Congrats to RHP, Taylor Mackin, on her commitment to Northern Illinois University!
Owners / Instructors
Doug Bedinger - 30 years experience
Originally from Channahon, Illinois, Doug attended Joliet Catholic Academy and the perennial powerhouse Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida. A power hitting third baseman/ hard throwing right handed pitcher, he was drafted and signed by the Minnesota Twins where he was converted to a full-time pitcher and later played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sioux City Explorers, and Schaumburg Flyers. In all, Doug played for 10 years of professional baseball and was a two-time All-Star (1996-1997).
While still playing, Doug started conducting private pitching and hitting lessons in 1994 while he was still a player and used many of his experiences to help players of Line Drives in Shorewood, IL. Doug soon met and befriended former Major League Pitcher and pitching coach, Tom House who has been dubbed "The Father of modern-day pitching mechanics." This friendship resulted in him becoming a certified instructor for the National Pitching Association in San Diego, CA and a member of the NPA coaching staff.
2022 starts the 19th year of existence for Bedinger's Bullpen which Doug is the Owner / Head Baseball instructor and his 29th year of private instruction. In the 19 years since the Bullpen opened its doors, 675+ have gone on to sign college scholarships and 32 MLB draft picks, with the highest being a 4th and 5th round pick. Doug works with approximately 300 students a year and his love of the game and passion for the sport of baseball is impressed upon his students and has a powerful effect of their skills, as well as, their lives.
Mary Bedinger - 22 years experience
Originally from Shorewood, Illinois, Mary is the head of softball instruction at Bedinger's Bullpen who specializes in pitching and hitting instruction. She is in her 22nd year of pitching instruction and has had over 150+ girls go on to play at the collegiate level.
Mary's long list of accomplishments started with the Joliet J's competitive travel softball team who she played with from 1990-2000. Mary helped lead the J's to three consecutive state championships and numerous victories which helped her excel at Joliet Township High School where she played varsity softball all four years.
During her time at Joliet Township, she received numerous awards: Illinois Coaches All-State First Team, Chicago Tribune 1st Team All-State, Joliet Herald News All-Area Team '98-'00, All-Chicago-land Area '98-'00, and Daily South-town Player of the Year 2000. Mary was also a 3-time All-Chicago Team, 3-time All-State Selections, ranked 7th All-Time in wins for state of Illinois (88-15) and had an ERA of 0.28 (95 innings) and a remarkable 24 shutouts in 2000 (28-1). Her greatest High School achievement was winning the State Championship in 2000 and being voted as the State Tournament's MVP.
Mary's high school success landed her a scholarship at Lewis University. In 2004 she led the conference with an ERA of 0.16 and was awarded All-Conference, All-Region and All-American honors in addition to achieving the distinction of pitching a perfect game.
Following her college career, Mary returned to Lewis University as a pitching coach for the 2007 season. Soon after, she then went to Lincoln Way Central High School as the pitching coach for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In her first year as a pitching coach at LWC, the team won a state championship.
Currently, Mary is in her eighth season as the assistant / pitching coach at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. In their 2017 season, Mary helped lead the pitching staff to a ranking of third in the nation in ERA and the team ranked #11 in the final NAIA poll. In the past five seasons under her coaching, she had several pitchers receive All-American honors, All-Conference accolades and Freshman of the Year in 2019 season.
Mary is also in her 16th year as a special education teacher and currently works for the Troy School District in Plainfield. She works with 6th grade students at William B. Orenic Intermediate School.
Mary and Doug are married and have two young children, Bailee (14) and Dougie (13) and currently reside in Coal City.