THE BASEBALL COMMUNITY LOCALLY… CONTINUES TO MOURN THE LOSS OF LAKE MONSTERS MANAGER PETE WILK AFTER HE LOST HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER EARLIER THIS WEEK. WELCOME INTO THE N-B-C FIVE SPORTS DESK. I’M NOAH CIERZAN. WILK HELPED DEVELOP THE CAREERS OF MANY…. N-B-C FIVES JACK MAIN CAUGHT UP WITH A FEW TO DETAIL HIS LIFE AND LEGACY THE FUTURE OF LAKE MONSTERS BASEBALL WAS UP IN THE AIR AFTER THE CLUB LOST IT’S MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AFFILIATION IN 2020. BUT THE CLUB WAS REVIVED IN THE FUTURES COLLIGETE BASEBALL LEAGUE.. THAT’S WHEN PETE WILK CAME ON BOARD. . <PETE WILK – VERMONT LAKE MONSTERS MANAGER 2021-2024, 2021 INTERVIEW – “I WANT THE KIDS TO HAVE FUN, I WANT THE FANS TO HAVE FUN. IT’S A GREAT GAME AND COMING OFF OF COVID I THINK EVERYONE IS EXCITED TO BE OUT AND ABOUT. IT’S A WONDERFUL CITY AND A GREAT TOWN AND FROM ALL INDICATIONS ARE AVID ABOUT THEIR BASEBALL.”> AND HAVE FUN THEY DID.. TAKING THE FUTURES LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP.. WINNING IT’S FIRST TITLE IN ?ááANY LEAGUEáá? SINCE 1997. WILK WAS CROWNED THE LEAGUE’S MANAGER OF THE YEAR <MATT FINCHER – PITCHING COACH/INTERIM MANAGER “PETE AND MORGAN BROWN DID SUCH A GREAT JOB RECRUITING PLAYERS AND PUTTING THAT ROSTER TOGETHER. I’M NOT SURE THIS ISN’T THE SINGLE BEST PLACE TO PLAY SUMMER BASEBALL IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY, AND I MEAN IT, I’M WELL TRAVELED. OBVIOUSLY PETE WAS A LARGE LARGE PART OF THAT AND WE ARE GOING TO BE MISSING A LARGE CHUNK OF THE ORGANIZATION.”> THE LAKE MONSTERS MADE IT BACK TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND IN 2022.. BUT IN THE FOLLOWING OFFSEASON.. WILK WAS DIAGNOSED WITH GLIOBLASTOMA.. A SERIOUS FORM OF BRAIN CANCER. WILK UNDERWENT TREATMENT IN THE OFFSEASON… RETURNING TO THE DUGOUT MIDWAY THROUGH THE 2023 SEASON.. THE ORGANIZATION RAISING MONEY TO HELP. <C.J. KNUDSEN – SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, VERMONT LAKE MONSTERS – “FROM OUR STANDPOINT, IT WAS THE LEAST WE COULD DO TO BENEFIT THE WILK FAMILY AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN CONTINUE TO DO THAT. PETE FELL IN LOVE WITH VERMONT. HIS WIFE ERIN, AND HIS DAUGHTERS ALSO FELL IN LOVE CASEY AND REESE. THEY’RE PART OF OUR TEAM FOREVER.”> PETE LOVED HIS PLAYERS.. WHO HE PUSHED TO BE THE BEST VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES. INCLUDING COLBY BROUILLETTE WHO REACHED OUT TO HIM WHEN HE TRANSFERRING TO A NEW SCHOOL.. <COLBY BROUILLETTE, LAKE MONSTERS OUTFIELDER – “AFTER MY VISIT HERE, I TEXTED HIM AND I SAID ‘HEY DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE TO CHAT IT WENT REALLY WELL, I WANT TO TELL YOU HOW IT WENT.’ AND HE CALLED ME 30 SECONDS LATER, WHILE AT A RADIATION APPOINTMENT! AND I WAS LIKE ‘COACH WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU’RE GETTING TREATMENT! I SAID WHEN YOU HAVE A MINUTE, WHEN YOU HAVE TIME,’ AND HE SAID ‘NO I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT HOW DID IT GO.’ AND THAT’S JUST KIND OF THE PERSON HE WAS.”> WILK ALSO SPARKED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC NICKNAMES IN FRANCHISE HISTORY: <JIMMY EVANS, VERMONT LAKE MONSTERS 2021-20222, DUKE UNIVERSITY OUTFIELDER – “ONE DAY WE CAME TO THE FIELD AND HE SAW ME GETTING INTERVIEWED, MAYBE IT WAS BY YOU OR ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE PRESS AND HE WAS LIKE ‘OH THIS GUY KNOWS EVERYONE, EVERYONE WANTS TO TALK TO JIMMY, HE MUST BE THE MAYOR.’ AND THEN THAT KIND OF JUST SPARKED IT ALL.”> BETWEEN HIS SENSE OF HUMOR AND LOVE FOR BASEBALL… WILK MADE MANY FRIENDS DURING HIS TIME IN BURLINGTON.. HIS 86 WINS IN 129 GAMES IS THE WINNING-IST PERCENTAGE FOR A MANAGER IN LAKE MONSTER HISTORY. IN HONOR OF THE TWO TIME MANAGER OF THE YEAR.. THE FUTURES LEAGUE WILL DEBUT THE PETE WILK AWARD.. GIVEN TO A PLAYER WHO OVERCOMES TRAGEDY TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE BALLFIELD. <PETE WILK – VERMONT LAKE MONSTERS MANAGER 2021-2024, 2021 INTERVIEW – “I’M HONORED. I’M INCREDIBLY TOUCHED. BY THIS TOWN AND THESE PEOPLE. AND THIS ORGANIZATION. UNBELIEVABLY SPECIAL. UNBELIEVABLY SPECIAL.”> FOR NBC5 NEWS. I’M JACK MAI
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Vermont Lake Monsters manager Pete Wilk dies of brain cancer
Wilk was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in January 2023.
Updated: 11:55 PM EDT Apr 4, 2024
The Vermont Lake Monsters announced the passing of manager Pete Wilk on Wednesday, ending his 15-month battle with a glioblastoma.Wilk was appointed manager of the Lake Monsters in 2021, after the team was designated to the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, ending its 26-year run in Minor League Baseball.In his three seasons as the Lake Monsters skipper, Wilk led the Monsters to three FCBL championships, winning it all in the team’s inaugural 2021 season.”Pete and Morgan Brown did such a great job recruiting players and putting that roster together,” said Interm Manager Matt Fincher. “I’m not sure isn’t the single best place to play summer baseball in the entire country, and I mean it. I’m well-traveled. Obviously, Pete was a large part of that and we are going to be missing an important peice of the organization.”Lake Monsters’ local hero Colby Brouillette was able to play division one baseball with the help of Wilk, who was so eager to hear about Colby’s official visit, he called from a radiation appointment. “After my visit here, I texted him and I said ‘hey do you have a minute to chat it went really well, I want to tell you how it went,”‘ Colby recalled. “He called me 30 seconds later, while at a radiation appointment! And I was like: ‘Coach what are you doing, you’re getting treatment! I said when you have a minute, when you have time!’ He said: ‘No I want to hear about it how did it go.’ That’s just kind of the person he was.”On top of his success in Vermont, Wilk is the winningest manager in Georgetown University baseball history, winning 426 games with the Hoyas.Lake Monsters President Chris English released a statement on Wilk’s death, saying in part, “He was a great leader, teacher, and an inspiration in overcoming adversity. We will miss him terribly.”Wilk is survived by his wife, Erin, and two daughters, Reese and Casey.
The Vermont Lake Monsters announced the passing of manager Pete Wilk on Wednesday, ending his 15-month battle with a glioblastoma.
Wilk was appointed manager of the Lake Monsters in 2021, after the team was designated to the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, ending its 26-year run in Minor League Baseball.
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In his three seasons as the Lake Monsters skipper, Wilk led the Monsters to three FCBL championships, winning it all in the team’s inaugural 2021 season.
“Pete and Morgan Brown did such a great job recruiting players and putting that roster together,” said Interm Manager Matt Fincher. “I’m not sure [Burlington] isn’t the single best place to play summer baseball in the entire country, and I mean it. I’m well-traveled. Obviously, Pete was a large part of that and we are going to be missing an important peice of the organization.”
Lake Monsters’ local hero Colby Brouillette was able to play division one baseball with the help of Wilk, who was so eager to hear about Colby’s official visit, he called from a radiation appointment.
“After my visit here, I texted him and I said ‘hey do you have a minute to chat it went really well, I want to tell you how it went,”‘ Colby recalled. “He called me 30 seconds later, while at a radiation appointment! And I was like: ‘Coach what are you doing, you’re getting treatment! I said when you have a minute, when you have time!’ He said: ‘No I want to hear about it how did it go.’ That’s just kind of the person he was.”
On top of his success in Vermont, Wilk is the winningest manager in Georgetown University baseball history, winning 426 games with the Hoyas.
Lake Monsters President Chris English released a statement on Wilk’s death, saying in part, “He was a great leader, teacher, and an inspiration in overcoming adversity. We will miss him terribly.”
Wilk is survived by his wife, Erin, and two daughters, Reese and Casey.
