Haskins heads to Prairie Ridge

This promises to be a memorable spring for Dave Haskins.

During Haskins' first year as a varsity head baseball coach at Prairie Ridge he'll also become a father. Haskins and his wife Kate are expecting their first child, a girl, on April 28.

"It's pretty crazy right now," said Haskins, an all-conference pitcher at Conant who spent the last 10 years assisting Paul Belo at Fremd and Palatine. "I'm trying to get some odds and ends going."

The 35-year-old Haskins also pitched at Harper College and the defunct Division I program at Northeastern Illinois when it made the NCAA tournament. He takes over a program that suffered its only losing season the year the school opened in 1998.

Glen Pecoraro, Belo's college roommate at Illinois-Chicago, ran the program its first nine years. Chuck Lowitzki resigned in December to focus on completing his teaching degree.

Prairie Ridge was 19-13 last year and tied for second in the Fox Valley Conference's Fox Division at 9-6.

Five seniors have signed Division I scholarships -- outfielder Nick Martini (Kansas State), pitchers T.J. Swank (Coastal Carolina) and Mike Heesch (Nebraska), middle infielder Bobby Martin (Ohio) and catcher Dave Mitroff (Liberty).

"It's a good group of kids," Haskins said, "but we've got to get on the same page and play as one. If we do we should be alright."

Haskins said it wasn't easy leaving Palatine, coaches such as Belo and assistants Brent Carroll and Pete Capra and senior pitchers Steve Reis, Ryan Ferris and Brett Chidester.

"We said goodbye last Sunday and that was a tough thing," said Haskins, who lives 15 minutes from Prairie Ridge in Carpentersville and works with the Special Education Department of McHenry County. "I knew it was good for my family and good for me. It's something I always wanted to be is a head coach."

Haskins started on that path when he was coaching travel baseball and was asked by Belo to become an assistant at Fremd. The program had consecutive 28-win seasons with a fourth-place finish in the 2000 Class AA state tourney and a Mid-Suburban League title in 2001.

In 2006, Palatine won its first MSL division title in 16 years. When Belo heard about the Prairie Ridge opening he asked Haskins if he was interested.

"I told him he's a mentor of mine," said Haskins, who had Belo as one of the groomsmen in his wedding. "If I've got a question he's one of the first guys I'll call. Not just for coaching but dealing with kids.

"When I told him it was a happy day but obviously a sad day. We had our moments because we're both competitors but every year he gave me more and more responsibility. He's been great."

And part of Prairie Ridge's rugged schedule that includes the Schaumburg Flyers Tournament is a trip to Palatine on March 28.

"That will be interesting," Haskins said.

As will his entire spring.