Jim and Nick Morsovillo are riding off into the sunset together.
Jim Morsovillo, who has been Sandburg’s head baseball coach since 2012, is retiring after this season. The 51-year-old plans on getting away from the sport and coaching in the near future.
His son, Nick, is a senior three-year varsity player for the Eagles who possesses a dangerous bat. But he will be giving up the sport after this season and will head to Moraine Valley to start working on his education to eventually become a firefighter.
Heading into this season, Jim had a 241-132 record according to the IHSA. That included the magical 2018 season when the Eagles finished in fourth place in the state in Class 4A.
The only other time the Eagles brought a trophy home was in 2002 when they won the Class AA state title and Jim Morsovillo was an assistant to Doug Sutor.
“There comes a point where it’s time to pass it along and I would like to enjoy the last 30 or 40 days with Nick to compete,” the elder Morsovillo said.
“It’s time to turn it over to these other guys and I think things are going in the right direction in the program. It will be good.”
The Eagles entered this week’s action with a 10-5 mark and Nick was hitting .462 with five doubles and a triple batting second as the designated hitter.
Jim’s older son, Matt, also played for him. He graduated in 2022 and had a chance to celebrate his father’s 200th career victory on May 2 of that season. He is currently a student at Kentucky.
Jim is happy he had a chance to coach his sons.
“I missed a lot of games when they were younger over the years until June or July, so to be able to coach them in high school has been awesome,” Jim said.
Nick said he has benefitted from having his father as a coach.
“It’s fun — I’m lucky to have him,” Nick said of Jim. “I know that he gives it his all and wants us to succeed and do our very best.
“We talk about baseball a lot of the time at dinner, but we try not to take it so seriously then.”
Jim, a former shortstop at Sandburg who played Division I baseball at Western Illinois, is like most fathers who want to see their sons do well. He would have liked to have seen Nick dominate on the mound or make spectacular plays in the field.
But a few injuries and nicks over the years have limited Nick to hitting and he has been working out well as a DH for three seasons.
“Sometime he has some aches and pains and he’s had arm trouble,” Jim said. “But we know he can swing and compete offensively and he has that role.
“He could play somewhere in the field if he had to, but it’s better for the team if he just hits.”
Nick said he is fine with that and knows what his focus is during games.
“I just try to keep the same approach every at-bat,” he said.
Nick is friends with former Sandburg star and Indiana player Austin Cangelosi, who is a firefighter in New Lenox.
“After talking with him, that’s something I wanted to do,” Nick said.
Jim said he enjoyed his stint as head coach and having his sons play for him was a bonus.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Jim said. “It’s been awesome here. Both of my boys have played hard for me.
“You try to give them feedback and you want to tell him as a coach is telling him. But sometimes when it comes from dad, it’s a little bit challenging. But we’ve had a good experience together and it’s been fun.”