John Sudges
Baseball / Basketball / Softball Coach (1984-1985)
All-ISCC 1st team and key member of Waubonsee’s 1984 ISCC Champions
1986 NCAA D3 All-American on Marietta College’s National Championship team
Two-time International Softball Congress (ISC) All-World Team selection
1995 ISC National Champion with Decatur Pride
Many stellar athletes never get to be part of a championship team during their playing careers. And those that ultimately do, solidify their legacy with that accomplishment. They are forever known as winners. John Sudges definitely fits in that category. Throughout his baseball and fastpitch softball careers he has been a key part of numerous title-winning teams.
Sudges graduated in 1983 from Aurora West High School where he helped the Blackhawks’ baseball team win a pair of Regional championships. His senior year he batted .357 to earn All-Upstate Eight Conference First Team honors as the Blackhawks finished just a half game short of the conference title. A right-handed hitter, Sudges then batted .343 as a freshman in helping the Chiefs capture the 1984 Skyway Conference title. The team captain as a sophomore, he led Waubonsee in nearly every offensive category on the way to batting .339 and being named All-Skyway First Team. The Rex Knapp Scholarship recipient, who also played on the Chiefs’ basketball team that year, then represented Waubonsee at the Region IV All-Star game at Wrigley Field. Sudges transferred to Marietta College in Ohio where he was an All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) First Team selection on the Etta Express’ 1986 National Championship team that finished 48-13. As team captain his senior year, he helped lead the top-ranked team in the country to a second straight OAC title, being named the conference tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Sudges capped off his collegiate career by earning All-Conference, All-Region, All-District and NCAA Division III All-American honors while setting a Marietta record for putouts in a season with 447, a mark that still stands.
After college Sudges began playing fastpitch softball, competing at the highest level for over 20 years. He was a key member of the Decatur Pride’s 1995 International Softball Congress (ISC) National Championship team and was twice named to the ISC All-World Team. Sudges was the leading hitter at the 1999 ISC World Tournament and was selected three times in the 1990’s to participate at the USA National Team Camps. In 2005 he earned American Softball Association First Team All-American honors competing in the 40 and over division. Sudges eventually returned to playing competitive baseball in 2009 joining the Chicago Central Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL). Not surprisingly, he has been an integral part of seven MSBL championship teams.
Off the field Sudges has worked in the powder coating industry for nearly 25 years, handling million-dollar industrial finishing system projects across the country. Currently Business Development Manager with an Industrial Finishing Systems Company for Powder and Liquid Coatings, he’s served as the President and Board of Directors of the Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI) and received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Sudges has been an active member of the West Aurora Boosters since 2001, and was on the North Aurora Baseball Association Board of Directors and served as a manager in league for several years. The last 10 years he has also worked as the official timer for Chiefs’ basketball and even served as Waubonsee’s Softball Coach for two seasons. Sudges and his wife Shelly live in Aurora and have two grown children Kyle and Jessica.