Parisi new baseball coach at Dundee-Crown

Tom Parisi said he has dreamed of coaching a varsity baseball team since he was in eighth grade.

The 25-year-old Conant graduate will get his chance next spring. Parisi was named the new baseball coach at Dundee-Crown, the school announced Tuesday.

Parisi takes over for Jon Sawyer, who left Dundee-Crown after three seasons for a teaching position at Grayslake North, citing the employment uncertainty facing young teachers within District 300.

Sawyer led the Chargers to a 24-14 record and a Class 4A regional title last spring. It was the sixth regional title in D-C history. Longtime coach Fred Bencriscutto guided the Chargers to appearances in the state finals in 2001 and 2007.

“I’m thrilled about the opportunity,” said Parisi, who teaches adaptive physical education at nine schools within District 300. “I’m very happy to be coming into a program that is recognized and has a high level of respect through the community and the state.

“Jon Sawyer and (assistant coach) Hank (Faulkner) and the people before them did an excellent job creating this program. Coming into this I know I don’t have to reinvent the wheel; just tweak it and bring it to new heights.”

The coaching position was offered to Faulkner over the summer. However, the longtime D-C assistant was forced to decline after much deliberation due to his recently expanded role as the Athletics Division Manager of the Dundee Township Park District.

Parisi said Faulkner was asked to stay on as an assistant coach but was unable to do so. “We would have loved to have Hank aboard, but he has other work obligations,” Parisi said. “He said I could call and pick his brain any time.”

Parisi played two seasons of varsity baseball at Conant but was unable to continue his playing career in college due to a back injury. However, he minored in coaching at Winona State University.

Parisi coached the Dundee-Crown freshman softball team last year and is preparing to coach freshman girls basketball at Jacobs for a second year.

“I was real impressed with him as a softball coach,” Dundee-Crown director of athletics Dick Storm said. “He practices hard and works hard, and we’ve gotten nothing but good references on him. Everybody has liked working with him everywhere he’s gone We’re pretty optimistic.”

The program will still have a homegrown element in assistant coach Kyle Neubauer. A former Dundee-Crown player, Neubauer went on to pitch for Elgin Community College and Judson University. At Judson, he was named to the All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference first team in 2007. He has since served as a pitching coach at Judson and ECC.

“I’m excited to have him,” Parisi said. “It’s a great opportunity to connect the old program with the new. Not only was Kyle a player here, he knows the cutting edge stuff from coaching in college recently. I look forward to working together.”

The Chargers graduated several players from their regional title team, but senior outfielder Jake Romano returns. He is committed to Miami (Ohio).