Posts Categorized: Baseball

2023-2024 Cangelosi Sparks Tryouts coming up!

Next month begins our tryouts for the Cangelosi Sparks 2023-2024 season. Below you will find the tryout dates, times, and registration, along with the projected teams for next season. We are still having conversations and seeking out coaches for an additional team at the 9u, 12u, and 14u age groups. If you have any interest…

Former Prairie State College Head Coach to manage 13u Sparks in 2024

We would like to announce that former Prairie State College Head Coach, Bill Storrs, will manage a 13u Cangelosi Sparks team for the 2023-2024 season. Bill played at Shepard High School (2003 grad) before continuing his playing career at Prairie State College. He went on to coach at his alma mater from 2009-2014 winning a…

Homewood Bat Co Named the Official Bat of Cangelosi Sparks

We’re proud to announce that we have teamed up with Homewood Bat Co to offer our players the opportunity to swing customized pro-grade bats, at a special team price. Homewood Bat, located in Chicago, is the official bat of Bobby Witt Jr, Sparks Alumni Michael Massey, and over 150 other pro players. Homewood Bat Co…

What’s new for the Sparks in 2023?

As an organization, we are constantly striving to provide our players with the best resources and opportunities to reach their goals. Here’s what is new for the 2022-2023 Sparks season: Bigger.Stronger.Faster Sports Performance (BSF) Semi-private price adjustment Members will now have access to our semi-private offering at a drastically reduced price. As a business, we…

Andy Paszko to manage 9u Sparks in 2023

Andy Paszko joins the Sparks Youth Division and will manage a 9u team for the 2022-2023 season. Andy, a 2001 graduate of Bartlett High School, played his freshman year of college at Lewis University (D2) before transferring to Chicago State University where he played his last 3 years. After his college career, Andy opened up…

Former MLB Pitcher Bryan Bullington to manage 13u Cangelosi Sparks in 2023

We are excited to announce that former MLB Pitcher, Bryan Bullington, will be managing a 13u Cangelosi Sparks team for the 2022-2023 season. The former 1st round pick (’02 Pittsburgh Pirates) has been coaching youth travel baseball since 2016. After retiring from Major League Baseball in 2015, Bryan has been a scout with the Milwaukee Brewers….

Cangelosi Sparks Add Additional Leadership to Player Development

Over the past six years, we’ve improved our player experience by adding leadership to both the youth and high school divisions; Rick Balcaitis, Director of Youth Sparks Division (Oct ’20) and Tom Knapczyk, Director of Player Development (May ’19). Both Rick and Tom’s leadership has been felt throughout the entire organization. Over this time, we’ve…

Cangelosi Sparks Adds New Leadership Roles

The Cangelosi Sparks organization has grown significantly since the merger of Illinois Sparks and Cangelosi Baseball in 2016. The goal of the Youth Division is to capture as many competitive 8-14u players and to train and develop them in preparation for the high school division. Our High School Division continues to build on the many…

Episode 3: College vs. Pro: The MLB Draft

This episode titled “College vs. Pro: The MLB Draft” addresses the choice a premium High School prospect has of either attending college or entering professional baseball. How are this decisions made? What are the priorities? What are the differences of each developmental experience. For those that follow the MLB Draft each year, this conversation can…