Huntley had Tigers state title connection
HUNTLEY — Chuck and Jennifer Korn were busy planning a graduation party for their youngest child, Tommy, moments after the hoopla of Crystal Lake Central’s Class 3A State Baseball Championship. It is the Tigers’ first baseball state crown.
Tommy Korn was the Tigers’ pitcher who closed out the championship, a 3-2 comeback win over Lemont, at Joliet’s Duly Health Care Field June 8.
Tommy Korn’s mom Jennifer works in Huntley Community School District 158 as a Speech-Language Patholigust, in the LIGHT program.
Tommy Korn had no doubt that the Tigers, once down 2-0 against Lemont in the title game, would rally. He contributed a single to the comeback.
“It was 100 percent,” he said. “It (the final pitch) was a slider.”
“It’s amazing,” Jennifer Korn said, echoing the thoughts of many Tiger fans who attended the title game.
Tommy Korn’s path to the championship, which started when he discovered the joy of baseball at 4-years-old, was not always easy. He had to overcame a forearm injury this season.
“He worked with Craig “Sarge” Dixon at Jaeger Sports on his rehab, which lasted about an month. Dixon is a former Marine and has coached Tommy as an arm specialist. He has also provided mental and motivational support for Tommy while working with Gorilla Sports and Top Tier North,” Jennifer Korn explained.
Tommy Korn, a former catcher, improved his pitching at summer camps for two seasons at UD Naval Academy. He will continue his baseball career this fall as he earned a scholarship to Shawnee Community College in Ulin, Ill. He plans to major in Fishing and Wildlife for an associate’s degree.
Tommy’s dad Chuck has been on the sidelines helping out after overcoming a stroke in March, 2019.
“Chuck wore his baseball shirts every day of rehab as he learned to regain his ability to walk and swallow,” Jennifer Korn said. “His goal was to ‘get back to coaching’. The day he was released from the hospital after a month of intensive rehab, he was out on the field coaching at first base.”
Five years later, there was a baseball celebration to be held.
“It’s cool, amazing. We come together a lot as a school, such as the girls soccer team winning their title,” first-year coach CLC Cal Aldridge said.
The school’s girls soccer team had just won their state title.
CLC was a Cinderalla-type baseball team, a 10th sectional seed and won the championship with a 22-14 record, which also marked their 13th straight win. It followed a 5-2 win over Morris in the State Semifinal game June 7 and winning the Grayslake Central regional and sectional tournaments.
Senior pitcher Andrew Welder had the honor of carrying the championship trophy off the bus upon the team’s return.
“I think the regional win at Grayslake Central was the turning point,” Welder said.
