Donnie Chappell recently was a member of an elite eight, and he thought it was great.

Chappell, head baseball coach at Rock Falls High School, was one of eight finalists for the 2009 National High School Athletic Coaches Association baseball coach of the year award. The NHSACA convention was held June 24 in Minneapolis.

The award is for cumulative service, not for one season. Chappell has a 277-100 record in 11 years as coach of the Rockets, highlighted by a 34-3 mark in 2008 that ended with a second-place finish in the Class 3A state tournament. His teams have won regional championships nine of 11 years.

"It was quite an honor," Chappell said. "I was talking with guys who have been coaching their teams for 30, 40 years. They were congratulating me on what I've done at Rock Falls and I was like, 'Yeah, right.' Some of the things those guys have done is unbelievable."

Chappell was nominated by a committee of baseball coaches throughout the state in January, and received word he was one of eight national finalists in April. The overall winner was Dennis Olejniczak, who has more than 1,800 wins at Decorah (Iowa) High School.

Eight coaches in 17 sports were recognized as finalists. In addition to Chappell, Illinois finalists were Tom Wierzba (Farmington boys basketball), Evan Massey (Galesburg girls basketball), Edward McGraw II (East Peoria girls cross country), Todd Ekei (Homewood-Flossmoor girls soccer), Jane Grebner (Williamsville softball), John Charters II (Hinsdale badminton), Bill Schreier (Wheaton Warrenville South volleyball) and Michael Bukovsky (Lombard Montini wrestling).

Chappell file

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FYI: One of eight finalists for National High School Athletic Coaches Association baseball coach of the year in 2009. ... Chappell is 277-100 in 11 seasons with the Rockets.