Naperville Central won’t be the same without Seiple

For 30 years Bill Seiple has known exactly what he’ll be doing in the spring.

Until now. With Naperville Central’s hall of fame baseball coach on the verge of retirement at the end of this season, next spring is an unknown.

“If you’ve got the answer to that,” he said, “let me know.”

Retirement, though, is the last thing Seiple wants to talk about as another season of Redhawks baseball gets set to begin. As the defending Class 4A state champion, Naperville Central is solely focused on rebuilding a winner.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun right now,” Seiple said. “If I start thinking about that other stuff too much, I’ll go crazy.”

Winning is something Seiple’s grown accustomed to since becoming the program’s head coach in 1982. He enters the season 10 wins shy of 700 with a stunning .674 winning percentage in the 1,023 games he’s coached.

In addition to last year’s state title, Seiple also led the program to its first state title in 2006. Naperville Central remains the lone DuPage Valley Conference baseball team to win it all.

While Seiple is reluctant to talk about his legacy, others are definitive.

“He’s brought the conference to another level,” said Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler. “His kids have always been well-coached, and his teams have always won big games. And that’s the sign of a good coach.”

A 1971 graduate of Naperville Central, Seiple graduated from Monmouth College as an all-conference second baseman before beginning his career in education at Jefferson Junior High School in Naperville. After a brief stint as Naperville North’s sophomore coach, Seiple made the move to Central.

The rest is literal history.

Seiple’s never had a losing season. He’s posted 25 20-win seasons and three 30-win seasons. His teams have won 10 DVC titles, 13 regional titles, three sectional titles and the two state crowns.

It’s been a staggering era of success, although Seiple prefers to deflect the credit.

“He’s definitely built a great program,” said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling. “It’s not all about the talent over there. He gets everything out of those talented teams. He’s put in the time and he deserves those state championships.

“It’ll be a little strange playing Naperville Central next year without Bill Seiple in the third-base coaching box,” he said.

It hasn’t always been a smooth ride for Seiple, who turns 58 this season. Not even during the dream run of 2006.

Seiple successfully battled colon cancer that year. Despite being weakened by chemotherapy treatments throughout the season, he was in prime form as the Redhawks claimed their first state title.

His longtime pitching coach and close friend, Phil Lawler, staged his own battle with cancer that season. He fought it off for years, but the cancer returned and Lawler passed away last April during the Redhawks’ second state title season.

Through joy and sadness baseball and life inevitably intertwined during Seiple’s tenure at Naperville Central, which is why he understandably doesn’t focus solely on the wins and losses.

It’s why he won’t look at the future until it becomes the present.

“I have no plans after June 16, but I’ll do something,” he said. “I don’t know what it’ll be, but it’ll be something.”

As Redhawks varsity assistant coach Mike Stock prepares to take the helm, it’s possible that Seiple could keep coaching.

Wearing anything other than Naperville Central red and white, however, seems unthinkable.

After three decades the colors fit him too perfectly.

“This is what I love to do, and this is where I love to do it,” Seiple said. “I can’t see myself putting on another high school uniform. Not after wearing this one for the last 30 years.”