The Legend of Tommie: An Oral History, Part 2
From his early days as a three-sport athlete for School of St. Mary's football, Scouts feeder basketball and baseball, Tommie Aberle was a star in the making. The stories that make up the legend
Last week, the Scouts Football newsletter ran part one of “The Legend of Tommie: An Oral History.” A three-year varsity linebacker and current team captain, Aberle’s contributions towards the success of the Scouts football program, beyond conventional stats like tackles or sacks, are immeasurable. From an early age, before his time at Lake Forest High School, it was evident to all who coached or played with him that he would be an exceptional high school athlete. But not all middle school unicorns fulfill their potential.
In part two of this oral history, interviews with teammates and coaches tell the stories that make up the legend of Tommie.
“He Refused To Lose”
After graduating from St. Mary’s in the spring of 2020, Aberle set his sights on Lake Forest High School. An older brother, Charlie, had just graduated high school, an older sister, Annie, before that. It didn’t take long before older athletes at the school noticed this soon-to-be-LFHS enrollee who was turning heads
Cade Nowik (LFHS boys basketball teammate, Class of ‘22): It was the summer going into my sophomore year. I had been on varsity basketball a little bit the year before and set to be on it my sophomore year. That summer, Bob Vogrich, who was my feeder coach had a bunch of guys over to play in his driveway. One of the groups included Tommie.
Bob Vogrich (Scouts feeder basketball coach): We took Tommie to a varsity practice as an 8th grader and we ran him through a series of 1-on-1 games with the 11th or 12th guys on the varsity and he was beating everybody. We didn’t have the most talent but Tommie’s 8th grade team went 24-2. Tommie would guard the other team’s best player, get every rebound that we gave up and score one more than the other team no matter what that was. He refused to lose.
Mike Nilles (feeder basketball and baseball coach): Someone mentioned Tommie was a baseball player, too. I was like, ‘well, I know him as a basketball player so he must be a good baseball player.’ He ended up playing with me (for LF feeder) in the summer of 2020 and it was a 14 year old team and to put it politely, he was a man amongst boys on the field. He did whatever he wanted to do. He must of had a 20-25 game season and probably had double-digit home runs and sub-1 ERA on the mound. It was just, it was like a video game for him. He played CF/1B, he pitched a lot, if we were clobbering a team I’d let him go play SS. No matter where he was, his athleticism––even if brand new to a spot––it shined, it just took over.
Nowik: I remember people talking about him at St. Mary’s and him having these absurd games and he was obviously a bigger kid but the first thing that stood out was his competitiveness. We had four kids in that driveway, all different ages and he’s going at Andy Brown who was going to be a senior in high school, and he wasn’t backing down from anybody. it was me, Asa (Thomas, current Clemson freshman men’s basketball player) and Tommie played like those games were his NBA Final games.
Vogrich: Those were great games and we really had a great bunch of guys and they were really competitive and as a by-product they helped turn Tommie into an absolute killer his 8th grade year. We played everybody in Lake County and he was the best individual player that year. I’m sure for his St. Mary’s football team he was the best football player, I have no doubt. I sent a little summary at the end of the year to (LFHS boys basketball head coach) LaScala and said ‘this guy isn’t going to spend any time on frosh/soph teams, just bring him up right away. You need him next year even though you’ll have a good team. You just need him as part of it. Guard the team’s best player, get rebounds, do the dirty work, score, assist, whatever it is you need him to do, just tell him to do it, and he’ll do it.’
Tom Mocogni (LFHS boys assistant basketball coach): So I was asking Phil, what’s down below? He told me about this kid and I was like ‘we need to go watch him play.’ I heard a story about how Our Lady of Perpetual Help did a triangle and 2 and put three guys on Tommie and he still scored 30 points in a championship game. We went over and we met his parents. Tommie played really well. That was the first time I met him. Scott, his dad, was really appreciative that we came. The effort level and energy level is what really stood out. I was like ‘this kid is a player. I can’t wait until we get him.’ I was like ‘we have to get him on varsity.’ Phil was thinking the same thing.
Nilles: Going into his freshman year (2020-21) we had some really talented athletes––Miles Specketer, Logan Uihlein. I really pushed to make sure we were in the (summer and fall) league. We played on those dirt fields at Deerpath and I remember during pre-game warm ups one day he’s taking grounders over at first base. We always ended up our pregame with a ground ball that you’d have to throw to the catcher and then field a bunt and throw to third base. Tommie knows one speed, all or nothing. He’s coming up to charge the bunt and everyone else is fielding with the glove and making a throw but Tommie comes up full sprint and bare hands it and throws it and is pretty much laid out with the ground and throwing it as a diving throw to third base. He pretty much eats the dirt with his face! He got up and it had to hurt so bad because his face hit the dirt and he was covered. I remember standing at home plate with my fungo bat and thinking, ‘this kid will do whatever it takes to get the out, the tackle or the rebound.’ I’m still laughing thinking about it.
Nowik: To me, in those driveway games, you could tell how mature he was, he wasn’t backing down from anybody, you knew he fit in, just his competitiveness really stood out. You know how he plays, he just lowers his shoulder and goes right in you. I think that’s the most impressive thing and how confident he was as an 8th grader at the time and I was like, ‘this is the kind of kid I want to play with.’ He almost reminded me of myself and how I tried to play throughout my career.
“I just want to be around guys like that…guys that all they want to do is win.”
Aberle first varsity season at LFHS was an abbreviated boys basketball season over the winter of 2020-21. He played JV football that spring of 2021 and went right to baseball where he instantly made an impact
Charlie Aberle (Tommie’s older brother by four years): No matter what the age, he was always one of the tallest if not the tallest. It was kind of cool, I’d watch him and you could tell he was more physical, more aggressive than a lot of the other kids and so I’d see that during a game and then he’d come up to me and ask, ‘can we practice in the driveway?’ I’d be playing against him and he’d ask me to be more physical against him. He always had that mindset where he wanted to have the ability to walk into a room and know that I’m the toughest, most physical guy in here. You could see that from a young age.
Wilson Irvin (LFHS baseball teammate, Class of ‘21): One day Tommie shows up for varsity tryouts. We are on the West Campus football field. We brought out the mound and it was raining. It was a really weird day. I met him there, I was doing some stories for the Forest Scout on the basketball team so I knew who he was and his name kept coming up. People said, ‘this guy can play some baseball, he’s a phenomenal pitcher.’
Mocogni: There’s always a concern about acceptance by the older kids. They have to have some role they can fill that everyone will accept them and respect them rather than taking a spot from someone else. And there’s a maturity of the kid who needs to be able to handle that.
Sam Gibson (LFHS basketball teammate, Class of ‘22): My junior year (‘20-’21) he got called up. We all knew how good he was although he was a freshman at the time. We saw the potential.
Phil LaScala (LFHS varsity boys basketball coach): Cade Nowik was a huge backer of Tommie playing varsity as a freshman. He was like, ‘coach you got to bring him up.’ For me it was watching how his peers related to him. That was bigger first than seeing it with my own eyes. Then when I did get to see him I was like ‘yeah.’ He was fearless, taking the ball into the lane against bigger kids in practice. We had a big team that year; we had Jack Malloy, Will Thomas, Walt Mattingly and he had no fear of getting to the hoop. I’d say that was it; listening to the upper class men say how good he was and then live in practice against good players.
Nowik: I just want to be around guys like that, especially when you are playing sports, guys that all they want to do is win. Tommie didn’t care how many 3’s he made in that driveway, he just wanted to get to 21 before everybody else.
Adam Mocogni (LFHS varsity assistant boys basketball coach): We’re at pregame warm ups, a shoot around. Everyone was taking turns dunking the basketball and Tommie went up and easily threw down a two foot windmill dunk which made my jaw drop and then he threw one off the backboard and did the same thing. You didn’t really see that athleticism on display a whole lot his freshman year given his role but to see that in pregame when we were sitting around and messing around and him jumping up and doing something like that. I asked him last year about it and he said he wanted to show off to the seniors that he had some bunnies––an ability to jump. It made me laugh; that’s the kind of guy he is, he’s light-hearted but when you get on the court you see that competitiveness he brings every single game.
Irvin: My friends and I were like brainstorming ‘what will the varsity (baseball) team look like?’ Rocco Royer, his little brother made varsity that year as a sophomore, and we asked him ‘is there anyone below you?’ And he said ‘Tommie.’ I just kept hearing his name and I was like ‘who the heck is this guy.’
Nilles: I had to persuade (LFHS varsity baseball coach) Ray (Del Fava) to take a look at him. We were trying to piece together a team as we knew we were going to lose some to football and we knew we needed arms in the early part of the season and I told him to take a look at him and after 15 pitches he was like ‘yup you’re on varsity’ and he asked Tommie if he wanted to play and of course him being the competitor he is was like ‘yes, I want to come up and play.’
“He brought the juice from day one”
Aside from the obvious talent, what also allowed Aberle to thrive athletically at LFHS was his extroverted personality. His outgoing nature helped him foster relationships with older teammates. They all saw then what has turned out to be true, that Aberle would live up to the hype and mythology that came out of his middle school career
Charlie Aberle: He’d compete with me if my dad asked one of us to get a Diet Coke from the fridge. He’d compete with me to see who’d get up faster and go get it for him. I remember he’d always try to keep up with how much I was eating. It was weird as he was four years younger than me. I’m starting to get ready to play my senior year of high school football and he was eating the same as me, just because. It wasn’t to put on weight, it wasn’t to do anything. It was ‘I want to be better than my older brother at whatever it is.’
Gibson: He was just like very respectful at the start. Then he was outgoing and confident. We had the same sense of humor, always joking. Him and I and our teammate Louis (Novelli).
Nowik: When they pulled him up in football (2021 fall season) I remember thinking that was the best decision the coaches could have made. I knew the kind of athlete and competitor he was, it would translate to any sport. He’s super aggressive, super alive, always trying to pump people up. He brought the juice from day one.
Irvin: We had to figure out his personality. Once we kind of broke him in a little bit, he was awesome. He’d hang out with us on the weekends which was kind of funny for a freshman to be hanging out with 18 year olds. We’d get lunch and dinner all the time. He’d be smiling all the time and we’d be like ‘why are you smiling?’ He’d say ‘I’m just happy to be here.’
Ryan Hippel (LFHS football and basketball teammate): He’s always been a big leader and motivator for whatever sport or team he’s played on. You’ll see him now before games hyping every one up. Even at time outs he’d be talking to guys, trying to get the best out of people. He’s always been like that. He always loves joking around with the guys, too. He’s not intense all the time.
Nowik: At football, him and I talked every day, we’d be talking at practice, after practice, texting about things coming up and different seasons. We were always so close. If there was a guy I wanted to hang out with before a team meeting, it was Tommie. If there’s a guy I want to get food with after, it was Tommie. He was just the guy I was closest with for any team we played together.
Gibson: I was a pass first guard and so having someone down low who was reliable and could finish made it great to play with him. What I remember is he’d always be on the floor diving and getting bloody noses and getting into little fights with other teams.
Nowik: We always joke that there’s no one who sweats more than Tommie. We’d be out there in the heat of the summer, he can barely grab the basketball he’s sweating so much.
LaScala: That team (‘21-’22 that made the Class 3A sectional final game) he was very vocal with his teammates. He had great relationship with the seniors on that team and was not afraid to talk about things that were going on. That is such an important characteristic to play varsity basketball or varsity football at a lower level, to be able to communicate to your teammates and coaches. If you look at the other kids that play up at lower levels, they gravitate towards those kids.
Irvin: He was a phenomenal pitcher, a great outfielder, he was fast and got a great read on the ball. His hitting wasn’t great. But what he’d do all the time was hit a soft ground ball in the infield and beat it out to first. After, he’d turn around and look back at the dugout and we’d all be laughing and it was so funny to watch and he’d be shaking his head smiling and then he’d go out and steal second.
Nowik: I have a video of him and I playing Zion and there’s a loose ball on the ground and him and I are both diving for the ball at the exact same time and for the same loose ball both for the same reason to help the team have that same chance to win. We get up and we high-five each other because we knew we both played the game the same way and that’s what I love.
Charlie Aberle: I think he takes everything that happens to him as a learning opportunity and allows him to learn from the past and I think there are a ton of contributing factors that go into that but that’s also who he is and he’ll do whatever it takes to be the best.
Tom Mocogni: I think having a four-year varsity career is one of the biggest challenges for any player, the normal progression: sophomore year you do OK, junior year you’re better, senior is your best year. What do you do jumping from junior to senior year? I mean are your stats better, are they worse? You are a marked man. All of those things make it hard, that’s why I think his intangibles will carry him.
Irvin: Coming in he had all this potential. You’d watch the games and say ‘athletic ability off the charts’ then he comes to baseball and he’s a phenomenal pitcher, he’s a great outfielder and there were so many things where you were like ‘he’s the next great LFHS athlete.’ He was at all of our graduation parties as everyone wanted to be around him. You forget about his age because of the way that he looks, he looked like us. Everybody loves Tommie Aberle. He definitely fulfilled the track he had to go on. He’s now a role model for kids younger than him. My sister is at the high school and sometimes when her guy friends are around they’ll be playing pick up basketball and say, ‘you’re not like Aberle, you can’t do that.’ He’s a role model for sure.
Charlie Aberle: I’ve seen how much time and effort he’s put into everything, into basketball, into baseball when he still played, what he’s putting into football. When you put that much time into something and that much care for something, you will ultimately do well. You can see it on his face at all times, he loves playing football, he loves playing basketball. When you have that love and you don’t want anything to stop you from getting to where you want to be, you get to accomplish those things and it’s nothing but a testament to him. I’m incredibly proud of everything he’s accomplished so far but I’m not surprised at all.
Vogrich: It is nature vs nurture. We’re able to pick him out as someone who was going to be good as a 5th grader and threw at him every challenge and he’s met every challenge.
Tom Mocogni: He’s one of a kind. One of a kind.
Photos courtesy of Kathleen Aberle
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