Norman’s conquest - Elburn Herald

I was truly gratified to receive the following updates regarding the progress of one of my former players -- Beloit College LHP Alex Norman -- from an understandably proud father.

After a week where the news of the day made things tough on anyone who puts the title of Coach in front of their name, it did my heart good to see the visions and aspirations that we had for this young man develop and play out over the last seven years.

Here's my Three Lefties Kaneland High School Freshman Baseball, 2005.

Alex is on the far left.

A great trio of pitchers who formed the nucleus of a pitching staff and team that I believed was a special group capable of accomplishing special things.

We wanted to build a strong foundation for a Kaneland program and tasked this group to turn around the fortunes of a program that did not have great success before 2005. We expected that they would achieve great things at the varsity level and that the program would arrive as a force to be reckoned with and respected in the conference and the surrounding area.

I believe that this group of kids did, in fact, lay the groundwork for a program that would later bring a state title back home to Kaneland.

http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2011/06/kaneland-shuts-down-opponents-stars.html

Alex has always been the epitome of a stylish left-handed pitcher and a great student of the game. You always felt comfortable with him on the mound that you would get a solid effort, he could control a running game as well as one his models -- Andy Pettitte --, and he would find ways to get guys out and get out of innings without damage.

Hitters would go home wearing different size collars and maybe wondering how. But in the end, they took the collar home. Next game, same story. It was fun to watch him develop and grow as a pitcher.

As coaches and fans, we sometimes wonder where the guys -- like a Jamie Moyer or an Alex Norman-- who pitch effectively with guts, guile and finesse are. Why do they seem to be so hard to find and identify?

All the while they are right there. Right in front of our noses. Pitching their asses off while we peer into the radar guns, reading off numbers and shaking our heads. If only pitching, or pitching evaluation could be that easy.

In baseball, sometimes we focus too much on the laundry list of things we can easily identify and quantify. We focus too much on things that kids cannot do and fail to identify and cultivate the things that kids can do. It's a little bit of CYA on our part as coaches. We play the evaluation game a little bit too safe. Intangibles are difficult to evaluate and harder for folks to see. So we tend to miss a lot on guys like Alex Norman. We go home as coaches shaking our heads, thinking "how did we miss?" in much the same way hitters walk away from an AB against Alex.

This is a can-do type of kid who finds a way to succeed and win. I never get tired of seeing success stories of this kind and Alex deserves all the success and notoriety he receives. A real classy kid.

During difficult, turbulent times, his story gives me a tangible answer to the question "Why do you keep doing this crazy thing called coaching?"

WAY TO GO ALEX!!!

We are all very proud of you. Keep up the good work.

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THE ALEX NORMAN FILE:

Norman’s conquest - Elburn Herald:

"Junior pitcher Alex Norman, graduate of Kaneland High School in 2008, earned First Team honors on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Central Region Team for Beloit College.

One of three Buccaneers honorees, Norman established himself as the ace of the staff this season. He closed the regular season with a 7-2 record, tying him for the most wins in a single-season, and a 2.55 ERA, the fifth-best mark in Beloit history. He also has a better than 4 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, having fanned 42 while walking just 11 in 67 innings.

He led the MWC in wins, ERA and innings pitched.

He earned MWC First Team honors this season."

http://triblocal.com/des-plaines/community/stories/2011/06/patriots-norman-pitches-perfect-game/

Des Plaines Patriots’ ace, Alex Norman, pitched a perfect game Sunday, June 5th beating the Park Ridge Indians 13-0 at Maine East High School. Due to the incredible run support by the Patriots, the game was called after five innings under what is known as the “mercy” rule.

It took Norman only 44 pitches to get through five perfect innings, retiring 15 batters consecutively. “I didn’t think it was going to happen,” said Norman, “ I’ve always thought about pitching the perfect game-every pitcher does.”