Special Graduation Ceremony Held for LHS Baseball Players

In many ways, Thursday afternoon's graduation ceremony at Libertyville High School was just like any other.

There were the speakers—senior Dana Humen, Principal Marina Scott and Superintendent Prentiss Lea—along with the moving of the tassels from right to left. 

But there was something special about this ceremony. It was held just for the 10 seniors on the LHS baseball team, since the team will be playing in the state semifinals while the rest of the LHS Class of 2013 is holding its commencement ceremony at the Sears Centre.

"Well how cool is this," Lea said to the crowd of baseball players, parents, friends and family members who gathered in the school gym. "We are very excited for you, your coaching staff and your parents. You truly rock."

The original plan was to hold Thursday's ceremony on the baseball field.

"We thought it would be really cool to award your diploma across home plate," said Scott. Unfortunately, the rainy weather ruined those plans.

But that didn't ruin the excitement, both for graduation and the state semifinals.
 
"Class of 2013, I can tell you that you are awesome and amazing," said Lea. "I know that you will do great things for years to come. Go Cats Go!"

Scott noted that at Friday evening's graduation ceremony, when each of the 10 players' names are read, school officials will chant "Go Cats." She reminded the players that as they move on to the "experience of a lifetime" this weekend, they should remember that they are already winners.

"Everyone should feel honored here today—parents, friends and family included," said Scott. "There isn't an average student at LHS."

Athletic Director Briant Kelly read the names of the graduates: Jason Buss, Kevin Calamari, Nick Carlucci, Nate Cote, Justin Guarnaccio, Dereck Ioos, P.J. Newmann, Mike Rogers, Alec Semersky and Matt Vogt.