Coach Pete Lotus and St. Laurence are Illinois 3A State Champs
How a Hall of Fame Coach has Built a Culture of Winning On and Off the Field
The St. Laurence Vikings baseball team this year beat the best regular season record they’ve had during Pete Lotus’ tenure at 37-5. Their previous best mark was 35-5 during a 3rd place state finish in 2017 at the 4A level (the same year I graduated from an Illinois 3A high school). This year, the Vikings’ losses came against Hewitt-Trussville (Alabama 7A, ranked 39th nationally), Doral Academy (Florida 6A, 95th nationally), De La Salle (Illinois 4A), and two losses to Brother Rice (Illinois 4A, 12th nationally). All five are larger schools than St. Laurence, with larger teams. Despite a strong record, St. Laurence didn’t attain a conference championship this season. Brother Rice took that title, along with the season series 2-1. (St. Laurence won the third meeting.)
In an interview with Coach Lotus, I asked what made this season different. The Vikings had found success in previous seasons, but what had made this season their most winning season? Coach Lotus told me, “I think one of the biggest changes that we made was that we committed to being aggressive and always playing our style, no matter what the game situation was.” One of the things I took away from this was that the team knew their identity, and they wore that identity with pride.
This team was aggressive at the plate, boasting nine players who appeared in more than twenty games and had batting averages over .300, four players had multiple home runs, and eight players had over twenty RBI during the season before the state championships started. The offense was led by Mickey Lotus (Class of 2026, uncommitted) Coach Lotus’ son, who batted .514, Cory Les (Class of 2026, Louisville commit) who batted .348 with four homers, Daniel Coyle (Class of 2026, uncommitted) who led the team in RBI with forty-one and added three homers of his own, and Adrian Perez (Class of 2026, uncommitted) who had forty RBI, two homers, and a batting average of .373. I honestly could have put all the stats here because their lineup was just THAT good. I had a hard time determining who even led the offense.
The Vikings pitching staff held an ERA of 2.82, with Jimmy Benson (Class of 2027, uncommitted) leading the pack with a .81 ERA in fifty-two innings pitched, John Strezchowski (Class of 2026, uncommitted) with a 3.30 ERA in fifty-three innings pitched, and Carter Mosher (Class of 2026, uncommitted) who had a 2.63 ERA in thirty innings pitched. The pitching staff gave up double-digit runs in four games (only to teams that were in a higher division than they were) and they won two of those games.
Coach Lotus said, “Before the playoffs started, we talked at length about not changing who we are as a team and what we do.” In the state semi-final and the state final, their aggressiveness stayed the same. Only striking out nine times in total between the two games while the Vikings pitching staff struck out sixteen across two games. The Vikings hitters hit to an average of .412 and, in the state final, every starter had at least one hit. Did I mention this team only had ten seniors? And of those ten seniors, three were in the starting lineup of the state final. That’s a scary thought for other 3A teams for next year.
Despite a low number of starting seniors, (my senior season we had a starting lineup of eight seniors in the sectional final) Coach Lotus told me, “The seniors were vital to our success. They have been through four years in the program and understand the Standards and Expectations of being a player at St. Laurence. But it went deeper than just understanding; the seniors made a true impact on the underclassmen. They stepped up and held accountability to our Standards.” He told me that part of the success of the program is from the players buying in and having that accountability between themselves; it wasn’t just on the coaches.
The life of a St. Laurence baseball player goes deeper than just playing baseball though and the players know it. Coach Lotus’ presence as a leader goes off of the field, too. I was able to connect with Daniel Coyle who told me, “His constant pursuit for greatness in every aspect of life is truly admirable. I mean he can fix anything with my swing or teach me how to get my glove through a groundball, but the most valuable thing to me from Coach Pete is he teaches us an approach. Yes, an approach is key for baseball, but he also teaches us how to approach life. That is so special and something you don’t really find out of a coach.”
One specific thing I noticed about St. Laurence was that the players in the state final were wearing yellow jerseys with words or phrases on the back nameplate;
Loyalty
Empowerment
Attitude
Duty
Empathy
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage
These words are the school’s Leadership acronym. Every student at St. Laurence takes leadership development classes all four years of high school. Through learning those qualities listed above, the players are able to exemplify those qualities, not just on the field and in-school but in their own personal lives. The baseball team takes leadership a step further and implements a “Boat Crew” methodology about leadership. “Every player in the program is part of a Boat Crew.
Each Boat Crew has a leader, usually a senior that is the leader for younger players. Each player in the Boat Crew also has a Swim Buddy to help them through the process of being a high school student and baseball player.” The leaders meet with Coach Lotus once a week to go through a book study, talk about issues and resolutions, and discuss how to further their leadership abilities in the program and in life. This is similar to the leadership program I’ve seen at the college level, so it was cool to see a high school program going above and beyond for their players. I was able to connect with Cory Les, who told me;
“For me, the impact (Coach Lotus) has made is indescribable. Coach Pete is also a mentor to me. Being a Boat Crew Captain, we get to meet once a week and read a book on leadership. We then talk about how the book applies to us and how we can apply it to our daily lives. So, for me, Coach Pete’s impact on me is beyond just the field and he push(es) me to be the best version of myself on a daily basis.”
This correlates to the success that the Vikings players have beyond high school baseball. According to The Baseball Cube, twenty-six Vikings baseball players went to play college ball from 2020-2024. More are on their way of joining those guys in the NCAA, JUCO, and NAIA realm. Coach Lotus talked about the work ethic that they as coaches try to instill in their athletes, athletically, academically, and socially. to get to the next level. He said it goes beyond that though. “It first and foremost starts with families believing in the Mission of St. Laurence as a school. Once the player understands that they have commitments to the school and their development as a person, then we can really help them get better and reach their goals as a baseball player.”
Coach Lotus has been fantastic during his tenure at St. Laurence, being named to the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame. He has a lot of personal accolades including over 500 career wins, alongside his brother Adam Lotus. Coach Lotus told me though, “The State Championship is truly special, and I would trade any individual award or success for it.” He added that it wasn’t just for the 2025 team; no, it was for every player that had been part of the program, helping build the culture they currently have at St. Laurence.
Expectations will be high next year. Coach Lotus talked about it being higher than ever, with a large core of players coming back. When I asked about not letting the expectations get to the players’ heads, Coach Lotus said, “I believe we have to make sure our players and team understand that we have to work towards continuous growth and development. We are never a finished product. We all, including myself, have to keep growing and getting better”.
In my life as a businessperson and a writer, I know this not only to be true in sports, but in the professional world outside of sports as well. Coach Lotus is preparing his players for the future. He went further, adding, “It starts with me and the coaching staff working with players on how we can challenge them to improve their game. That can be in multiple areas whether it be physically or specific parts of their hitting, pitching, fielding development.”
Not once during my conversation with Coach Lotus did he take any credit. He praised the parents, his coaching staff, the current players, past players, and the St. Laurence administration for the success of this program. He showed respect, selfless service, and integrity during our conversation, qualities of a true Viking Leader.
I can say I’m a Vikings fan, and I’ll be rooting for these guys moving forward. What do you say St. Laurence? Let’s run it back in 2026!