TRAINERS:

Adam Altobelli:

Adam is a 2003 graduate of Marist High School and 2008 graduate of The University of St. Francis. At St. Francis Adam earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Marketing and Public Relations. His baseball credentials at St. Francis include over 30 career starts on the mound and nearly 100 starts at first base. Adam, the southpaw pitcher, proved to be a consistent front end of the rotation starter throughout his career. In Adam’s senior year he was elected team captain and helped the Saints earn CCAC conference title. Adam is well qualified to offer pitching, hitting, and fielding lessons to players of all ages.

Chris Marinec: Chris is a graduate of Shepard High School and Robert Morris College and is Co-owner of Crunch Fundamentals. He started and continues the Alsip Crunch Travel Club. Chris has over 30 years experience in both Baseball and Softball training. He began coaching at 19 years of age when he managed an 18U baseball team in Alsip. Chris went on to coach Women’s 16” softball teams in Blue Island and Alsip throughout the years. The Crunch Travel Fastpitch-Softball program was created in 1999 with 1-girls team and spawned off a second team in 2001 starting at 12u and continuing on to 18u. Both had much success with multiple 1^st thru third place finishes over the 10 year span of the program in ASA, NSA, USSSA and AFA sanctions. Crunch now has 2-travel Baseball teams. Chris played 12”, 16” softball and baseball until age 40 and is well qualified to offer Catching, Hitting, and Fielding lessons to players of all ages. Many of the kids whom have gone through the crunch programs have gone on to play Ball at the collegiate level.

Dominick Altobelli: We are very proud to announce Dominick will be available to train students until Mid-Feb. when he heads to Spring Training for the Colorado Rockies (Congrats' Dominick). So call and sign up for lessons as soon as possible as he will be here for only a short time. Dominick is well qualified to teach in all areas baseball specifically Infield/Outfield and Hitting! Thanks to Adam also for teaching his youger brother the great game of baseball, nice job Guy's!!!

Jeremy Ekeler: Ekeler enters his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Saint Xavier University softball program and will work with the hitters and catchers. Prior to joining the Cougar coaching staff, Ekeler served on the Nebraska Wesleyan University softball staff in 2007. From 2004-06, he was the head softball coach of the Lincoln Pius X High School Thunderbolts and operated the Nebraska Twin Rivers Viper summer program as well (now called the Nebraska Nemesis).
During his tenure at Lincoln Pius X High School, Ekeler's teams set 17 offensive school records. With the Twin Rivers Viper summer program, Ekeler's teams compiled a .685 winning percentage, numerous tournament championships throughout the Midwest, three state titles and three trips to the National Tournament, including a runner-up finish in 2006. His Viper players secured 26 postseason honors, including the 2005 Nebraska Super-State Captain.
Ekeler has worked with catchers all of his coaching career, and those under his tutelage have received three Nebraska all-state honors, three Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) All-Tournament selections, one CCAC First Team honor, one CCAC Player of the Year Award, and one NAIA Honorable Mention All-American. Every catcher coached by Ekeler has received post-season accolades at the district/region, state, conference and/or national level.
During his time assisting the Saint Xavier University Cougars, they have twice broken the program record for walks in a season, set an individual record for hits in a season, set the program mark for homeruns in a game twice (5), as well as tied a national NAIA record for homeruns by an individual in a game (3). Two hitters have been named to the All-American team, with numerous selections to the CCAC All-Conference and Tournament teams. In 2009 the Cougar program finished 9th in the Nation, and in 2008 and 2010 was a win away from the NAIA National Tournament.
Ekeler is a former baseball player at Lincoln Pius X High School and the Legion baseball program in that area. He helped coach both these programs from 1998-2001 before switching over to softball. He earned his master's degree in administration at Saint Xavier University in May of 2009, has been published in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association magazine, and is currently working on a book: "More Than Backstop - A Softball Catcher's Guide". He lives with his wife, Susan, in Western Springs. The couple has a one-year-old daughter, Charlotte, and a newborn named Marion.

Chris Suchomski: Chris Suchomski graduated from Ave Maria University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics. During his time there he helped start the baseball program at Ave Maria. In their inaugural season the team had a record of 21-24. Suchomski started in centerfield and came in to pitch as a reliever. He finished the season with a 2-0 record from the mound. Suchomski is currently an assistant coach for the Ave Maria Gyrenes.

We are very excited to have Chris and Jeremy join us here at Crunch, with the experience they both have, we know the kids will benefit from their instruction!!