Changes abound for area baseball and softball programs

The list of new baseball and softball coaches combined is unbelievable in the Tri-Cities Area this year.

Never before has there been so much turnover from one season to the next.

Four new baseball coaches and three new softball skippers are all making their varsity debuts this season.

That's about the only thing all of them have in common.

Two of the new softball coaches, Batavia's Leon Pedraza and West Aurora's Dave Zine, also coach girls golf at their respective schools in the fall.

Zine is one of two new Daves -- the other is Dave Rakow, Marmion's new coach.

Both Daves, along with West Aurora's John Reeves, replaced legendary coaches who resigned after last year.

Reeves took over for Dave Rowell, who was at West Aurora for 23 years, including three of Reeves' seasons when he was a player.

Rakow, who coached the sophomore team last year, was named Marmion's third-ever baseball coach after he replaced Jim Reiland, who was with the Cadets for 20 years.

Zine was once an assistant for Donna Proctor. He takes over after Proctor coached the Blackhawks for 21 years.

Two of the new coaches, Andy Zorger and Claude Ainsworth, are brand new to their new schools. Zorger is the baseball coach at Aurora Christian and Ainsworth is the softball coach at Aurora Central Catholic.

Only one of the new coaches, Mike Armato, also serves as the school's athletic director. Not only is he in his first year coaching the baseball team at Aurora Central Catholic, he's also in his first year as the AD for the Chargers.

Armato is probably the one with the most coaching experience, as he has 20 years in some way or another.

He was a head coach at Rock Valley Community College for 9 years, coached Harlem's JV team one year to a 24-4 record and a conference championship title, was AD and a volunteer coach at Durand High School for 4 years, and has coached summer leagues.

Armato also has the longest commute, as he lives in Rockford and drives an hour each way every day.

"Baseball is a passion of mine," said Armato, who replaced Rich Swann, who now coaches at Aurora University. "I never get tired of being on the field. It's a joy every day for me. Once I am on the ball field, everything is better."

Armato was also responsible for hiring Ainsworth, who coached at Benet's JV level for 9 years.

Ainsworth, who replaced Justin Lehr, had really no reason to leave Benet except he wanted the varsity job there. When the Benet coach confirmed he wasn't going anywhere, Ainsworth thought it was time for a change.

He almost left Benet two years earlier, as ACC's former AD hired him. But when that AD stepped down, the deal fell through.

After Lehr left, Ainsworth's wife saw in the newspaper that ACC was looking for a softball coach. He quickly put a resume together and interviewed with Armato.

"I left the interview thinking I did OK," Ainsworth said. "(Armato) called later and said, 'Do you want the job?'"

Ainsworth needed about a month to think about it and then decided to give it a try.

"He's a good guy," Armato said. "We are thrilled to death to have him. He stood out above the rest."

Perhaps Reeves did as well. Reeves was hired at the beginning of June right after the 2007 season capped. He was Rowell's assistant for two years and is currently in his eighth year at West Aurora.

Rowell is in the IHSBCA Hall of Fame and coached Reeves in 1994-1996. Reeves stayed close to Aurora and was a catcher at Aurora University from 1997-2000 and played in two college world series in 1998 and 1999.

"I am looking to continue what (Rowell) started," Reeves said.

Rakow thinks the same about taking over for Reiland.

"Those are big shoes to fill," said Rakow, who graduated from Batavia in 1999, played baseball for current coach Matt Holm and was an all-state quarterback for current football coach Mike Gaspari before playing at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from 1999-2004.

"(But) it's nice. I've been (at Marmion) a year. It takes the stress away."

Zine feels the same way about Proctor. He too is also glad he's familiar with the program.

"Donna built a strong foundation," said Zine, who has been with West Aurora's program for 11 years, including 7 with the freshmen. "It's going to be a great opportunity."

Zine is one busy man coaching two varsity sports, but he likes it that way.

So does his fellow girls golf coach in Pedraza, who took over Batavia's softball program after Jim Schmitz resigned after 13 years.

"I like being on the go all the time," Pedraza said.

Pedraza, like Zine, coached at the freshman level and also has experience as a volunteer at North Central College.

Zorger is the youngest of the new coaches at 24 years old. He's a 2006 grad of Indiana Wesleyan, where he played baseball for 4 years as an infielder.

After coaching at the lower levels at Neuqua Valley for a year, Zorger found himself at Aurora Christian. His connection to the school is through his wife, Rachel Stone, who is the daughter of Dan Stone, the Eagles' girls varsity basketball coach.

Zorger, who teaches history and economics at Aurora Christian, thought his first year with the Eagles would be as an assistant, but when former coach Ralph Ubert did not come back to coach, Zorger got the job in late January.

"I didn't expect it right away," Zorger said.

Here's another thing most of these new coaches didn't expect -- waiting so long for their coaching debuts.

The majority of these teams have yet to play this year. West Aurora baseball has played the most, as Reeves' team is 2-1 through Tuesday's games.

ACC softball is 1-2, as Ainsworth got his first varsity win the first time the Chargers played this year.

cbolin@dailyherald.com