Sports

Stagg Coach Likes the Flexibility of Summer League Baseball

Mike O'Neill welcomes the teaching and evaluation opportunities afforded by summer league ball.

Summer league baseball provides a more relaxed atmosphere for high school players to learn and hone skills, and it provides coaches with a chance to better evaluate players.

"The main reason we play summer baseball is to get some of these guys to learn how to play together,” Stagg coach Matt O'Neill said. “As a head coach, it gives me a chance to evaluate. I rarely see the sophomores because they are always (playing) opposite (us), but here they play after us. It also serves as a teaching tool for us."

Many players on O'Neill's 25-man roster play travel baseball and some also play basketball or football.

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The depth allows us to have some flexibility,” he said. “The coaching staff understands not everyone can make it every day."

In Tuesday’s game between Stagg and St. Rita, a few St. Rita hitters were using wood bats. A parent said that might have been to get used to a change the IHSA is making next year, going away from the titanium bats and switching to a wood core bat. The NCAA made a similar change prior to the 2011 season.

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Stagg plays in a geography-based division with Oak Lawn, Marist, Evergreen Park and others.

In Tuesday’s game against St. Rita, Stagg fell 9-4, but received RBIs from Joe Prete, Jim Prete, and Nick Nowak. Stagg’s record was 0-3 with 14 games left after Tuesday’s game, though team records aren’t considered important in summer league play.

Palos Power Heading to OYA Tournament

The Palos Power has an 8U travel team in 2011, and coach Mike Case is taking the team to the Orland Youth Association Tournament beginning Monday. The Power will play games against Mokena, Orland and Chicago Ridge through Wednesday to sort out the seeding. The championship rounds begin Friday.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here