good as well.

"ECC has a family and community feel," he said. "I work for an awesome boss (AD Kent Payne). ECC has always fit for me. It always has felt like my home."

Mike Miazga has been writing about sports in the Fox Valley for nearly a quarter-century. Email him at mjm890@gmail.com.