Heights Coach Leads Underdog Baseball Team to Finals

The Chicago Heights Eagles boys baseball team is one of eight from Illinois that will soon be traveling to Michigan to compete in the first round of the PONY International Baseball Palomino league finals. The 17- to 19-year-old team is one of two in its class to make it. If they win top two in Michigan, they go to California.

"We're in it," Coach Ken Ochoa, park district 7th Ward commissioner said. "Hopefully we can make it through the series."

Regardless of what happens in Michigan, though, The Eagles already deserve a lot of credit. 

In the beginning of this year's season, Ochoa found himself facing a considerable challenge when he lost seven of his starters to other teams. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"This year, they really stepped it up," Ochoa said.

According to him, the change transformed many players who otherwise would have been backups into formidable starters. But it wasn't without working the basics. Hard.

"It's about the fundamentals," Ochoa said. "A lot of guys come in here and want to be Dereck Jeter, but they don't know the fundamentals. You gotta work with them. You gotta practice with them."

His efforts seem to have paid off. It's a considerable victory for Ochoa, who works in a town where there are now more kids on the streets than at the diamonds.

"It's not like 20 years ago when baseball was morning, afternoon and night," he said. "A lot of people thought baseball was dead in the Heights."

But Ochoa's work is helping to change that. And he commends his team for putting in the time and commitment to get where they're at.

"I'm proud of these kids," Ochoa said. "A lot of people didn't expect us to be where we're at."

Unfortunately, travel is not cheap. The Chicago Heights Eagles could use all the help they can get in funding their trip. If you'd like to give them a financial hand, call Ken Ochoa at 708-969-0157.