Like son, like father for Lane coaches

Updated: May 31, 2012 8:24PM

After a 20-year high school baseball coaching career that started at Hales and was supposed to end with his resignation at Lake View in 2011, Dean Stavrakas seemed ready to sit back and get a little rest and relaxation.

That’s until Lane athletic director Rich Rio gave him a call. Rio already had Dean’s son, George, coaching the softball team.

“He asked me if I would have an interest in the Lane program,” Dean said. “He thought, and I agreed, that ending my coaching career at Lane would be a fitting conclusion to my previous 20-year high school coaching stint.”

With that, Lane has a rare father-son, varsity baseball-softball coaching combination. With George guiding the softball team and his mentor and dad guiding the baseball team, the wives of the two don’t miss too many of the games. And it doesn’t end after the game is completed.

“My mother and wife are avid fans,” George said. “They attend many of our games, and our results dominate the conversation at dinner practically every night during the season.”

And so far for both, those results have been impressive. George, who’s in his fifth season, has turned Lane into the premier program in the Public League, with five consecutive city titles and three regional championships (2008, ’11 and this year). George also coaches Lane’s boys 16-inch softball team, going 71-8 — including an active 52-game winning streak — and guiding the Indians to the last two city titles.

Dean, meanwhile, led Lane to the Jackie Robinson North section title and a berth in the Public League championship game in his first season.

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