Baseball: Marian Catholic’s Wail 2012 Coach of the Year

By Pat Disabato pdisabato@southtownstar.com June 22, 2012 11:16PM

Marian Catholic baseball coach Phil Wail, his wife, Kate, and their son Alexander, show off the Class 3A state championship trophy. | Supplied Photo

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Updated: June 24, 2012 2:13AM

Marian Catholic began the season as many expected, winning 10 of its first 12 games.

The Spartans, ranked No. 9 in the preseason, boasted a potent 1-2 pitching punch of Arizona State recruit Brett Lilek and Western Illinois-bound Robert Nunn.

They also had a Division I outfielder in Devin Pickett, who committed to Iowa, and a havoc-wreaking leadoff hitter in Rob Cifelli.

The strong start, however, was followed by an 8-15 stretch, putting a once-promising season in jeopardy.

Marian was 18-17 when the Class 3A playoffs began, hardly resembling the team once considered a contender for the state championship.

Coach Phil Wail gathered the troops for a little heart-to-heart talk, stressing a back-to-the-basics approach.

?We had to go back and stress fundamentals,? Wail said. ?As coaches, we self-assessed and we felt like we had to devote more time into fundamentals at practice. We told the players, ?This is it, guys. You?ve got to come together and play for each other or your season is done tomorrow.? ?

Tomorrow never arrived. Wail?s message resonated with his players.

The Spartans reverted back to their early form, winning seven straight games, capped by a 10-2 win over LaSalle-Peru in the Class 3A state title game.

Wail?s ability to get his team to regroup and play up to its potential made him the choice for 2012 Beggars Pizza/SouthtownStar Coach of the Year.

?Oh, wow, that?s awesome,? Wail said. ?It?s quite an honor. Being highly ranked in the papers is sometimes tough on 17-year-old kids. Other programs have such a strong history, every season is a 25-win team.

?Over here, we?re usually a .500 team, and the kids put a lot of pressure on themselves. But they eventually believed in themselves, worked hard, bought in and made the coaching staff look good.?

Wail, a 1998 Marian Catholic grad, could relate to his players challenging season ? to an extent.

?I was on a team my senior year at Marian that was pretty similar to this team as far as expectations,? he recalled. ?We played T.F. South, which had Curtis Granderson and Clif Novak, and we beat them to advance to the regional finals. But then we lost to Tinley Park.?

There would be no losses in the playoffs for these Spartans ? the first Southland team since Lockport in 2005 to bring home a state title.

?It?s still unreal,? Wail said. ?It was a tremendous experience.?

And one that?s a little more gratifying since Wail had starred on the baseball diamond and football field at Marian.

?It?s just special to be able to go through this with the kids,? Wail said. ?The seniors get to go out as the best.?

After a successful playing career at Marian, Wail continued to play baseball at South Suburban College and Dana College in Nebraska. He stayed on at Dana as pitching coach for two years before landing the head coaching job at Woodbine High School in Iowa.

Home called, however, and Wail took an assistant job at Bremen, just a stone?s throw from his grade school, St. Christopher?s, in Midlothian.

Wail is an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Heritage Junior High in Lansing, where he resides with his wife, Kate, and infant son, Alexander.

?Teaching and coaching was the way to go for me,? Wail said. ?I know the game, which made me a better player than my talent. It?s something I love doing.?

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