Baseball Veteran McCarthy Takes Over Lincoln-Way East Program

FRANKFORT, IL — Experience working in baseball certainly won’t be an issue for the new head coach for the Lincoln-Way East High School program after school officials recently announced the hiring of former Homewood Flossmoor coach John McCarthy.

McCarthy, a former standout player at St. Rita and at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, will take over the Griffins’ program as well as working as a counselor at the school, the district announced on Wednesday.

McCarthy, who was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2002 following his college playing career, previously worked as the director of baseball operations for Illinois Sparks Baseball in addition to overseeing the Homewood-Flossmoor varsity program starting in 2018 after previously serving as head coach at Brother Rice.

“John comes to Lincoln-Way East with a great track record and reputation,” Lincoln-Way East Athletic Director Mark Vander Kool said. “As good as he is as a baseball coach, he also takes pride in being a great guidance counselor. He has been very successful as a head baseball coach at two programs that compete against the best in the state.

“John has impressive vision and goals, is a good communicator, and cares about people. We are very excited to see where he can take the baseball program.”

McCarthy spent five years at Homewood-Flossmoor after compiling a 186-79 record at Brother Rice which included a sectional championship in 2018 - the program's first since 2007. Homewood-Flossmoor also thrived on the field and produced a first-round Major League Draft pick in Dillon Head, who was selected by the San Diego Padres with the 25th overall pick.

"I’m lucky for the experience at Homewood-Flossmoor High School as the school embraced my family and I," McCarthy told Patch in a text message on Thursday. " I’ve grown professionally and personally. Our program has taken steps each year and I’m thankful for the community support to build on the great legacy of HF Baseball."

Now, McCarthy said he looks forward to bringing the same dedication to winning to Lincoln-Way East where the goal — as always, will be to compete for a state championship, saying like in his previous two coaching stops, the approach never changes: To win at every stop.

"I’m grateful for the opportunity at Lincoln-Way East," he said on Thursday. "Our goal will be to work hard and stay present in our process. I can’t wait to begin the journey to pursue a state championship."

McCarthy earned his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana-Lafayette and holds a master's degree in counseling from Lewis University. He has more than a decade of school counseling experience.