Bartlett baseball coach Marinucci resigns

Bartlett High School baseball coach Rocco Marinucci resigned Monday, citing personal reasons.

The founding father of the Bartlett baseball program, Marinucci served as head coach since the school's first varsity season in 1999. In 10 seasons his teams went 177-156 and won a Class AA regional title in 2002.

"It's uncomfortable, and I don't know how I'm going to deal with it in the spring," Marinucci said of the decision, "but we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Bartlett finished 19-10 last spring, losing 2-1 to Geneva in a Class 4A regional final, which turned out to be Marinucci's final game as Hawks skipper.

"It's disappointing to see him go," Bartlett athletic director Dan Kallenbach said, "but he's been doing it for a long time and it's tough in the springtime with the weather and the facilities. I'm not overly surprised. It's been a lot of years."

Kallenbach said the position will be posted within District U-46 for two weeks, however a search for a permanent coach will be put on hold in favor of naming an interim coach for the 2009 season from within the program by late October.

That was the same approach Kallenbach took with the boys basketball program last fall after coach Tom Lamberti stepped down. Jim Wolfsmith was named interim coach, the Hawks advanced to a sectional final and Wolfsmith was named to the post permanently last spring.

Candidates from within the Bartlett baseball program include varsity assistant coach Mike Boe, head sophomore coach Chris Pemberton, head freshman coach Brett Weiss and freshman B coach Garry Broderson.

"I actually think the four of them will sit down and come with a united front," Kallenbach said. "I got that feeling as they found out about it, so we'll see where they want to go. We'll talk to them and see where their interest is."