Marty Maciaszek

2 weeks ago | martymaciaszek.substack.com | Marty Maciaszek

Barrington’s Fields of Dreams have been precisely that for the Fillies’ players in coach Perry Peterson’s softball program. Pam Devins constructed a strong foundation that included the school’s trip to the first IHSA softball state tournament in 1976. Peterson has built it into one of the premier programs in any sport in the Mid-Suburban League, from a fourth-place state finish in his first year in 1993 to the trip to the 2025 state tourney with his 34-3 team.

4 weeks ago | martymaciaszek.substack.com | Marty Maciaszek

Surely the Piggott family looked ahead and saw this coming when the Class 4A postseason baseball seeds and matchups were released. Sure enough, on the final Saturday morning of May, they’ll be together at Fremd in one of the state’s top regional championship matchups. The top-seeded Vikings (26-4) have been one of high school baseball’s biggest stories after their incredible 22-0-1 start. Eighth-seed Lake Zurich (24-11) has won 11 of its last 13 under first-year head coach Mike Manno.

1 month ago | martymaciaszek.substack.com | Marty Maciaszek

Prospect’s 3,200-meter relay, Conant junior hurdler/sprinter Daisha Brunson and Barrington sophomore distance runner Mia Sirois stayed on track for historic accomplishments in Illinois high school girls track and field. And Palatine senior Aisha Kazeem’s 300-meter hurdles title gave the Mid-Suburban League memorable repeats in the 2025 Class 3A meet Saturday in Charleston.

1 month ago | martymaciaszek.substack.com | Marty Maciaszek

Five years without emails and text messages on about how things are going and what’s happening on the high school sports scene. It is tough to believe it has been that long since Bob Frisk passed away on May 16, 2020. Nobody was better using a typewriter and ultimately a computer to convey the essence of high school sports. The joy, the pain, the drama, the excitement and the values that were on display on a daily and nightly basis at a school near you.

1 month ago | martymaciaszek.substack.com | Marty Maciaszek

A perfect season in Mid-Suburban League baseball is similar in rarity and difficulty to pitching a perfect game. And the two teams to accomplish the rare feat of navigating a Mid-Suburban League baseball schedule without a loss are likely not the ones that immediately come to mind. The Class AA state champions from Barrington in 1986 and Schaumburg in 1997 lost only 5 games apiece in those magical seasons. But 3 of their defeats occurred during their MSL schedules.