Herscher baseball coach Eric Regez reaches 800 career wins

HERSCHER – In the initial moments following Herscher’s 21-0 four-inning home victory over Grant Park, it seemed like just another Tigers win.

Like any other day, head coach Eric Regez escorted his Tigers through the postgame handshake line at home plate, and after a quick gathering with his coaching staff, walked over to address his team. But as he approached the team, a message came over the speaker system from Herscher High School principal Brad Elliot.

“Attention Tiger fans: we would like to take a moment to recognize an incredible individual achievement obtained by our head coach, Eric Regez,” Elliot said. “With today’s win, coach Regez has accumulated 800 wins.”

After being presented with the game ball and receiving a standing ovation as his team showered him with love, Regez got right back to his usual postgame speech, displaying the same level of consistency with his own approach that he’s preached to his program.

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Herscher head coach Eric Regez celebrates with his team following his 800th career win after the Tigers earned a 21-0 victory over Grant Park on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette)

It’s that consistency he said is most responsible for Wednesday’s milestone win, which made him the 12th baseball coach in IHSA history to reach the 800-win mark, the eighth to accumulate that many wins at the same school.

"The thing that I’m most proud of is the consistency in the program over the years," Regez said. “You’re always gonna have some classes that are better than others, but the trick is getting the most out of each class that you can. The mark of consistency is being able to get the most out of each group, and that’s something we’re proud of."

The Tigers (17-3) were more than consistent Wednesday, totaling a dozen runs in the first inning and sending 28 batters to the plate in three innings of offense. They tallied 14 hits, drew 11 walks, a hit by pitch and took advantage of a pair of Dragons runs to score the most runs the program has had in a game since a 22-0 win at Plano in 2016.

Gaige Brown, Alec Nicholos, Mason Roberts and Gavin Nelson had two hits apiece, with Nicholos driving in a game-high four runs and Brown leading the team with three runs scored.

Nash Brubaker threw two innings of one-hit ball before Bryce Steffen threw a pair of no-hit innings, with Joey McGinley’s second-inning single the lone hit for the Dragons (5-6).

That all led to Regez’s milestone win, the second such he’s had this year. On March 31, a 7-0 win at Streator gave Regez his 789th career victory, passing longtime Reed-Custer coach Jerry Cougill for the most wins in Daily Journal area history.

While Regez cited former Herscher basketball coach Ron Oloffson and former football coach John Wakey for being the Herscher coaches that helped him find his way early on, Cougill is certainly one of the area baseball coaches Regez most admired through the years, someone he said best embodies the area’s rich baseball tradition.

"I’m honored to pass a legend like Jerry, and I think he really stands for the excellence of Kankakee area baseball," Regez said. “There’s so much past history in our area’s baseball, so to hold that mark is special in my mind. It’s special in the sense that I know how excellent Kankakee area baseball has been over the years, so to be affiliated with some of that is special and humbling.”

In addition to his milestones, Regez has had a blast coaching a Tigers team that leads the area in wins at the time of print, sitting at third place in the Illinois Central Eight Conference, their 6-2 mark a game back of co-leaders Wilmington and Coal City.

But this season’s also come at one of the most emotionally trying times not just in his career, but his life. On March 27, Regez’s mother, Kathy, died at the age of 80. Regez credited his wife, Lynette, and sons, Evan and Tanner, both of whom played for their dad, for keeping him going during such a difficult time.

“They’ve been able to help me out through some emotional times recently,” Regez said. They were able to help me stay baseball-oriented, which isn’t always easy to do."

Through his mom’s final days and her death, Regez didn’t miss a game or a practice, even if that’s what would have been “normal” to do, crediting both his family and what his mom would have told him to do for keeping at it.

And has he stood on the field and reflected on his accomplishents Tuesday, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion come over him.

“If she could have told me what to do, she’d say be with your guys,” Regez said. “It makes you emotional, thinking what she’d think about all this.”