Foulkes has mixed emotions stepping down at St. Charles East

Six years ago, Mark Foulkes admittedly stepped into a great situation after taking over for Len Asquini as St. Charles East varsity baseball head coach.

And he made the most of it, guiding a hungry, talented, senior-driven team to a 33-10 overall record and eventual fourth-place state finish in the Class AA tournament.

In May, Foulkes was presented with another great opportunity - to become one of 9 team leaders for the 2009-10 school year at Wredling Middle School in St. Charles.

After weighing his options, Foulkes decided to offer his resignation as Saints head baseball coach upon completion of the 2009 campaign.

"It wasn't a decision made overnight.," said the 32-year-old Foulkes, who owns a 122-92-1 record in 6 seasons at the helm. "I really struggled with it. I've been a part of St. Charles East baseball almost half my life.

"It's not easy giving up baseball but you don't know when an opportunity like this is going to come around again. I've been interested in getting into the administrative side for a while and this is one step toward it."

Due to his duties as team leader, which include additional meetings, communications with other teachers and managing budgets, Foulkes felt juggling a varsity head coaching position would be near impossible.

Foulkes, a left-handed pitcher who played at St. Charles East in the 1990s before attending Monmouth College, became the Saints' freshman B coach in 2000. After spending the next three seasons as sophomore head coach, Foulkes took over as varsity head coach in 2004.

"I was fortunate because Len (Asquini) looked out for me a lot," said Foulkes, whose teams captured back-to-back regional championships during his first two seasons. "It has been a dream job for 10 years."

Thanks in part to a group that included J.R. Carbonell, Ryan Priola, Cole Livermore, Max Payleitner, Billy LaGesse, Jim Doyle, David Carbonell and Andrew Ogata, Foulkes' first year as varsity coach turned into a "dream" season.

"It was a special group of guys," said Foulkes. "They had a team-first mentality and they wanted to beat everybody and anybody that stood in their way.

"It was a fun year for me from beginning to end."

With a talented group of juniors on this year's squad, Foulkes figures the Saints' next head coach will have a lot of positives on his side in 2010.

"I'll really enjoy watching them next year," said Foulkes. "Whoever gets the job will be walking into a great facility. People view baseball in this town very highly, and the parents' support is tremendous.

"In my opinion, this is the best place to be around. There's something special about St. Charles East."