The balance of power in the DuPage Valley Conference has changed and the coaching profession has undergone its own transformation.

But Jim Schaudt has been the same laid-back, loyal, well-respected guy and successful head softball coach for the past 14 years.

And this season will be his last as head coach at West Chicago as the Woodridge resident submitted his official letter of resignation to athletic director Bob Stone Monday.

“I told my wife when I reached 10 years as a head coach that I would re-evaluate things very year,” said Schaudt, who’s been with the Wildcats’ program for 22 years. “For many years, I did summer ball and I’ve coached fall ball at Glenside Middle School (where he’s been for 26 years and teaches eighth-grade social studies).”

“I still love softball and especially the kids but that’s a lot of years of being away from my wife and I owe it to her to spend more time with her,” Schaudt added.

One of the people at West Chicago who’s known him the longest has been Kim Wallner, head varsity girls basketball coach and former assistant on Schaudt’s staff.

“Jim was a volunteer assistant for Lee (Maciejewski, former West Chicago and current Hinsdale Central coach) when I got here and I was fortunate enough to assist him on the varsity,” Wallner said. “And it was tough to give up coaching the sport, in large part because I enjoyed working with Jim so much.”

“He’s dedicated a lot of his life to West Chicago athletics in many ways,” Wallner added. “It made me sad when he told me of his decision but I want him to be happy in his life and I hope I bring some of his traits to my job.”

Those who have been around the area long enough remember when West Chicago was the premier softball program in the DVC. Athletic director Bob Stone, who came to West Chicago from Joliet Catholic Academy in 1997, is one of those people.

“One of the reasons DVC softball is so good was that West Chicago was so good for a number of years,” Stone said. “He coaches like he is, knows all of his kids so well. People get coached different ways and his way worked. And the kids respected him because of that.”

It’s Schaudt’s respect for his coaches that makes it an easy choice, in his opinion, for his successor.

“Laurie Davidson has been my assistant since 2003 and has done a great job helping me out,” Schaudt said of the former player from the 1989 squad that was headed by Maciejewski and went undefeated in the DVC. “She did some coaching at Concordia and at Naperville North before coming back here. I hope she gets the job. She’s ready for it.”

And Schaudt is ready to take a Spring Break, something he has not done for more than 20 years. Perhaps he and his wife will head to the Pacific Northwest (his wife’s choice) or Spring Training baseball in Arizona (his pick).

He’ll keep teaching at Glenside for several more years and run the school’s softball program for perhaps another year but it’s likely he’ll keep some presence at West Chicago.

“I’m proud of the fact that this has become a competitive, respected program and we’ve done it without a lot of kids going on to D-1 schools — they’re well-rounded kids who have other options in life,” Schaudt said.

“I had a whole set of emotions turning in my letter (of resignation) the other day and I’m sure when next February or March rolls around I’ll feel like something is missing,” Schaudt added. “I have nothing but great memories of the school and the community. I had fun talking with everybody.”

Monday, the Wildcats added yet another memorable day to Schaudt’s tenure, rallying for a dramatic 2-1, nine-inning win over previously undefeated Naperville Central.

The Redhawks (9-1, 3-1) got their run in the fourth but West Chicago (9-4, 3-1) answered with the tying run in the bottom of the fifth. Mary Connolly doubled and pinch-runner Molly Monroe scored the equalizer on an infield error.

In the ninth, Linnea Detrick doubled and when Chrissie Rovtar hit a dribbler to the first baseman, Detrick caught the Redhawks by surprise when she kept running and scored before they could react.

Connolly (9-3) allowed eight hits and one walk but thanks to several solid defensive plays and 11 strikeouts was able to get out of jams. She has 111 strikeouts on the season.

Last Saturday, she tossed a one-hitter, striking out 11, in a 3-0 win at Batavia, 3-0, in the first game of a doubleheader. The Wildcats scored all of their runs in the fifth inning, which was highlighted by Detrick’s two-run triple. They dropped the second game, 3-1, ending a four-game winning streak.