FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

May 25, 2010 - North Central College head baseball coach John Fitzgerald has been named the 2010 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Baseball Coach of the Year, as voted upon by the CCIW's head coaches.

Fitzgerald, who recently completed his third season as the Cardinals' head coach, presided over one of the most improved teams in all of collegiate baseball in 2010. After a 2009 season that concluded with a record of 11-25-1 and a sixth-place finish in the CCIW standings, North Central won 11 of its first 12 games this season and led the CCIW from wire to wire, finishing with an overall record of 31-11 and winning the CCIW title with an in-conference record of 17-4.

The 17 wins are the most that North Central has ever recorded in a single season, and the conference championship is the program's first since 1998. The Cardinals received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships, which was North Central's first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.

Fitzgerald is the third North Central coach to receive Coach of the Year honors from the CCIW. Tom Purcell '74 was so honored in 1984, 1985, and 1986, while Ed Mathey '86 was voted the conference's top coach in 1994, 1996 and 1998.

10 of Fitzgerald's players were named to the All-CCIW Teams this season, including catcher Michael Corrigan, who was named the CCIW Player of the Year.