Local favorites crowd Baseball Coaches Association 2026 Hall of Fame class
It’s a banner year for the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2026 includes York High School graduate Sean Bieterman, the former Driscoll Catholic and Aurora Central Catholic coach now at Yorkville Christian; Burlington Central coach Kyle Nelson; Driscoll’s Jeff Sefcik; Warren coach Clint Smothers; and Naperville Central coach Mike Stock. All but Sefcik are active coaches.
Libertyville coach Matt Thompson, who led the Wildcats to a second straight state title last spring, is the Class 4A coach of the year.
John Fumagalli, for more than 20 years Neuqua Valley’s pitching coach and overall right-hand man before his 2023 retirement, will receive the IHSBCA distinguished service award at the annual ceremony in December in Naperville.
Glenbard South coach Marco Eufrasio will be honored as the association’s “Man of the Year.”
They’ve all got stories. Here are a couple of them.
Eufrasio, diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2019 but since declared to be in remission after surgery and chemotherapy, reacted to his diagnosis by founding Lace ‘Em Up NFP: The Chicagoland Testicular Cancer Organization.
“I knew that I had a young family and needed to lace up my shoes and keep moving forward and keep fighting,” he said.
With the help of high school baseball programs, notably those at Conant and Jacobs, Eufrasio said, the coach’s speaking engagements and periodic events throughout the year raise awareness of testicular cancer and support those who’ve been diagnosed with it. The target demographic is males age 15-44.
“This, on top of helping develop Glenbard South's baseball players into fine young men, has become one of my life's missions because this is a disease that is curable and young men need to know it is OK to talk about reproductive health,” Eufrasio said.
Sefcik added to what he called the “Driscoll mystique,” a glorious era at the Addison school that closed in 2009. A 1985 graduate, he returned to lead Highlanders baseball to a record of 252-105 from 1993-2002. His teams won Class A titles in 1994 and 1997 and finished second in 2000.
Sefcik also is a cancer survivor.
“To me at this stage, every day is icing on the cake,” said Sefcik, 59. “This right here (the IHSBCA Hall), is icing on the cake. I’m hoping some of the guys are going to come. It’s a celebration of Driscoll baseball, is what it is.”
Sefcik played high school ball for Rod Molek, another hall of fame Highlander whom Sefcik succeeded as baseball coach. (Incidentally, Molek followed Dick Eufrasio, Marco’s uncle, as Driscoll coach.)
Molek’s son, Ryan, baseball coach at United High School in Monmouth, nominated Sefcik for the IHSBCA honor. Like Rod Molek mentored Sefcik, so has Sefcik mentored Ryan Molek.
“The connection is kind of neat because I feel like I’m an older brother or an uncle to the kid. His dad is as important as anyone in my life, including my own father and grandfather,” Sefcik said.
Sefcik later became a popular school administrator and retired in 2025 as principal of the Stanton School in Fox Lake. His wife, Christy, is the recently retired superintendent of Grant Community High School District 124.
At Driscoll, Sefcik had lifelong friends such as Steve Dattomo and Tony Nazos on his coaching staff, while pals like current Nazareth football coach Tim Racki — the two met when Sefcik was 9 years old and Racki 10 — likewise worked magic in Addison.
“It was a really, really, really good 10 years of my life,” Sefcik said. “It was home. It was a great, great time to be around great people. And we had success.”
Must-see TV
Available on television and streaming services, WCIU this Saturday will broadcast the end of the state series in girls flag football as well as the “IHSA Playoff Preview Show” revealing the (yikes) 384 playoff qualifiers in boys football.
At 10 a.m. and noon Saturday “The U” will show the flag football semifinals from Willowbrook High School. The girls championship game will be broadcast at 5 p.m.
A pair of legends, “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran will join Dave Bernhard for the football playoff pairings show at 9 p.m.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com