Sidewinders end 6-year run on a high note

Submitted by Larry Lucas

The 2012 Lake County Sidewinders 16U team finished their six years of winning in familiar fashion with a come-from-behind victory in the last game of their tournament at Notre Dame stadium in South Bend, Ind. This was their last game as a Sidewinders team, finishing their six-year record at 303-88, including 23 championships (23-11 in championship games) three Illinois state titles and two second-place finishes at national tournaments.

“The past six years has been an exciting and rewarding experience with this team,” head coach Larry Lucas said. “Bob Sisk (assistant coach) and I started this team in August 2006. We personally recruited players and had multiple tryouts that first fall. It was a hard sell to get parents to believe that we had the correct teaching/coaching formula to create a dominant championship team from the start, that their son would be a significant player on a great team, and deliver as promised while emphasizing outstanding sportsmanship and character on and off the field,” Lucas added.

“Obtaining any field time and indoor facility time was a big issue at the beginning,” Sisk said. However, the Sidewinders quickly partnered with Grant Township to get a home field and built relationships with several schools and organizations to have multiple facilities for indoor workouts. “This was essential to keep our costs at a minimum, as we ran our program at a third of the cost as the ‘academy programs,’ but offered more coaching and practice time.”

The Sidewinders amassed an incredible local record of 144-21 against teams from Lake and McHenry counties in Illinois, and Kenosha and Racine counties in Wisconsin. This caused the team to travel more, from New York to Nebraska and from Michigan to Kentucky. But the highlight of all the travel was the eight-day trip to the Dominican Republic in 2011. The Sidewinders partnered with G.O. Ministries Inc. and played the best teams in the Dominican and performed humanitarian work each day.

“I know each Sidewinder will be successful in their life because of their courage and demeanor; some will excel at baseball well beyond high school. Passion, effort, and dedication rule the day for this group,” Lucas said.

Players on the team represented Grant High School, Round Lake High School, Grayslake Central High School, Grayslake North High School, Antioch High School, Lakes High School, Libertyville High School, Richmond-Burton High School, Danville High School, St. Catherine’s High School (Racine, Wis.) and Horlick High School (Racine, Wis).

The 2012 Lake County Sidewinders 16U team consisted of Simeon Lucas (Grant), Joe Sisk (Lakes), Alex Alvarez (Grayslake North), Matt DeJong (Antioch), Ryan Newman (Round Lake), Tino Torres (Grant), Ryan Noda (Grant), Braven Bacardi (Lake Zurich), Pat Burba (Grayslake Central), Jeff Barton (Libertyville), Mike Kaska (Richmond-Burton), Mike Vascura (Danville), Derek Heffel (St Catherine), Aric Langley (Horlick), head coach Larry Lucas and assistant coaches Bob Sisk, Keith Dejong and Tom Noda.

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