Glory Days With Eric Brauer: Played On 12 Grayslake Sports Teams

He had tipped off his friends in the front row of the stands. The play Slippery Rock was going to be called and Grayslake center Eric Brauer couldn't wait.

"It was my first high school dunk,'' Brauer said. "It was against Woodstock. We made a big deal out of it with the student body. It was a back door alley oop. It was a like an out-of-body experience."

Brauer is a 2000 graduate of Grayslake High School. In his four years in the building, he played four years of golf, four years of basketball and four years of baseball. After coaching baseball in Indiana, he has returned to Illinois and is Chicago Christian's athletics director and head baseball coach.

The Brauer story starts with an stunning growth spurt.

"When I was a freshman, I was a two-guard,'' he said. "I grew 10 inches from March to October."

From a guard to a center in seven months. He played on the Rams sophomore basketball team that spun a 22-2 mark. Former Grayslake head coach Greg Groth was glad to have a big man in his program.

"Eric was a rock in my last two years of coaching,'' Groth said. "We didn't have a lot of big men. And he was a hard worker."

Clearly most of his success came in the basketball program. With a stylish guard in David Delger, Brauer and company won a school record 23 games his junior year.

"It was a fun year,'' Brauer said. "We won a regional and the conference. Our class was really good."

A few key seniors graduated and Brauer watched his senior season begin slowly. The Rams split their first six conference games.

"We were a good team but we had a bad start,'' he said. "But looking back, we won 15 or 16 in a row. We won our last 12 conference games."

Upstart Grayslake took a surprising three-point lead in the final seconds of the Waukegan Sectional over a strong Warren team.

"We got hot at the end of the year,'' he said. "But that was a heartbreaking loss."

Brauer played on two Rams hoops teams that combined for a 45-13 record.

But wait, there are still two more sports for Brauer. In golf, Brauer earned all-conference honors his junior and senior year. He finished third in the Lake County Tournament.

The baseball team did not post winning records.

"I never made all-conference in baseball,'' he said. "I never threw a no-hitter."

A yet, it was baseball that took him to college. Here was a big pitcher who could throw hard and a few Division I schools wanted his services. He chose Valparaiso University. They offered Brauer the best deal plus it was still somewhat close to home.

"My mom didn't miss one event of my high school career,'' he said. "So, I didn't want to be too far away."

Some highlights of his post high school career include pitching in Alaska on June 21 when he was on a summer team.

"I started the game at midnight,'' Brauer said. "And we got done at 3 a.m. And there were no lights on the field."

Of course all that pitching caught up with him. Brauer had to undergo Tommy John surgery that cost him his junior season at Valpo. He did come back to pitch for his senior season.

And then it was senior day at Valpo. And naturally, his mom and dad were in the audience. As a pitcher in college, Brauer didn't bat.

"It was our last at-bats of the season and I talked my coach into getting an at-bat,'' he said. "He threw me three balls and I swung at the next pitch."

The ball sailed over the center field wall for a massive home run.

"My teammates still make me tell that story,'' he said. "It was a perfect way to end my career."