When Mike Stock is inducted into the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 5, he will have august company.
Stock is the fourth former Naperville Central coach to be elected to the Hall of Fame. He joins the late Dick Smith, who was inducted in 1982, Bill Seiple (1996) and the late Phil Lawler
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(1997).“It’s really nice,” Stock said. “It’s a great honor and something that I’m accepting on behalf of the program.”
Stock’s ties to Naperville Central date back 40 years to when he was a student there. He played second base on the Redhawks’ 1988 summer league state championship team.
After graduating in 1990, Stock played in college at Loras. He began his coaching career at Romeoville and returned to Naperville Central in 1997 as a lower-level assistant under Seiple and Lawler, who was Seiple’s pitching coach.
“I am so proud of him and I’m so happy that he’s getting this recognition, which is really well-deserved because he’s done a great job at Naperville Central,” Seiple said. “He’s such a positive member of that community.”
There is a synergy in Naperville Central’s baseball program that few schools can match. The Redhawks have qualified for the state finals four times and the four Hall of Famers were involved in all of them.
Seiple played for Smith, who guided the Redhawks to the 1969 quarterfinals. Stock played for and coached under Seiple and Lawler, who were the architects of Naperville Central’s 2006 and 2010 state championship teams.
Seiple retired in 2010 after 29 seasons at the helm and was succeeded by Stock, who has compiled a 299-178 record in 16 seasons, including a 30-11 record and fourth-place state finish in 2026.
“Dick Smith is a legend,” Stock said. “I got to meet coach Smith a long, long time ago. Seiple certainly set the example. Bill and I are very good friends. We talk at least weekly.”
Stock coached at every level during his 13 years as an assistant. When Seiple battled health issues late in his tenure, he gave Stock and other assistants increased duties.
“What Bill did was for our kids, but he was also coaching our coaches, too,” Stock said. “The responsibilities that he gave us at the end of his career really helped build your confidence as a coach, knowing that you have taken on some responsibilities up until that time that you are given the opportunity to be a head coach. It has served me well.”
Seiple isn’t surprised by Stock’s success.
“There’s just so many positives,” Seiple said. “He was an excellent classroom teacher and he’s always handled himself in such a classy way.
“He paid his dues. He could be demanding, but the kids liked him, played hard for him and he had great success.”
That holds true to this day. Grant Umbright, the 2026 Naperville Sun Player of the Year, grew up watching his older brothers Connor and Michael play for Stock before starring for the Redhawks himself.
“Before I even played in high school, I would always watch my brothers and most of their games,” said Umbright, who now plays at John A. Logan. “They had a lot of good players, but (Stock) carries a certain coaching style that not a lot of other coaches in the IHSA have.
“I learned that throughout the years and I was very lucky to have him as a coach.”
Despite being a veteran coach, Stock is not stodgy in his approach.
“He likes to try a lot of new things,” Umbright said. “He made sure everyone got a little fit somewhere, but he also made a point to make sure that everyone understood that some people are going to play some place and some people won’t.
“This was probably my first year where we had guys that played everywhere.”
Stock feels there is nowhere quite like Naperville, so it’s fitting that the Hall of Fame banquet will be held at the Embassy Suites in Naperville.
“I was just thrilled to get an opportunity at a school like Central and it’s great that it was my (alma mater),” Stock said. “When you work around people like Bill and Dave Kalal, Jim Fornaciari and John Sherman, all great coaches that I took so much from, you better bust your butt because you’ve got to keep up with them.
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“You want to get pushed by them and you want to push them. It was a great path to be able to take and I’m grateful that I got that opportunity.”
While reticent to choose his best career highlight, Stock called last spring’s playoff run memorable. He wants every senior class to have a great experience and the 2026 class certainly did.
“It was 100% my best memory,” Umbright said. “Me and my buddies still talk about it because it was a really good run. Even though we did fall a little bit short, we couldn’t have asked for a better end to our senior season.”
Stock calls himself “a junior” because he will retire after the 2028 season. Seiple believes the program will be in good shape even after Stock leaves.
“The next guy that succeeds him, and hopefully that will come from inside, will continue the tradition, because he’s really established a positive road over there,” Seiple said.
But Stock isn’t looking that far ahead. He still has a few miles to go.
“Springtime has been high school baseball for most of my life,” Stock said. “I don’t know anything different. It’s going to be time to move on, but right now, we’re all bought in and want to make this spring our best one yet.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.