Homer Heat 10U - Pawluk - 2025/26

05/16/2026

It’s one pool game and this tournament is far from over but it is one of our big tournaments. This is one we had circled in the winter when we signed up for it. This is one of the reasons for the countless practices, the long cold days at the field, rushing home from work and school to get to an early friendly and the long days at round robins. It’s all preparation for a tournament of 19 teams local and some from far away. It’s all preparation to show up and play our best ball, play Heat ball! To prove to any doubters that they should think twice. And man it’s a beautiful thing when that day comes and these girls put it all together, to show up day 1 with a statement game. A statement game that makes some coaches hope they don’t have to play you and a game where some coaches circle the name Heat and say “ this will be in our path if we want to win this whole thing. “ These girls came out tonight vs the Tribe 10u and took care of business with a 12-0 victory. Very proud of theses girls
A couple stars of the game, Lilliegh Knitter was hot at the plate she went 2-2 with 2 runs and RBI When her bat is on our offense is tough to stop, next this girl has been on fire lately. She has taken control of the circle and just has completely dominated games. JJ Murray threw her second no hitter of the season. Complete game 3 innings 7ks , 0 walks , 0 runs. Way to go Hamilton!! And last but not least, this is a coaches on the way home choice. She doesn’t even know. This girl is our rock, she is our wall, she sits behind the plate and takes a beating game after game and never quits. Mia Visvardis behind every pitchers glory is a bad ass catcher setting targets and blocking bad pitches. Know that it can be done without you, I know it. I see you Mia.

Great job Heat! You all better be in bed by now. This is far from over and we need show up tomorrow at 7 am and prepare for our next game. One game at a time. LETS GO HEAT!!

05/09/2026

Big shout out to the 10u Kobra Higgins for hosting a little Mother’s Day rivalry game. We had a blast like every game we play against you. Unfortunately the Kobras took us down 10-6. Dont worry Kobras we are not done with you yet this year

Happy Mother’s Day to the Heat Moms. You have raised a bunch of outstanding little girls. You all have been very supportive in good times and bad and as a coach I really appreciate it and everything you do for us. I hope you ate some food, had a little softball juice and enjoyed a pretty entertaining game on a beautiful night at the fields.

Hey Homer Heat - you have the weekend off. Take care of your moms , rest up and I will see you Monday. We have some work to do. We have to prepare - we have busy 30 days coming up.

04/26/2026

Being a pitcher is a very difficult job. It takes a special person to do the job. You are always chasing perfection. You stand in that circle with all eyes on you. You carry your team on your back How the game goes depends on how you pitch that day. Every pitch criticized to the fullest by umps, coaches and fans. Your teammates cheer you on while the other team is chanting against you. You have 100 bleacher coaches yelling throw strikes ( yeah thanks for that advice right?!). Through all the chaos you try your hardest to stay calm , cool and focused even when the ump calls ball 4 when you throw one right over the plate at the batters belly button for strike 3 to win the game. Trying to forget what just happened 10 seconds ago because the next pitch is only what matters in the moment. JJ is that type of player that does not accept mediocrity. She has a strong work ethic for 10 year old. She is the type of player every coach looks for. She gives you 100% 100% of the time and I am not just saying that. She is the real deal, a gamer. She has a little saying “just do better” well JJ I don’t know how you can “do better” than you did yesterday. You pitched a gem yesterday., you were so locked in. What you accomplished yesterday was special and was so fun to watch you just completely dominate.

04/20/2026

Our first tournament of the spring/summer and it was definitely a challenge. We faced alot of talented pitching. But that is why this girls achievement was so much sweeter. One of the toughest parts of softball is learning how to hit and be a consistent hitter with power. Not everyone sees all the extra work that needs to be done. Every swing is criticized by your coaches, the personal hitting instructor and parents. Constantly being told stop doing this , do it this way, stand this way, sw***er harder, keep your head on it, etc.. it’s very easy to get discouraged. Not Jessa. She never got rattled, she learned that failing is part of the game - it’s about brushing off the failure and preparing yourself to succeed on your next opportunity. Always believe in yourself. Her bat started heating up a couple games ago Than on 4/18 , the top of the 4th and she had a 3-0 count with a runner on 2nd. Jessa crushed a ball over the head of the outfielder and rolled to the fence. With her speed they no chance - she got her first home run!! What an exciting moment for her, her teammates , coaches, her parents and all the Heat fans! Jessa - I see all the work you do and it paid off. Keep it up and working hard. Homeruns never get old- let’s start stacking them up!

We are all proud of you “Sid”

04/16/2026

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8gfcDXo/

351 likes, 10 comments. “Chicago’s Very Own WGN Morning News traffic anchor Brhett Vickery shares why she feels so at home whenever she returns to Homer Glen… ”

04/16/2026

A great bounce back game the other day on 4-15 vs the Gems that unfortunately ended as heart breaker. Cora was a late pick up for us. She joined the team mid fall which is never an easy task. She just finished her Rec season and was looking to make the leap into the travel ball craziness. After being told no after her first tryout, she never gave up and asked for another shot. She obviously convinced us we were wrong. The fall was a learning experience and when winter came she put in the work. Not just at practice but on her own. She came out tonight and proved all her critics wrong with her first hit of the spring and played some solid center field. Way to go Cora, you deserve this. All your hard work is paying off. Don’t stop now, keep pushing yourself.

04/12/2026

Finally we are back and we were excited to play but sometimes it doesn’t go as planned. We definitely did not play our best balll. But when it’s bad there is always some good to build off of

Sawyer pitched the best I’ve ever seen her pitch. 4 innings with 8k’s - she was dealing out there. Dani S started right where she left off in the fall going 4-6 3 singles, a double, 1 RBI , 3 runs with 7 stolen bases. 1 stolen base was the sneakiest delayed steal of home that had everyone wondering how she did that.

Very proud of you two. You both are always giving it your all and pushing yourselves to get better. You showed everyone just a fraction of what you are capable of.

03/24/2026

Over 4 months ago we went into hibernation. Practice after practice after practice. Doing what I call “the boring” over and over and over again until we think we got it and then let’s do it again. They hit the cages and worked on perfecting thier swing doing drill after drill after drill. They woke up early almost every Sunday and hit the field house and pushed themselves to the limits working on speed, agility and strength. Finally they got thier chance and they showed up!!!
3-0
17 hits
26 stolen bases
26 runs.

This was a great way to start the spring. But the it’s only going to get harder from here with the teams we are playing on our schedule. Congratulations girls you worked hard and you took care of business.
Back to work!

Let’s go Heat!!

01/11/2026

A couple more team photos.