Belo Back In Game as Joliet Slammers Hitting Coach
Pagnani Gets Another Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame Honor; Manno Returns to Dugout at Lake Zurich; Tory Dello Signs with Red Wings
It wasn’t going to take long for Paul Belo to find something new to do in baseball.
During a couple of conversations this spring he mentioned he had some different opportunities he was looking at after he wrapped up his teaching and head coaching career at Palatine. And then a few weeks ago the independent minor league Joliet Slammers were in the market for a hitting coach.
Belo shared the news that he got the job Wednesday on Twitter/X. He said in a text message he started on Sunday and “it’s been great.”
The Slammers, who play in the Frontier League, are in their first year under manager Mike Pinto and with the ownership group of Mike Veeck, his son Night Train Veeck and legendary actor and comedian Bill Murray. About a month ago I had the pleasure of catching up with Pinto, who has plenty of ties to the northwest suburbs, and talking for the first time with Night Train Veeck for a Daily Herald story.
Belo played on Hoffman Estates’ 1985 Class AA Elite Eight qualifier and started as a head coach at Fremd in 1998. His 2000 team finished fourth in the AA state tournament. After five years he moved across town to Palatine and won nearly 500 games in his career.
The Slammers are 27-35 and in sixth place in the eight-team West Division after a 3-1 loss to the Gateway Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The Frontier League regular season runs until September 1.
Pagnani Gets Another EIU Hall Honor
Gerardo Pagnani, one of the state’s most successful boys soccer coaches at Fremd, was inducted into the Eastern Illinois University Hall of Fame in 1990 for his accomplishments as a player. Now the 1969 team that won an NAIA national title on Pagnani’s goal will also go into the EIU Hall.
This is the first time teams are being inducted into the EIU Hall and the soccer team of 1969, which was Pagnani’s freshman year, is one of nine that will be inducted in a ceremony Sept. 27 and honored at the Saturday home football game Sept. 28. Pagnani was a three-time first-team All-American for the Panthers.
Pagnani started his high school soccer coaching career at Hoffman Estates and came to Fremd in 1980. His 1984 and 1997 teams won state titles and his 1993 team finished second.
Manno Returns to the Dugout
Mike Manno, who won a state baseball title at St. Viator, is the new head coach at Lake Zurich. Manno spent the last two years as the athletic director at Nazareth in LaGrange Park.
Manno was 336-251 in 15 seasons at Viator, according to IHSA records, with a Class 3A state title in 2017, a fourth-place finish in 2016 and 10 regional titles. His final team set a school record for victories and finished 35-3.
Lake Zurich was 18-12 last season and finished fourth in the North Suburban Conference at 8-6, according to MaxPreps, under Scott DiCaprio. The Bears won the program’s fourth regional title in 2021 under DiCaprio.
Dello Signs with Red Wings
Crystal Lake Central grad Tory Dello signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Detroit Red Wings at the beginning of July. Dello is the son of former Barrington and current Rochelle Zell boys head basketball coach Marty Dello.
Tory Dello, a 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman, spent last season close to home with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves. Dello played a professional-high 65 games with 3 goals and 10 assists. He had 9 goals and 24 assists in 103 games over two seasons at Laval (Quebec) in the AHL and played 20 games at Grand Rapids in parts of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Dello played four years at Notre Dame prior to starting his professional hockey career.
Wyoming Next Coaching Stop for Pat Monaghan
Pat Monaghan knows you can’t get too comfortable in one place from his 18 years of college basketball coaching experience. The former Fremd and Harper College star will have his third address in as many years as he followed head coach Sundance Wicks to Wyoming after a year at Green Bay.
Monaghan did have some relative long-term stability with four years at Southern Illinois prior to joining Wicks’ staff in Green Bay for the 2023-24 season.
“I’m very excited to join coach Wicks in Wyoming and continue our vison that we started a year ago,” Monaghan said on the Wyoming athletic website. “The winning mindset, elite leadership and connection coach Wicks creates toward people is why I’m so excited for this opportunity. I look forward to assisting our players and staff in anyway possible as we continue to build this time for the Brown and Gold fans throughout this great state. Coach Wicks has shared so many great stories about Wyoming and now to have an opportunity to live it on a day-to-day basis is something that I really look forward to.”
Monaghan was part of the staff led by Wicks that led Green Bay to an 18-14 record and a 15-game turnaround (3-29 in 2022-23) that was the ninth best in NCAA Division I history.
“This is a tough guy town and coach Monaghan is all of that,” Wicks said on the Wyoming website. “He is the toughest and most relentless recruiter and competitor I have ever been around. Pat is a gifted teacher as well, and his weaponry lies on the detailed instruction he provides on the defensive side of the ball.
“He has a unique gift of solving problems by identifying outside the box solutions and has always been a part of winning cultures. In this profession, the best ability is availability and coach Monaghan is 24/7 like 7-11. If it’s Cowboy Tough you want, it’s Cowboy Tough you’re going to get from Coach P.”
Monaghan also coached two seasons at Milwaukee (2017-19), six at D-II Minnesota State (2011-17), a year as director of basketball operations at Loyola (2010-11), two years as an assistant at Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College (2008-10) and two seasons as a graduate assistant at Wayne State (Nebraska) College (2006-08). He finished his college playing career at Lewis University in Romeoville.
One of the other Wyoming assistants is Shaun Vandiver, who made the Class AA all-tournament team in 1986 for Romeoville, which had to vacate its fourth-place finish for using an overage transfer player (not Vandiver).
From Bison to Buffaloes for Carlson
Sean Carlson spent his high school years as a standout runner for the Buffalo Grove Bison. Now the 2006 graduate will be leading the track and cross country programs of the Colorado Buffaloes after his hiring was announced Thursday.
"I am eager to work with the exceptional men and women at Colorado, helping them reach new heights and continue the university's tradition of excellence, as well as write the next chapter for Colorado cross country and track," Carlson said in a news release from the school. "Additionally, I am also excited to join forces with (athletic director) Rick George as he leads Colorado into the Big 12 and navigates the evolving landscape of the NCAA."
Carlson comes to Colorado after two years in charge at Tennessee and 10 at Notre Dame. His 2020 men’s cross country team at Notre Dame finished second in the NCAA meet (run in the spring of 2021 because of COVID). He coached 36 All-Americans and four NCAA individual champions.
Carlson qualified for the cross country and track state meets as a senior at Buffalo Grove. He went on to run at D-III powerhouse North Central College.
Legion State Tourney at Barrington
Barrington High School will host the Illinois American Legion state tournament at Kirby Smith Field starting next Wednesday (July 31). The six-team tourney runs through Aug. 3.
Wheaton hosts the eight-team Great Lakes Regional on Aug. 7-11 at Lee Pfund Stadium in Carol Stream. The American Legion World Series is Aug. 15-20 in Shelby, N.C.
Obsuszt Interim AD at St. Viator
Mike Obsuszt came out of retirement to become the interim athletic director at St. Viator, where he replaces Jason Kuffel. Obsuszt was the longest-tenured AD in Barrington history from 2003-2022 and was the Broncos’ boys head basketball coach from 1995-2002.