Bietermans helping Aurora Central baseball win big
Aurora Central Catholic sophomore Michael Bieterman maintains the Chargers baseball team is a "brotherhood."
Biologically speaking, a couple of these brothers are closer than most. A cleanup-hitting catcher, Michael Bieterman is the half-brother of Chargers coach Sean Bieterman.
Having transferred to ACC from Elmhurst's Timothy Christian following a November move, Michael has fit right in.
"No. 1, he's a great kid, he works hard, and he's been really accepted very well by his teammates as a result of that," said Sean Bieterman, the York High School graduate in his third year as ACC's athletic director and head varsity baseball coach. Sean had prior head coaching stints at Driscoll and Lincoln-Way Central.
"He's made it real easy because he does all the right things. I feel like I treat him like any other player," Sean said.
Michael Bieterman played baseball in 2014 at Timothy Christian - and golf last fall, which he hopes to continue at ACC.
After Michael and Sean's father, Rick - a familiar high school official who has worked state finals in basketball, football and baseball - moved to Wood Dale in November, Michael transferred to Aurora Central Catholic. Sean Bieterman, 20 years older than Michael, lives in Villa Park and has a 7-year-old son, Casey.
Moving outside of Timothy's school district meant Michael didn't lose a year of eligibility due to the private-to-private transfer.
"We did it very carefully in terms of making sure he was going to come to our school for the right reasons - the academics and the Catholic school sort of things rather than, 'I want to go to school to play baseball.'" Sean Bieterman said. "He's a good student, he's a good kid, he makes friends pretty fast. He's pretty happy with his choice."
Family connections between coaches and players can raise eyebrows and suspicions of favoritism. Since everyone knows this, what often happens is the coach cracks down harder on his kin so no one can question his motives.
A father-son duo also is at play on the Chargers' varsity. Bench coach John Belskis is right there with his son, Johnny, a second baseman hitting .383. When a player is hitting .383 it's hard to question much.
Michael Bieterman, already 6 feet, 2 inches and 200 pounds, does think Sean pushes him hard, due more to the sophomore's potential than because he's blood. Sean calls the catcher "very similar" to a player he had at Driscoll, Adam Davis, who caught for the University of Illinois and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, playing two seasons in Class A ball in 2012 and 2013.
"I do think I'm probably a little bit harder on him because I expect a lot of great things from him down the road," Sean Bieterman said. "He's a big kid, he's learning, he's developing. I think he's got the opportunity to play at a very high level after high school if he continues to work hard."
Michael enjoys his brother's demeanor, saying Sean is "laid back" as a coach, "never that mean guy." He said the coach, and the ballclub itself, is focused on winning while having fun.
"Yesterday, for example, we all went to the Kane County Cougars game together," Michael said Wednesday. "Doing stuff like that just helps us all come together."
Sean Bieterman's approach has worked at ACC. In his first season the Chargers started 16-2, went on to win a regional championship and finished with a record of 27-8, the program's most wins since 1995. After pounding Walther Christian on Thursday the Chargers were 15-1. The future looks good for the brotherhood, and the brothers.
"I think he's just a great kid," Sean Bieterman said. "I think we've both enjoyed this experience and we've got another two years of it after this year. I'm happy to see him grow as a player and as a person. It's been a lot of fun."
She showed him
Northwestern freshman center fielder Sabrina Rabin, a two-time MVP of St. Charles North's softball team as well as repeat Daily Herald All-Area Team honorary captain, earned another twofer this week - the Big Ten's player of the week and freshman of the week.
Last week she led the league with a .769 batting average and collected at least 2 hits in each of the Wildcats' four games. That gave her 17 multiple-hit games on the season to raise her batting average to .403.
Northwestern's leadoff hitter, Rabin also stole 5 bases in a three-game series with Nebraska, tying the program mark with 4 in one game. Before that series she scored from second base on a sacrifice fly against Notre Dame. On the year Rabin has 20 stolen bases in 24 attempts and ranks 47th in Division I in stolen bases.
On Wednesday, the Daily Herald's John Lemon covered St. Charles North's 4-3 win at St. Charles East. North Stars coach Tom Poulin related a conversation he had with Rabin last summer when she visited one day during basketball camp.
Poulin tried to soothingly suggest Rabin might not grab a huge role at Northwestern right off the bat - "like when you were a freshman for us, pinch running, just accept your role," he recalled.
Rabin confidently dismissed that noise, adamant she would be a factor.
"She said, 'I'm going to lead off and play center field,'" Poulin said Wednesday, and the rest has become history.
Select company
An athlete still attending St. Charles North, soccer player Marissa Bosco, was called up to the United States Under-18 Women's National Team.
The Kentucky-bound Bosco, who plays on the club circuit for Eclipse Select, was taking part in a camp from April 19-26 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
It's Bosco's second national-team call up. In October 2013 the midfielder competed with the U-15 Girls National Team.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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