Teams find mixed results traveling south to play
Let's be honest -- spring break this year really didn't feel like spring at all for the area's baseball and softball teams.
It rained. It snowed. It was cold. It was awful.
A few teams got in a game here and there, but nothing was consistent. There was maybe one or two nice days, but that was it.
Three area teams -- West Aurora's softball team and the baseball teams from Kaneland and St. Charles North -- thought it would be a good idea to take themselves out of the area last week and play teams where the weather might be nicer.
The plan worked well for the Blackhawks, went pretty good for the North Stars and not so good for the Knights.
The 8-hour voyage to London -- Kentucky, that is -- was worth it for West Aurora. The Blackhawks loaded a pair of minivans with the varsity and JV teams and drove nearly 500 miles. Both squads won their respective tournaments with the varsity going 4-0 at the South Laurett Invitational.
"It was a great trip for everyone," West Aurora coach Dave Zine said. "We felt it was a big success. It was a long ride back and forth, but it was worth it."
The Blackhawks left Thursday at 5 a.m. and returned home Sunday afternoon. Zine said the weather was a bit chilly and it drizzled at times, but definitely tolerable.
Zine was just glad to get a few games in, as the Blackhawks have yet to play or practice on their home field.
"It was nice to actually go outside," Zine said. "It makes it a lot more fun."
Zine, who is in his first year as the varsity coach, had to do some research in order to make this trip possible. He found a Web site that listed coaches and teams who were interested in playing teams from different areas.
The Blackhawks were able to raise the money, and off they went to experience something no other softball team in the area experienced.
"It's something more teams should look into," Zine said of spring break road trips.
You don't have to tell St. Charles North coach Todd Genke that. This season's trip to the St. Louis/southern Illinois area was the third road trip the team has taken in as many years.
The trip was supposed to begin in St. Louis Wednesday, but rain forced the game against Collinsville to be postponed.
By Thursday morning, Genke almost called the whole trip off.
"We were close to picking up the troops and going home," Genke said.
Genke, however, got on the phone and started making calls. Lots of calls. One was to the manager of the Southern Illinois Miners manager, Mike Pinto.
Pinto scouted Genke when he was a player. Genke just so happened to have Pinto's business card, so he made a call. It paid off because later that day, the North Stars and the other teams they planned to play found themselves in Marion, where the Frontier League Miners team calls home at Rent One Park.
The North Stars finished their road trip 2-2, as all four games took place in one location. They lost their first game of the season to Collinsville, beat Benton and Granite City and capped the trip with a 1-0 loss to Belleville East.
"It was very good competition," Genke said. "We could have gone at least 3-1, but I am very happy."
Genke would like to see the North Stars play at Rent One Park again next year and maybe turn the road trip into an 8-team tournament with 4 teams from this area and 4 from the south.
The Knights, however, were this close to joining the North Stars in Marion, but decided not to further their road trip.
Kaneland's original trip was supposed to start in Washington, Mo., continue in St. Louis and end in Decatur, but rain washed away the Knights' hopes of playing.
The team traveled nearly 600 miles for basically nothing. Coach Brian Aversa connected with Genke, who told Aversa about Rent One Park.
At that point, the Knights were fairly discouraged and didn't think the games would play and opted to head home instead.
"They should have stayed, but it was understandable," Genke said.
"It wasn't tough to keep the guys positive," Aversa added. "They were optimistic we were going to play. It just didn't work out."
Aversa said the Knights kept watching the weather reports. It was nice when they left Maple Park, but once they crossed the Mississippi River, it started pouring.
"It never stopped," Aversa said.
It was too bad, considering Aversa spent a lot of his Christmas break planning the trip. It all turned out to be a learning experience for the second-year coach, who is not afraid to travel somewhere else next year.
"We are in the works for a trip to Cincinnati," Aversa said. "Hopefully, this one works out better."