Community Corner

Kremer: Joliet West Baseball All About Teamwork

Watch: Joliet West assistant coaches Jonathan Murray and Kevin Fitzgerald run the Tigers through drills during a workout in a warehouse on a rainy day.

I am a believer in the theory the best high school coaches also make for the best high school teachers.

And, to my way of thinking, a high school coach can be measured by how successfully he or she is able to convert huge assignment helpings into bite-size parts.

I also believe the best high school coaches are the ones who surround themselves with capable assistants and know how to delegate tasks. This affords them the luxury of maximizing practice time without feeling threatened by an underling.

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And, make no mistake, minutes are precious when you’re dealing with the attention spans of typical high school students and athletes.

Joliet West baseball coach John Karczewski makes the most of every second he spends with his Tigers, whether they’re outside on the ball diamond or inside a converted warehouse space on a rainy day. He calls on three former JT baseball standouts to assist him with the job.

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Kevin Fitzgerald, Jonathan Murray and Chad Schwartz have returned to the fold as Joliet West assistant coaches. All three played at JT during the days when the district had two campuses and one athletic program.

All three bring a passion and a sense of belonging to their duties because they grew up wearing the same spiked shoes of today’s Tigers and they care deeply about what they’re doing—passing on some of what they learned about baseball and life during those glorious days of yesteryear.

“There were a lot of coaches that had an influence on me,” said Fitzgerald, who graduated from Joliet West in 2005 and later played collegiate baseball at Aurora University. He earned his undergrad degree in political science and later added master’s in teaching from Olivet University.

He now works as a para-professional in Joliet West’s special education program and coaches the Tigers’ infielders. He was quite a third baseman in his day.

“John Krebs was the head coach at JT then,” Fitzgerald said. “And Tony Juarez when I was a freshman, but also coach Karczewski and coach (Terry) Piazza were big influences on me about making sure we do things the right way. They taught me, ‘You might not have all the talent in the world every single game, but as long you play hard and compete, there is always a chance we’ll win.’

“I think that’s what carried over into my coaching. I want to make sure I prepare them the right way so they’re ready for whatever situation might come—and not just baseball, but life in general. I always tell these guys baseball is probably the most humbling game you’ll every play.

“One day you’ll go out there and go 4-for-4. The next day, you might go 0-for-4. You might go 0-for-16 the next four games. So, it’s a very humbling experience. You learn how to win with the team and you learn how to lose with the team. I think that’s important for these guys to understand because after high school—after college— they have to learn how to work with others to achieve their goals.”

Murray played collegiately at Joliet Junior College and Southern Illinois University. He earned his degree in history and teaches World Affairs at Joliet West. He lives now in Channahon and serves as the Tigers’ hitting coach. Schwartz works by day for the Village of Shorewood and by night as an assistant coach on the sophomore level at Joliet West.

“It’s great to have those guys—they played for me back in the day,” Karczewski said. “They were great players. And they bring a little bit of an attitude—they know what direction we want this program to go in. They’ve lived it, and they’ve watched it grow, and they’re helping us change who we are and where we want to go to.”

Murray has the unenviable task of trying to teach these Tigers how to handle one of the toughest tasks in all of sports—hitting an 80- to 90-mph fastball. He tries to break the job done into parts his guys can understand.

“I always talk about how baseball is a different type of game—it’s a skill set,” he said. “It’s a skill-sport. And you have to have skills. You don’t have to be the greatest athlete to play the game. You just have to work really hard at your craft.

“I’m big on the mental approach. I’m not a guy that likes to clone hitters. Ted Williams’ science of hitting—a book I read when I was in high school—a lot of those philosophies stuck with me, just the idea you could have 30 different hitters and 30 different stances. It’s not about the stance. It’s about what you do with it.

“We try to look it at like a giant puzzle and put the pieces together.”

So far, so good.

Joliet West took a 11-4 record into Thursday’s home game vs. Lockport.

Karczewski passes the credit around to his players and the team of assistants working with him.

“I’ll be honest, these guys do the majority of the coaching,” he said. “They have their responsibilities. Jonathan’s in charge of the hitting. He’s in charge of coming up with the drills and the practice plans. Kevin puts our bunt coverages together, runs our infield core work, our drill work and what we’re doing for practice that day.

“I give them times on what they’re allotted, and they come up with their plans and it works really well. Part of being a head coach, it’s delegating and having confidence in those guys to do what they do. And I have all the confidence in the world in them.”

Karczewski’s classroom is one where the chalk lines always are more prevalent than the chalkboard.

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