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TUSCOLA — When Lenny Sementi first took over the Tuscola softball program back in 2001, he said he’d coach for that season and that season only. As far as he was concerned, he was just filling in while the team looked for an official replacement following the unexpected departure of its previous coach.
Last spring, Sementi finished his 23rd year coaching the Warriors, which included the celebration of his 500th career victory.
“I was going to do softball for one year. That was the plan,” Sementi said. “After that one year, it kind of grew on me. We just had a really good group of kids, and I had a really good assistant coach. That kind of made it easy. I don’t even remember if I said I was going to do it the next year. I just did it.”
Now 61 years old, Sementi is taking another unexpected step, as he was recently hired as Parkland College’s next softball coach.
“I knew early on that the Paulsons (Kristi and Dan) were leaving, so I sent a feeler email just to see,” Sementi said. “They reached back out, and that’s how it all began. I didn’t really think I was going to get it, but it just sort of mushroomed from there.”
Not only has Sementi become synonymous with the Tuscola softball program, only recording three losing seasons in his career.
But he’s also been an assistant with the Warriors’ football program since 1992.
Athletic Director Ryan Hornaday called Sementi a “strategic genius,” whether it be making decisions from the third-base coaching box on the softball diamond or scouting and game-planning for opposing defenses on the gridiron.
Beyond the success — he took the softball team to the state tournament in 2012 and was part of six state championship appearances with the football team — he’s a great mentor. Under his leadership, Tuscola has sent more than 40 athletes to play softball at the college level, and his favorite memories from his time coaching the Warriors was being by his children’s sides when they competed in high school.
“It’s twofold. I’m so excited for him, but at the same time, it’s going to be tough for us,” Hornaday said. “He’s the most seasoned coach we have on staff across the board. My goodness, look at the sustained success for decades that he’s brought us. The regionals, the sectionals, the state run. The resume speaks for itself. We’re going to miss him terribly. You can’t just replace these guys with decades of experience.”
While all the accomplishments were great, it was the people who made the decision to leave so difficult.
“It was a very tough goodbye,” Sementi said. “The girls here now are really good, and everybody I’ve worked with down here has been really good. The toughest part was thinking, ‘Do I really want to leave Tuscola?’ … I always tell everybody that it takes a village, and Tuscola is a village. The community backs you 100 percent, which makes everything a little easy on me.”
Hornaday said Tuscola hasn’t posted an official opening for the softball position yet, but when the time to start the search comes, “we’ll take our time and find the right person.”
As for Sementi, he’s already having fun with the recruiting process and looking forward to simply trying his hand at the next level.
So does this mean the quest for 500 wins at Parkland is on?
“We’ll see,” Sementi said with a laugh. “I don’t know if I’ve got that much in me, but we’re going to try.”
A look ahead
Champaign ties at Olympics
Angie Coe is competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Like, right now. It’s happening.
A former member of the Champaign County YMCA Heat swim team, Coe made the Chinese Taipei national team. Swimming events are set to begin in Paris on Saturday, and the Y’s Will Barker will coach her through the experience.
“We are thrilled and immensely proud of Angie for her achievement in being selected to compete for Chinese Taipei at the 2024 Summer Olympics,” Barker said in a YMCA press release. “Angie’s journey from Heat to the global stage is a testament to her hard work and the supportive environment provided by our program.”
Coe is the third Olympian to come from the Heat program, swimming the freestyle and butterfly. She was the top-ranked high school swimmer in Illinois two years ago before continuing her career at the University of Texas. She was a two-time IHSA bronze medalist and a four-time finalist at the 2022 YMCA SC National Championships.
Shoutouts
Garrett Schoenle, Birmingham Barons
I’ve fallen a little behind with my shoutouts, and I apologize for that. I promise I’ll get caught up over the next couple weeks with about a month’s worth of them.
In the meantime, help me congratulate my best friend, Garrett Schoenle. Yes, this is the same guy who pitched three innings for the Charlotte Knights’ combined no-hitter a month ago.
Well, he did it again, this time with the Birmingham Barons last Sunday. He pitched the final two innings of the team’s first no-hitter since 2015, striking out three batters in the process.
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