Across the Racine region, longtime local baseball coach Jack Schiestle is widely viewed as a legend in more than just one field.
According to the Journal Times, Schiestle is now entering his 60th year of coaching the Racine Kiwanis, a team in the Land O Lakes Amateur baseball league that is mostly made up of college students. Throughout his tenure, Schiestle’s gameplan has remained consistent, with a goal of instilling a respect for the game in his players while also providing added opportunities for all of them.
“I’m really excited about this year,” he said. “The ballplayers are such nice kids. They’re just fun kids who just want to play baseball so hard. We’ve got a lot of new faces. It will be fun. We’ve got a saying on our team — ‘You didn’t come this far to come this far.’ It’s a neat little saying. These kids all want to get better, so they didn’t come this far just to come this far.”
With another local team, the Racine Legion, having disbanded operations last year, Schiestle knows things figure to be different this year. For one, he’ll be expanding his roster from his traditional lineup of 15 players to a bench almost double the size at 25. Schiestle reasons the move will assure that no young players that want to play will be denied the opportunity.
As part of his roster, Schiestle has nine pitchers, led by star hurler Charlie Brockman, a converted infielder who has seemingly found his niche on the mound, finishing 7-1 last season with a 3.20 earned run average.
“He’s just outstanding,” Schiestle added. “He used to be a terrific infielder, but he just became a better pitcher. When we decided to ask him, he said, ‘Coach, I’d much rather pitch.”
While he admits he never wanted a team this big, the 79-year-old Schiestle quickly adds he’s committed to make it all work, adding that a sophomore from Horlick High and an 8th grader are part of the roster this season in hopes of giving them a fun experience.
“I’m a big believer that I don’t want kids to come and just sit on the bench,” he added. “I’ve already explained to the starters that they’re going to come out when we can take them out and other ballplayers are going to come in and play. I’m really excited about this year. The ballplayers are such nice kids. They’re just fun kids who just want to play baseball so hard.”
