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Lemont
Rockers Named NFCA’s Travel Ball
Coaching Staff of the Year for 2008
10/13/08
Head coaches Gary Lagesse and Mike Batts
along with assistant coaches Al Lierman,
Pat Rzegocki and Dan Bryant teamed to
lead the Lemont Rockers 18U DD
(Illinois) team to the 18A ASA National
Championship.
The Rockers opened the
double-elimination 18A national
tournament with a 2-0 victory over the
Orange County Dynasty. Following that 2
p.m. game, Team Manager Jim (DiDi)
DiGregorio passed away while en route to
a team meal.
Back at the hotel, the team voted to
stay and finish out the tournament,
despite the death of their coach. The
Rockers returned to the field at 8 p.m.
that night and proceeded to win an
additional seven games as they captured
the 2008 USA/ASA Girls 18A Fastpitch
National Championship.
“Although the passing of DiDi was such
an enormous loss to the athletes,
coaches and the Rockers program, some
absolutely beautiful things took place
after his death, from opposing teams,”
said Joe Pavone, the Rockers
Organization President, succeeding his
friend DiDi. “Every team that the
Rockers played thereafter either
expressed their heartfelt condolences,
joined them in prayer after the game or
in the case of Eastside Elite, presented
our athletes with flowers.”
Source:
www.nfca.org |
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Chicago Bandits National Pro Fastpitch
softball team honors Jim "DiDi"
DiGregorio
By Andrew Phillips
August 2008
Moline, Ill. – Coaches come and go, but
a great coach – one that inspires kids
for a lifetime with more than sports
knowledge, but life-long lessons – is
rare. For over 14 years, the Lemont
Rockers softball teams were led by a man
with more passion, drive, commitment and
dedication than anyone in the world of
softball.
Late Wednesday afternoon the sports of
softball and wrestling lost a great
leader when Jim “Didi” DiGregorio
suffered a heart attack and passed away
on the softball field during the Lemont
Rockers game at the ASA Nationals
Tournament in Moline, Ill.
“Didi was one of my best friends. He was
the true definition of the word coach,”
said Bill Sokolis, owner of the Chicago
Bandits, co-founder of the Lemont
Rockers and long-time friend of
DiGregorio. “He coached kids to make
their way in life through hard work. He
coached people around him to succeed in
the tough situations he faced in life.
That was what he knew how to do ‘coach’
and he did it well.”
August 11, the Chicago Bandits will be
honoring Jim DiGregorio with a ceremony
before the start of their game against
the New England Riptide. The memorial
ceremony to Jim DiGregorio will begin at
6:30 pm.
On the softball field, DiGregorio’s
teams were not only known for their
talent, but also for their bright
florescent and neon uniforms with a
batman logo. Flashy uniforms aside, the
Lemont Rockers became a staple in the
tradition of Illinois Softball. Hundreds
of girls played for DiGregorio over the
years, and he made it his mission to
teach them life lessons along with
softball skills.
“Loyalty was a huge thing with him and
he was always giving to everyone else if
they were loyal to him,” said Denee
Menzione, current 12/U Lemont Rockers
coach and former player under DiGregorio.
“He always taught us to push ourselves
harder when we felt like giving up and
to keep going strong when we didn’t
think we could.”
In 1994, the Rockers were founded by
three competitive, softball loving
fathers – Jim DiGregorio, Bill Sokolis
and Jim Ross – that loved kids and
wanted something better than a 12 game
recreational softball season. In
DiGregorio’s kitchen, with little
experience and lots of ambition, the
Lemont Rockers were created. Today, the
Rockers have developed into a nationally
known softball program with many of the
members having moved on to college
programs with the help of DiGregorio.
DiGregorio’s greatest impact in the game
of softball was undoubtedly the path he
laid for the future of his players over
the years. Over 100 former players have
received college scholarships to play
for universities across the
country.
“He
would push any college coach about a
player, just to get them to take one
look at a girl,” said Menzione. “And
Didi was a very good judge of skill. If
he sees potential in a player he will go
to war with them [college coaches] to
get the girl a scholarship and help
someone else’s family out.”
Although it was his first love, softball
wasn’t the only sport he poured his life
lessons and heart into.
In 1971, DiGregorio started coaching
wrestling when he founded the Cicero
Bobcats (now Vittum Cats), which today,
has one of the longest and richest
wrestling traditions in Illinois. As a
wrestling coach, mentor, vice president
and director with the Illinois Kids
Wrestling Federation (IKWF) over the
years, DiGregorio helped many kids turn
into distinguished wrestlers – even high
school state champions. With his help,
the IKWF has become one of the largest
youth wrestling organizations in the
nation, always battling California for
the number one spot.
“I don’t know if there has been a guy
that effected wrestling more than Didi.
He was a larger than life figure when it
came to wrestling,” said Montini High
School Wrestling coach Mike Bukovsky.
“He was the type of guy that cared about
every guy in the program – no matter if
he was the most inexperienced wrestler
or the state champion.”
At Montini High School he helped to
develop the wrestling team into a
nationally known program with success at
every level. An ex-marine, DiGregorio
continued to preach loyalty, hard work
and life lessons to the young men and
boys on the mats.
Jim DiGregorio was 59. He is survived by
his wife Kathy, his daughters Amy,
Krissy and Jenny and son Joey.
“As a man, he influenced so many young
men and women,” said Bukovsky. “He’s a
once in a lifetime guy and they don’t
make them like Jim Didi anymore.”
Source:
www.bleacherreport.com |
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2008 USA/ASA
Girls' 18U Class A Fastpitch National
Champions
Lemont Rockers DD
August 2, 2008
After the passing of their head coach
Jim “Didi” DiGregorio, the Lemont
Rockers DD travel softball team was
faced with a tough question: “Should we
play or go home?” The team not only
decided to stay, they won the Amateur
Softball Association 18-Under National
Championship with a 5-1 victory over the
Minnesota Sting Elite. On the backs of
their jerseys was the simple phrase,
“For Didi.”
 Team:
Suzie Rzegocki, Michelle Batts,
Mackenzie Scott, Colleen Hohman, Julie
Love, Elizabeth Payonk, Alex Lagesse,
Christine Holthus, Megan Jones, Lindsey
Liermann, Andrea Colosimo, Kate Rone,
Lexi Bryant, Jessica Roche, Jess
Hutchens
Coaches: Jim 'Didi' DiGregorio,
Mike Batts, Gary Lagesse, Al Lierman,
Pat Rzegocki and Dan Bryant
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Beloved Lemont softball coach, "great
man"
By Jessica Sabbah, jsabbah@mysuburbanlife.com
GateHouse News Service
Thu Jul 31, 2008, 10:04 AM CDT
Lemont, IL -
A beloved Lemont girls softball coach
died suddenly Wednesday after a
championship game his team played during
a tournament in western Illinois.
Jim “Didi” DiGregorio, 59, a head coach
with the Lemont Rockers Girls Softball
Club and president of the Lemont Rockers
Travel Organization (LRTO), died after
suffering a fatal heart attack at about
3:45 p.m. Wednesday. DiGregorio was
traveling with his team at the USA
Amateur Softball Association Girls’
Class A 18-Under Fast Pitch National
Championship Tournament in Moline at the
time of his death.
DiGregorio has worked with young
athletes for over 30 years in both
softball and wrestling. He founded the
traveling softball team organization 15
years ago, and since has worked to
improve players so they could advance
and to help them obtain athletic
scholarships.
Jim Giancana, who worked alongside
DiGregorio as a coach for the Lemont
Rockers, said the two had been lifelong
friends since they met in their teen
years. Giancana referred to DiGregorio
as “Coachey” and described him as his
“bestest friend in the world.” Giancana
said he struggled to find the words to
describe such an irreplaceable man who
he loved so much and who had such an
impact in his life and the lives of
others.
“He was just a unique person that you
come across in life. Just all the good
things in a human being. He was just
that type of guy; he would help
everybody,” Giancana said. “He was just
a great man.”
Giancana said DiGregorio’s smile and
laughter drew a person in and made them
feel at ease. He said DiGregorio truly
cared for his players, touching the
hearts of many in the game and being
what every coach should be.
There are five age brackets of teams
represented in the Lemont Rockers club,
with participating girls ranging in age
from about 10 to 18.
DiGregorio’s other love was wrestling,
having won six state wrestling
tournaments in high school. He was also
the former assistant coach for wrestling
at Montini Catholic High School, having
led the team to win five state wrestling
titles. He was also the former president
of the Illinois Kids Wrestling
Federation and a previous coach for club
wrestling.
“He was a guy that was bigger than life.
He loved to laugh,” Giancana said. “The
softball players and wrestlers that he
trained, he cared for them like they
were his own.”
Other coaches echoed memories of
DiGregorio’s immense investment in the
players with whom he worked.
“He came across as a tough, hard-nosed
guy, but when you got to know him,
everything was about the girls,” said
Tom Lejman, manager of a team with the
Lemont Rockers. “He had a soft, soft
heart. He was a great man.”
DiGregorio, who was also a Marine and
Vietnam veteran, is survived by his
wife, Kathy, and four children, Amy,
Chrissy, Jenny and Joey.
The team will continue to participate in
the championship tournament games, and
even played one Wednesday night just
hours after their coach’s death, reports
said. The tournament began July 27 and
runs through Sunday.
“He was an icon in the game,” Giancana
said. “Not because he was my friend.
Everyone knew Didi.”
Source:
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com
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Lemont Rockers win HOF
Qualifier
7/5/2006
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.--- The Lemont
Rockers of Chicago, Ill., claimed the
title at the ASA Girls’ Class A 18-Under
Hall of Fame National Qualifier with a
perfect record of 6-0, earning a berth
to the USA/ASA National Championships in
Owensboro, Ky., August 1-6. The Lemont
Rockers swept through the winner’s
bracket, outscoring their opponents
36-6.
The first round began on Friday with the
Lemont Rockers defeating the Arkansas
Bashers of North Little Rock, Ark., 3-1,
to move onto the second round. The
Warriors of Louisville/Lafayette, Colo.,
would fall victims to the Lemont Rockers
also after a 5-0 shutout.
The shutouts continued when the Rockers
faced the Jersey Intensity of Tinton
Falls, N.J., and posted a score of 9-0.
In the semi-finals of the winner’s
bracket the bats for the Lemont Rockers
were silenced by the pitching staff for
the Alabama Vipers of Birmingham, Ala.,
but one run is all it would take to move
into the finals with a 1-0 victory.
After being held to their fewest runs of
the tournament in the semi-finals, the
Rockers offense exploded against the
Fort Worth Batbusters of Fort Worth,
Texas, in the winner’s bracket final.
Despite allowing more runs than it had
the entire tournament, the Lemont
Rockers cruised to a 16-4 win to move
into the championship game.
The Batbusters battled their way back
from the loser’s bracket with a 5-3 win
over the St. Louis Sluggers of St.
Louis, Mo., to earn a rematch with the
Rockers. This game would not be as easy
as for the Rockers as their previous
meeting but they managed to hang on and
defeat the Batbusters, 2-1, to secure
the championship and their berth to the
USA/ASA National Championship Finals.
Source:
http://www.asasoftball.com |
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