<< BackGrade School Winter Baseball Camp 2/21
Notre Dame College Prep's award-winning coaching staff will hold two winter baseball camps for grade school students ages 4th through 8th grade on February 21 at the school's gymnasium at 7655 West Dempster Street in Niles.
The camp is $90 (there was a discounted price of $170 if a camper signed up for both the February 14 Hitting Camp and the February 21 Pitching Camp). Please click here to download the information and return the sign up sheet and fees in person or mail to Coach Robert Kostuch at 7655 Dempster Street (make checks payable to Notre Dame College Prep), Niles, Illinois 60714.
Camp #2 is February 21 from 11 am to 1:30 pm and the focus is pitching. Each pitcher will go through will go through a number of drills to improve their pitching mechanics. The pitchers will be video taped to see areas they need to improve on. Pitching Coach Mike Paskvan will be the lead insructor for the pitchers. Only 30 participants will be accepted.
(Camp #1 focused on hitting and was already held on February 14.)
Each camper will receive excellent coaching from Notre Dame's outstanding baseball staff. Head coach, Robert Kostuch, teaches Physical Education and is the department head of Health Education at Notre Dame High School. He played 4 years of Division I college baseball at Northeastern Illinois University. Upon graduation, he became an assistant varsity coach at Ridgewood High School. After 3 years at Ridgewood, he moved on to become assistant coach at Notre Dame with Coach Gaetano Gianni. In June of 2002, Coach Kostuch was appointed Head Varsity Coach. Coach Kostuch’s staff consists of two ex-Northeastern Illinois teammates Mike Paskvan and Dominic Catalano, and Dominic Savino who played collegiatly at Harper College and Illinois State. Pitching Coach Mike Paskvan was the pitching ace for Joliet Junior College, where he helped them win the Junior College World Series before moving on to play for Northeastern Illinois University, and then finishing his professional career with the Will County Cheetahs. He now teaches health and physical education at Notre Dame. Notre Dame coaches and players from all levels will assist with the camp. Coach Dominic Catalano was recently hired as a physical education teacher at Notre Dame, and still plays for the Melrose Indians Semi-Pro Baseball team.
Winning has become tradition at Notre Dame. Six years ago, Notre Dame won the 2004 IHSA State Championship. The 2004 Don’s were a resilient group, especially in the quarterfinal game, where they came back from a seven-run deficit twice, to beat a tough Carmel team in the Semi-final game. Using that momentum, the Dons went on to defeat Joliet Catholic 6-4 to win the 2004 State Title. Coach Kostuch was named “Illinois High School Coach of the Year.”
In 2005, the Dons continued their winning ways winning the East Suburban Catholic Conference Championship, and making it to the Super-Sectional game vs. Oak Park at Alexian Field, home of the Schaumburg Flyers. The 2005 Dons posted a (29-9) record. In less than four seasons, Coach Kostuch became the youngest coach in state history to record 100 wins and the Dons are currently (165-93-1) in 7 seasons under Coach Kostuch. The winter camps will go through all the drills Notre Dame uses.