The Manager

Rene Valdez of the Rockford Foresters will manage the North All-Star Team. Foresters Head Coach Rene Valdez is in his third season as head coach of Sauk Valley Community College’s baseball program. Valdez emphasizes team unity, striving to perfect the fundamentals of the game, and professionalism from all his players all the time, on and off the field

The Coaches

Marco Fajardo will serve as an assistant coach for the North All-Stars. Fajardo is the manager of the Chicago Zephyrs. Fajardo is currently an assistant coach at Judson University. Fajardo has been coaching both locally and nationally for the past 14 years. He owned his own baseball academy, which was part of Charley Lau’s School of Hitting. In the fall of 2000 he combined forces with The Chicago White Sox Training Center and since then has been a hitting coach for the organization. He also served as an assistant coach for Guerin Prep High School for two seasons before coming over to Judson.

Mark Hernandez of the Rockford Foresters will also serve as assistant to the North All-Star team. Hernandez made his third appearance at the JUCO DIII World Series in his ninth season as an assistant coach at Waubonsee Community College. In 2010 Waubonsee was the Skyway Conference Champions and coached All-American Ryan Adams and 2010 Skyway Conference Pitcher of the Year Chris Jordan. He served as an assistant coach for the Chiefs from 1993-1996, as a volunteer assistant during the 2003 and 2007 campaigns, and returned to the Chiefs’ dugout again in 2009 after leading Harper College’s program to a third place regional finish in 2008. Coach Hernandez helped guide the Chiefs to Regional and Sectional titles, with a runner-up finish at the 1996 NJCAA Division III Championships.

Jeff Marcley of the Chicago Zephyrs will be an assistant coach for the North All-Stars. Marcley played 18 years of semi-professional baseball. He coached the North Aurora Chiefs for five years. He also coached American Legion Baseball.