9 minute read
1988 St. Bede Baseball Team
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Accomplishments
●Won the 1988 Class A State
Title under the guidance of coach John Bellino ● Remains the only state title in school history ● Finished the season 25-4, defeated Waterloo 8-6 in the state semifinals and beat
Alton Marquette 6-3 in state title game
By Brandon LaChance
There are a lot of memories surrounding the 1988 St. Bede baseball team.
The roster featured 11 seniors and everyone in uniform were friends and remain friends today. The Bruins only lost four regular season games. It’s the only St. Bede team to ever win an IHSA state championship. The list continues.
But one memory everyone hated in 1988 but laughs about now is...The Run.
“We lost to Putnam County (8-7) toward the end of the season (fourth to last game),” said Eric Bubelis, who was a senior third baseman on the 1988 team that finished the regular season 25-4. “We had been on a good little roll and we were taking things for granted. Coach (John) Bellino was mad when we lost to Putnam County. We were at home and PC got on the bus and left.
“He got us on the first-base line, and we ran all the way to the hill and back multiple times. It was May. It was hot. It was humid. We didn’t know any different. We were 18 years old and didn’t know there were other places in the world that weren’t humid. We were sweating like crazy. We were still in uniform. We practiced until dusk. It felt like hours after playing a full game. “The run was our wake-up call. From that point on, we didn’t lose again. That’s when we started to really focus. Every game meant something to us because we didn’t want another practice like that.” The rest of the players on the team also tell stories about the run, including pitchers Brad Koster, Mike Schneider and Mike NOW WHERE are they DeAngelo (also left field), catcher Steve Pomatto, first baseman Tom McGunnigal (also pitched), second baseman Jim Perona, shortstop Ken Bima, center fielder Eric “Kro” Krogulski, right fielder Brad Derix, designated hitter Chuck Loebach, as well as Jim Barto, Chris Clancy,
Sean Ginocchio, Chad Kunkel and Jim Walsh.
In the three regular season games remaining after the loss to PC, the Bruins won the next three games, outscoring opponents 40-12.
“When we get together, one of the first things we talk about is when we lost to Putnam County toward the end of the year,” Derix said. “After the game, John wanted to teach us that focus was important and that you still had to maintain your poise through every game of the season. After we lost, we had a three-hour practice into the night. It was dark before we left. I don’t think anyone of us will forget that practice or the fact that we didn’t lose anymore games after that night.”
Bellino led the Bruins to 12 regional titles, two sectional titles and the state championship in 1988 during his tenure from 1979-2014.
Through all the memories, The Run is still unforgettable.
“You’re always trying to motivate your players,” Bellino said. “We went out to play the game. Obviously, Putnam County is usually one of our rivalries, especially then, and it was a warm day, and our kids were just really flat at the start of the game. We didn’t play well. We gave up a couple of runs and that was enough to beat us.
“At the end of the game, I was really upset about the loss. I heard one of the kids say, ‘It’s just too hot.’ I thought, ‘Oh, it’s too hot?’ I went out and proceeded to run batting practice again. That went on for about an hour. Then we started running. I never had to worry about practice anymore.
“This group of kids was exceptional. I’m not going to say that they didn’t deserve some type of punishment and maybe I was too harsh on them, but they took off after that. We weren’t afraid of anyone.”
The infamous run helped the Bruins defeat Paw Paw (20-2), Mendota (11-4) and Hall (5-4) in the regional, and Eastland (18-3) and Bergan (2-1) in the sectional before playing three games at the IHSA Class A State Tournament when there were only two classes.
Koster – who Bubelis called the “No doubt about it ace” – recorded a 10-0 win over Mahomet-Seymour, pitched in relief in Game 2 as SBA beat Waterloo 8-6 and returned as the Game 3 starter to help the Bruins defeat Alton Marquette 6-3.
The perfect mesh of close friends, players who wanted to win, a coach who pushed his players as far as he could for the best results, star players in Krogulski and Koster who led by example and not ego, and a deep team full of capable players is what made SBA a state champion in 1988 and a member of the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Hall of Fame Class 2022.
“They deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. It was a two-class system, and it was a lot harder to make a run than it is now,” Bellino said. “Back then, it was tough to make it out of the regionals. We would have four or five teams with 20 wins in one regional. That was difficult to get out of let alone win a state championship. I feel very fortunate as a coach to be able to say that we did do that.”
Derix played with the boys growing up, but as high school came about, he remained on the freshman and sophomore team while others were called up.
When it was his chance to start in right field, he made the best of it and helped his brothers on the field in any way he could.
“It was a special group of guys. We were close. We also got along outside of sports and outside of school,” said Derix, who graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1993 and has lived in Arvada, Colo. for the last 29 years. “We had a personal connection, and we had some really great athletes for being a Class A school. We were good at all sports, including football and basketball.
“I didn’t play varsity from my freshman year on, but several of the guys on our team did, so we had a great background with six or seven seniors playing all four years. That experience was great to come into and they were great leaders that we were fortunate to have. We walked into a team that was established and everyone else contributed from there.”
Krogulski (played at Iowa State University) and Koster (pitched at Benedictine University) were pulled up to varsity as freshmen and by their senior year were at the top of almost every SBA category as Krogulski was the phenomenal athlete and Koster was the ace pitcher and a top of the lineup hitter.
Bima, Perona, Pomatto, and Mike Schneider were pulled up as sophomores.
“You have to start with Coach Bellino,” said Krogulski. “I think in his mind, the regular season was whatever. He pushed us a lot during the regular season, but it was all about the postseason and what you’re going to do in the regionals. We got hot. We got some really good pitching.
“Koster was the ace, but he couldn’t pitch all the time. If I remember right, we had some rainouts that helped us out a bit where Koster got to pitch a little more than he should of or more than he wanted to. We peaked at the right time. We had senior leadership. We had a good mix of young kids with the seniors. And Coach Bellino took us to the title.”
Congratulations from St. Bede Academy
Submitted photos We congratulate all inductees on their amazing accomplishments!
NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame Looking Ahead To Next Year & Beyond
Welcome to the third annual induction banquet for the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame!
After a lot work and planning for this night, we are proud to bring it to you and hope you have a great time as we are excited to induct our Class of 2022!
While we put the finishing touches on our eventful third year, we wanted to take a moment to look ahead. We intend to make this one of many induction banquets, but we always want to improve and make it better, so we have some questions for you:
• How did we do? Do you think we got the Class of 2022 inductees correct or is there someone else deserving that we missed? • Who should be considered in our fourth class? We have a list of nominees who were seriously considered but were not selected in our first three classes. However, we’re always open to suggestions, so who did we miss? The more names we have the better and more representative this will be. • In your opinion, what went well and what did not? How can we improve and what can we keep the same?
Please send your feedback to NewsTribune Regional Advertising Director Jeanette Smith (jmsmith@shawmedia.com or 815-220-6948) or NewsTribune Account Executive Jared Bell (jbell@shawmedia.com or 815-220-6953). Thanks for any and all feedback whether it’s good, bad or indifferent.
We want to improve and make this event even better! Thanks again and we hope to see you next year to honor our fourth class of the NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame in June 2023!
Gold
Silver
Cody R Burroughs
Happ Family Foundation
Bronze
Kurt Bruno-State Farm Insurance Hall High School Starved Rock Media Edge of Your Seat Podcast Sullivan Foods-Mendota & Princeton DePue Men’s Club Debo Hardware Connecting Point Bureau Valley High School Central Bank Eureka Savings Bank Ottawa High School LaSalle-Peru High School Maze Lumber St. Bede Academy Hartauer Insurance Agency Princeton High School Boosters Prescott Brothers
Class of 2019 Joe Rutgens, La Salle-Peru Eric Siebert, La Salle-Peru J.A. Happ, St. Bede Shawn Jeppson, Hall Kailey Klein, Hall Steve Safranski, Putnam County Bill Brown, Mendota Nicole (Coates) Schaefbauer, Princeton Gil Love, Ottawa Bill Novak, Ottawa Bob Guyette, Marquette Doug Dieken, Streator Chuck Rolinski, Toluca 1979 IVCC Football Team 1995 Hall Football Team Louis Rios, Lanny Slevin Lifetime Achievement Award 1925 La Salle-Peru Football Team, Legacy Team Class of 2020-2021 Mike Goff, La Salle-Peru Gary Novak, La Salle-Peru Ken Gorgal, St. Bede D.J. Glynn, Hall Jerry Zielinski, Putnam County Ron Zagar, DePue Ray Jauch, Mendota Joe Ruklick, Princeton Dean Riley, Ottawa/IVCC Zami (Mogill) Hay, Streator 1985-86 Ohio Boys Basketball Team Mary Dagraedt, Lanny Slevin Lifetime Achievement Award Art Kimball, Distinguished Media Award Lowell “Pops” Dale, Legacy Award - Individual 1945 Walnut Football Team, Legacy Award - Team
