New Woodstock baseball coach Ian Rago raring to go

More than 20 years ago, Ian Rago gave it a go.

He was young, a rookie coach on a ball field.

A student at Columbia College in Chicago, where he was pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism, the Woodstock graduate got the chance in 2003 to coach under-level baseball at his high school alma mater for John Theriault. He coached for three years, eventually found his way to Woodstock North and, after a couple of seasons on the lower levels, was named head coach of the Thunder varsity, replacing Mark Tschappat.

In 2015, after four seasons, and with two boys younger than 5 at home, Rago left coaching.

Now, 10 years later, the 2001 Woodstock graduate is back where he started. Rago was named the Blue Streaks’ new baseball coach this past winter, replacing Matt Prill, who had the job for the past nine seasons.

Rago is raring to go, go, go.

“I heard a lot from former players, a lot from community members who have Woodstock students and who’ve had kids who graduated from Woodstock,” said Rago, who has three brothers, all of whom also are Woodstock graduates. “(Athletic Director) Al (Baker) and I had a couple of conversations, and I mulled it over. Originally I was like, ‘Man, is this something that I’m ready to get back into? I thought about it and thought about it.”

He thought about how the game had changed since he last coached a varsity team. He thought about his, now, three boys. Ryan, who plays basketball, is a freshman at Woodstock North. Benjamin, a competitive dancer, is an eighth grader at Northwood Middle School. Kyle, who his dad says might be a baseball player, is a fourth grader at Mary Endres Elementary School.

“I had a conversation with my ex-wife about the boys,” Rago said. “She was like, ‘Hey, we support it. It’s not like you’re not going to be around. So if that’s what you want to do, go ahead and do it.‘ ”

So here he is, back on a varsity field, with a Streaks team coming off an eight-win season. In the last couple of years, Rago helped North coach John Oslovich wherever he needed help on the lower levels. Oslovich, coincidentally, was a lower-level coach under Rago at North and replaced him as head coach.

Rago teaches communications and modern media at Harvard Junior High.

“I took that time off and now I’m like, ‘What a difference the game is now,’ ” Rago said. “There are just so many different things.”

Technology continues to change our world, including baseball. When Rago was skippering North 10 years ago, coaches didn’t use Bluetooth to electronically communicate with their catcher during games to call pitches and discuss strategy.

Communication, in general, has changed. The communications teacher is trying to navigate that aspect of high school baseball.

“Post-COVID, so much family is involved,” Rago said. “It’s so important to have that family time. It’s so important to know your student-athletes outside of school. Everyone’s got a lot going on, so there’s so much more mindfulness that you have to have, and still get them to buy into what direction we’re trying to go.”

Woodstock lost to Wauconda 14-2 on Tuesday in Rago’s Blue Streaks coaching debut. No one is panicking. In fact, there’s optimism. Jake LaSota, a Marengo graduate and former catcher at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, is Rago’s assistant.

“This year we increased our program numbers by 48%,” Rago said. “We have 43 guys, and it’s been a blessing. It’s a little tight on the space that we have, but we make it work. ... We’re going to play our tails off, and I hope we’re in every single ballgame. The kids understand that we are a lot about Woodstock High School pride, first and foremost.”

The Streaks have a coach who knows all about representing Woodstock’s royal blue and white.

“It’s been a blessing,” Rago said, “to be able to come back and be at the school that you have an understanding of its rich tradition, and trying to build that back.”