Sports
Gimme 5: Frangella Has Big Plans for Oak Lawn Softball
Hired during off-season, Brian Frangella hopes to spread a program-wide mindset to the Spartans, one that will get every one on the same page.
Brian Frangella was hired during the offseason to be Oak Lawn's new softball coach. He’s excited for the opportunity.
“I want a program-wide mindset," Frangella said. "I want everybody on the same page.”
The first word on the page is aggressive, as in running the bases and working hard in the playing field. Frangella played baseball his whole life.
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He was involved with the American Legion baseball until he was 18 and he played in high school at Rich South. After graduating from Carthage College in 1996, Frangella worked as a sports reporter and editor before deciding to pursue teaching.
Hired at Oak Lawn in 2003, Frangella started as an assistant coach on the sophomore level. After two years, he was promoted to head sophomore coach and spent four years working in that capacity, before becoming an assistant on the varsity level for the last two seasons.
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Frangella said he learned a lot from Oak Lawn’s past two coaches.
“I learned a lot of the nuances with softball underneath Pat Mayer and then the last two years under Kelly Herlihy,” Frangella said. “I’ve learned a tremendous amount in eight years for sure.”
