We are pleased to announce our 14U and 13U head coaches for the 2019-2020 season:

13A1 - Paul Kosinski
13A2 - John and Ozzie Rosinski
13B - Tyler Kopp
14A1 - Matt LaFontaine
14A2 - Jason Meger
14B - Pat Pokrovac

As you will see, we are excited to welcome back our 13A2, 13B, 14A2, and 14B head coaches from last season, all of whom got tremendous reviews from players and parents alike.  We are also excited to have Matt LaFontaine move from 13A1 to 14A1--Lafo was the long-time 14A1 coach and returns to that level after three strong years (2 LSFBL championships, 1 2nd place finish) at 13A1.  And, finally, we are thrilled to announce that Paul Kosinski, our 15A Head Coach last season, will take over at 13A1 this season.  For those of you that do not know him, Paul is an institution in the area—he’s a former NTHS coach, the current North Shore Country Day Varsity Coach, and a high level hitting, pitching and catching instructor who has coached literally dozens of players who went on to play college after working with him.  With Trey Frahler as our Director of Player Development, we feel we have the best coaching staff in the area, bar none, and can't wait for the program to begin.

One final comment.  No decision has been made as to whether we will have a second 13B team.  That decision will be made in the next two weeks, and if we do, that team's coach will be announced at that time/shortly thereafter.

We are extremely pleased to announce that, effective immediately, we have promoted Trey Frahler to the newly created position of Director of Player Development.

As you know, Trey has been the lead instructor of our fall Tryout Preparation Program and winter Offseason Training Program (as well as our 14A1 coach).  Those programs resulted in 26 of our most recent alumni (out of 29 freshman overall) being selected for New Trier High School teams this past season—and 9 league championships in the last three years.  With these new roles, ALL of our 14U and 13U players will now have the opportunity to be taught by Trey throughout the year.  

Trey will continue to be the lead instructor for both the Tryout Preparation Program and Offseason Training Programs.  However, instead of coaching just one team in the spring and summer, Trey will spend the spring and summer working with ALL of our 14U and 13U players.  First, during the spring, Trey will be at one practice of each 14U and 13U team every week and will focus on working on pitching with all of our players.  You can never have enough pitching, and Trey is a former pitching coach for both NTHS and Wheaton College, and as such a tremendous resource as we seek to develop our pitchers and get them ready for NTHS.  

Then, in the summer, Trey will attend one practice or game of each 14U and 13U team every week, helping that team’s coaching staff to work through any issues that team’s players are having on the field—hitting, pitching, or fielding.  We believe strongly that you only get better on working on your weaknesses, and this gives all of our 14U and 13U players the opportunity to do that, one-on-one and in small groups with a tremendous skills coach, all season long.

We are finalizing the remainder of our coaching staff and will be announcing Trey’s replacement at 14A1, as well as the rest of our staff, within the next couple of weeks, so please stay tuned for that.  In the meantime, please join us in congratulating Trey on his promotion!!!!

The scrimmage groups are below.  Players, please be aware of the following:

1.  You have the right to switch times in any given week for conflicts, but MUST do so by Wednesday of that week.  All timely requests will be automatically granted.   If you do not change on time, please do NOT simply go to a different scrimmage--we have 104 players in the program, and in fairness to the players that we know are going to be there, you will not be permitted to play.  Please don't put our coaches in the position of having to turn you away.

2.  Changes to weekly skills session do not require any notice--just go to the one you want to go to.

Jack Zibell and Ryan King each knocked in 3 runs and Coach Tyler Kopp's 13B squad scored 7 runs in the 3rd and 10 runs in the 4th to cap a thrilling end of season run with an LSFBL Championship, 19-2 over Skokie.  Declan Spinner threw four strong innings for 13B to get the victory.  Once again, Coach Kopp's squad overcame a difficult road to the title, beating the #1, #3, and #4 seeds on its way to a 2nd title in 3 years.

Shortly thereafter, Coach Trey Frahler's 14A1 capped an outstanding season with an MSBL Championship in only its 2nd year in the league, beating the Glenview Blaze 5-4 in extra innings in a tense, thrilling game.  Jake Fiegen pitched 5 strong innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead.   The Blaze tied it up at 3-3 in the 6th, and the game went to extras.  C.J. Feldman and Austin Brown had run scoring hits in the top of the 8th, and 14A1 took a 5-3 lead.  The Blaze cut it to 5-4 in the bottom of the 8th, but Luke Richker, with the bases loaded, 2 outs, and a 3-2 count (and after a blown call on a pickoff play immediately before the pitch), got the Blaze to fly out to Christopher Tarzon in RF, setting off a raucous celebration for NTF's second championship of the day.

Finally, Mundelein scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to break open a 3-3 game and defeat Coach Matt Lafontaine's 13A1 squad, 7-3.  While not the end they hoped for, Lafo's team grew and developed so much this year, and losing one game at the end does not negate that, and all of the players on that team have bright futures at 14U.

While we celebrate our champions today, to us success is about more than wins and losses, and so we would be remiss at not pointing out the successes of our other teams.  In addition to 13A1's second place finish, 13A2 and 14A2 battled hard all season against the top A teams of other organizations,  in some cases against tremendous adversity, and we are proud of the players' continuing efforts all season long.  Finally, while 14B unexpectedly lost in the first round of the playoffs, everyone on that team worked hard and developed considerably  in Coach Pokrovac's first season in the program, and we look forward to watching those players progress as they move on to high school/15U baseball next season.

As is always the case, the most indelible memories of the week for those of us that run the program, however, are off the field. The sheer number of kids who turned up for their friends' games was astonishing to us. In particular, the number of 13U kids that showed up to root for each other yesterday (13B and 13A1 played on the same field) was amazing.  When we said at the start of the year that this was a community, one in which all 100 of our players was equally important to us, we meant it--and all of us who run this program are so happy to see the kids, over and over again, support each other, both on and off the field.  To us, that's what community baseball is all about.

Once again, thanks for the honor of entrusting the development of your kids to us this season. We hope you are as proud of them as we are.

Drew Cardonick, President
New Trier Feeder Baseball