This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Glory Days: Becky Knotek's Three-Sport Career

Daughter of longtime Highland Park baseball coach Andy Knotek was one stellar Giant.

Deerfield had a special scorer in Meggie Eck. She was as smooth as they come and could nail a jump shot from almost anywhere. That knowledge was well versed in the head of Highland Park three-sport star Becky Knotek.

It was Knotek's senior season in 2001. Her Giants basketball team was making strides.

"It was always about Deerfield,'' Knotek said of crosstown rival in Township High School District 113. "Every year, we got closer and closer to them."

Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Knotek took the challenge of covering the high-scoring Eck. More than a decade later, she could recall exactly what happened in that Central Suburban League (CSL) contest.

"She scored 6 points,'' Knotek said of Eck's lackluster performance. "There was one fast break and there were no points against me. Good defense was my claim to fame."

Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nowadays, Knotek is married to Niles North coach Dan Casey and has a baby girl named Addison. When mother and daughter are walking on nice summer days, she can tell Addy about her illustrious career at Highland Park High School.

"I remember Becky Knotek as a workhorse in any sport that she practiced and played,'' said Highland Park softball coach Lydia Gonzalez. "She was a three-sport athlete for four years in volleyball, basketball and softball."

Of course Gonzalez and Knotek were connected in that stirring final season of Knotek's sports career. With Knotek on the pitching mound, the Giants softball team had their finest season. Highland Park won 22 games, reached the playoffs but fell just short of a trip to the state tournament.

"That was a great class,'' Knotek said. "We had a great time playing in the summers. It was a fun team to be on."

Knotek went to the mound with a full arsenal of pitches.

"I threw a fastball, change, curve and drop,'' she said. "I threw in the mid to high 50s. I threw strikes and rarely walked people."

Gonzalez knew Knotek from travel softball but didn't know at the time she was related to the head baseball coach at the high school, Andy Knotek.

"What I didn't know was that Becky was definitely her own person,'' Gonzalez said. "Her hard work and her vocal leadership kept others in check and helped in the success of every team that she played on.

"In high school, Becky began to take private pitching lessons and that is when we got good at softball at HP," the coach added.

With stationed at shortstop, the Giants made their move on the softball diamond.

"We beat Deerfield for the regional title,'' Knotek said. "That was very satisfying."

Then it was off to Barrington's Field of Dreams for the Giants softball team. A win over Woodstock put the Giants in the sectional title game.

"We led Fremd [William Fremd High School] the whole game,'' she recalled of that 2001 game. "We lost on some errors."

That spring, Knotek tossed 167 innings and worked to an ERA of 1.29. She still holds the school mark for shutouts that season with three.

As the daughter of a baseball coach, Knotek had an early start in sports.

"It was sports from day one,'' she said. "I was the bat boy for his baseball team. I was always busy."

Basketball began in town playing with boys. She played varsity volleyball for three years at Highland Park.

"I love volleyball,'' Knotek said. "I miss playing it. I was still playing it in a women's league when I was pregnant with Addy."

After high school, Knotek took volleyball and softball to Carthage College. She transferred to Dominican College, where she all was all-conference in both sports.

Most recently, she gave swimming lessons at New Trier High School.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?