Sam Lesniak absorbed everything about running a baseball program he possibly could while he was playing, student teaching or working as an assistant coach.

That kind of attention benefited Lesniak, 25, who was able to sell himself to Johnsburg administrators when the head baseball coaching position came open late this summer. Lesniak was announced as the Skyhawks’ new coach Wednesday, taking over for Dann Geisey, who left after six seasons to take the head coaching position at Carmel.

“I knew [my age] was a big obstacle,” Lesniak said. “I’ve built a great rapport with the kids and I’ve had great reviews from parents. I had guys like [Plainfield Central coach] Bob Dobbertin and [former Minooka coach] Jeff Petrovic there helping me through with whatever they could. I learned so much about the game from those guys and about running a program.”