Q & A with Hinsdale Central's New Varsity Baseball Coach

Justin Cronin, Hinsdale Central’s new baseball coach, has taken an interesting path to get where he is today.

Cronin, a 2001 Naperville Central grad, was a two-year varsity starter for the Redhawks at second base, but he also was a goalkeeper on Central’s soccer team.

He never played baseball in college. Instead, he played soccer— two years at Lincoln (Illinois) College and two years at Eastern Illinois,

But baseball, he says, is his passion. Now he’s pouring that passion for the game into the 2011 Red Devils.

Cronin succeeds Tom Dorrance, who resigned after the 2010 season. He sat down with Hinsdale Patch recently to discuss taking over the program, making the transition from coaching the sophomore team to varsity, and his goals for the future.

Patch: How did taking over as varsity baseball coach come about for you?

Cronin: This is my fourth year in program. I have worked with the sophomores and freshman, and last year I was the head sophomore coach. I’ve organized and ran our summer league season. When the position became available, I applied and went through interview process and it worked out. I’ve worked hard my three years here, and when the opportunity arose I was able to get it.

Patch: How has the transition to varsity coach been?

Cronin: It’s been a smooth transition. Tom (Dorrance) gave me the opportunity to coach in the program and I thank him for the opportunity. To begin my coaching career in this program has been extremely helpful to me. Tom is still someone that I talk to every couple of days. He’s been very helpful to me. My assistant, Mark Wittkamper, has been in the program a long time and has been very helpful with the transition to become a head coach. I have two other volunteers on staff, Bill Duffy and Brent Sportsman, who have helped me a ton. All the guys are very knowledgeable. It’s nice to have four sets of eyes to help run the program.  

Patch: The baseball program at Hinsdale Central has been quite successful over the years. What are your immediate goals for the program?

Cronin: To continue to progress and get better as we go though the season. There needs to be constant improvement to get yourself in position to play your best baseball at end of the season. As we’re continuing to get better, we need to put ourselves in a position to win a conference championship. It’s (the West Suburban Silver) a difficult and challenging baseball conference. If we can put ourselves in a position to win two out of every three games in each series, hopefully we can be in a position to win conference championships.

Patch: What are some of your long-term goals?

Cronin: We want to continually be at the top of the conference. We want to be a program that is recognized for making deep playoff runs and we want to be a program that people seek out and play because we play the right way.

Patch: You’ve been head coach at the sophomore level. What are a couple of the major differences coaching at the varsity level as opposed to the sophomore level?

Cronin: To be honest with you, the baseball aspect is pretty similar; the administrative part is the big difference. You have to make sure all the levels are in tune and running smoothly for all levels. The baseball part of it, there’s not much of a difference. Obviously, the game is played at a little faster pace, and a little crisper at the varsity level, but it’s still the same. You still have to throw strikes, play defense, put together good at-bats and put the ball in play. The Xs and Os, per se, don’t vary too much between levels.

Patch: Who’s been an influence or a mentor for you as a coach?

Cronin: Playing at Naperville Central for Bill Seiple and Phil Lawler, they both set good examples for me as a player. Those are guys that set good examples as teachers and coaches, and drew my interest to (going into) teaching and coaching.  

Patch: Describe your coaching style and philosophy.

Cronin: It’s hard work. Baseball isn’t something that you can coast through. It takes a lot of hard work and mental toughness. We want to be a group that is fundamentally very, very solid. We want to be a group that attacks the game and puts pressure on opposing teams.

Patch: How have things been shaping up with the team so far this season?

Cronin: It’s a good group, a group that has the ability to be successful. Record-wise we’re not where we want to be but we understand that it’s early (in the season) and we’ll continue to work hard and build off the good things as we shore up and clean up some of the bad things that have happened. We’ve been in every game but one (so far this season). It’s a group that has the ability to put things together and have a good season.