OUR MISSION

Lake County Lightning Travel Baseball is an organization to provide a higher level of competition than a community or feeder level league could provide. We feel by providing the opportunity to practice and compete at the highest level, we will better prepare our baseball players to compete at higher levels as they continue to develop their skills.

We will:

+ Be a positive influence on the personal and physical development of all team members as players and competitors.

+ Provide an atmosphere for learning at all times with an emphasis on goal orientated practices and games.

+ Play the game the right way, as there are no shortcuts to success.

+ Put a major emphasis on positive behaviors on and off the field when it comes to learning how to deal with success, mistakes, and hardships and even parental expectations.

+ Enable players the chance to succeed, not fail and the ability to know the difference.

+ Play and practice in a team first atmosphere using competition, enthusiasm and intensity as vehicles to improve each and every day regardless of outcomes.

+ Have fun and learn to co-exist to build life long memories and experiences.

We will not:

+ Put winning as a priority over skill development

+ Ever allow us to be bigger than the game or our competitors.

+ Allow any behaviors that may come from parents, players or fans that can negatively affect our players, coaches, team or our program.

On behalf of the coaches of the Lake County Lightning, we want to thank all the parents in advance for the support and dedication you give to your child and for entrusting us with your most valuable commodity, your child.

OUR HISTORY

The Lake County Lightning began as the Mundelein Red Devils in 2001 by owner and general manager Jerry Fox. The organization started simply with 11 players as one 12u team that played in the Mike’s Memorial League and resulted in a third-place finish in Cooperstown. Spurred on by its initial success, the program changed its name to the Lake County Lightning after realizing players from outside Mundelein started to join the program in 2003.

“The original purpose of building the organization was to provide a better opportunity for ALL players,” Fox said. “We didn’t just want to create better baseball players, we wanted to create better people. The Lightning is all about the kids, their development as people and players, and how they interact with the community.”

Since its humble beginnings, the Lightning organization has grown to become the premier baseball travel organization in northern Illinois. From initially fielding three teams in 2003, the organization has grown to over 500 players across over more than 35 teams organization wide. These teams play in national, state, and local tournaments and levels. In 2022, the organization received over 1,000 potential players to tryout to fill one of three teams at each team level, ranging from 9u to 18u.

Still under the guidance of Fox, the Lightning organization still lives by his original motto: “We are an elite program filled with the highest level baseball and softball players. We are filled with the best players, we are coached by the best coaches, for the purpose of competing against the best.”

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

+ Chuck Gandolfi, a member of the Illinois High School Association Hall-of-Fame, worked with Fox to create the Illinois Lightning in 2015. Under Gandolfi’s guidance, the Illinois Lightning now fields more than 130 players over 11 teams that play at national and state level tournaments ranging from 15u to 18u. Most of these teams are coached by high school level coaches who not just assist in creating great baseball players but assist student athletes to play at collegiate levels.

+ Kurt Hironimus, a longtime administrator and coach with the Lake County Lightning, branched off in 2021 to create Illinois Lightning Softball. The program fielded only three teams in its first year, but has grown to five teams playing at national, state and local level tournaments and league games.

+ The Lightning has partnered with D1 and D2 Athletic Advisor Anthony Gliffe in 2021 to assist players through the collegiate recruiting process. Gliffe is a former Collegiate Division 2 player at Quincy College and has been coaching baseball at the high school level for 12 years. Aside from assisting Lightning players, he serves as an assistant varsity baseball coach at Vernon Hills High School, as a counsellor and a presenter at the State, Regional, and National Level on Advising College Board Student-Athletes & Student-Athlete Mental Health.

+ In 2020, the Lightning organization purchased “The Bolt” to give players an indoor location to practice in the winter months. The Bolt is a private facility on Townline Road that features four hitting tunnels, two pitching tunnels and a large indoor practice area for players to work on fielding fundamentals.