Well-Rounded
Renegades Score Victories Off Field Raising Awareness For Variety Of Charitable Causes
Team Effort
Members of the Des Plaines Renegades travel baseball program sport new do’s during head-shaving event for charity May 29 at Maryville Academy.
Posted: Friday, June 6, 2014 12:00 pm
By DION MARTORANO Journal & Topics Sports
The Des Plaines Renegades travel baseball team is in its 27th year of existence, and despite the name, is still doing good things in the community.
The program fields four teams (11 years old and under through 14 and under) and has been successful on and off the diamond through the years. Around 50 kids call themselves Renegades. That equates to about 12 players per team.
The Renegades have played at Maryville Academy near River and Central since 2009. On the field the program has won over 750 games while losing less than 300 in that span. In recent years they have featured area-standouts Gehrig Parker (Maine South) and Daniel Savas (Illinois State).
According to Anne Walton, Renegades spokesperson, the team competes in tournaments that give back to charity whenever possible. They most recently did so with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Chicago.
The Brad Wallin Memorial Tournament donates proceeds to St. Jude. Wallin was born in 1993 and died in 2004 due to osteosarcoma.
The Renegades raised around $5,500 to donate to the charity and had their heads shaved in the process by Hair Cuttery (on Market Street in Des Plaines) to show support for kids with cancer.
The Des Plaines-based team draws players from Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Glenview and Glencoe among other towns.
On the charity front, they also work with Keshet Buddy Ball in Buffalo Grove to aid other kids with disabilities.
The Renegades, who once won a program record 84 games in 1999 for 14U and 69 in 13U, are scheduled to play between 30-60 games this season.
They have won state championships and captured the Palatine Travel League crown multiple times in the past.
The program is led by Bob Ugel who started the program in 1987. He continues to coach the 14U team. The 13U team is led by former Notre Dame Dons player and DePauw University athlete Josh Boock. He was also a member of the Renegades in 1996. Tim Murphy leads the 12U team and Ralph Houck coaches the 11U squad. All the coaches are volunteers.
Part of what makes the program unique is the fact they take a bus trip every year to a different part of North America. On the trip, they spend 10-12 days bonding and having fun while also playing in a tournament.
In the past they have traveled to Canada and Kentucky to name a few and spent time in Seattle last year.
