BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – In his three summers in the dugout, Lake Monsters manager Pete Wilk made countless connections and left a lasting legacy on both the club and the baseball community here in Vermont. But on Wednesday, the Monsters announced the sad news that Wilk had died after his 15-month battle with Glioblastoma.
“Yeah, it was a huge loss,” said Monsters general manager CJ Knudsen. “Huge loss obviously for our Lake Monsters family, our fans, for Vermont, and obviously the entire sport of baseball.”
Knudsen worked closely with Wilk for his whole time in Burlington, and on the baseball side, his impact was obvious.
“Those were some great years for us,” Knudsen said. “In 2021 when we re-launched, it was a really challenging year for us coming out of COVID. And somehow Pete was able to lead the team to its first championship since 1996.”
Two more trips to the Futures League Championship series followed…but the relationships Wilk built were far more important.
“Yeah I just loved Pete’s smile, it was contagious,’ Knudsen said. “I loved his leadership. Loved his dedication to the team, to the players. Making the guys role models.”
“Once you got to know him, like when I got there in the end of the 2021 season, he was open arms, welcoming, made me feel right at home,” added Georgia, Vt. native and BFA grad Colby Brouillette.
Brouillette played for the Monsters all three seasons Wilk served as manager, and he says Pete’s personality combined with his experience is what made him so effective.
“Just his knowledge of the game,” Brouillette said. “Compared with his relatability aspect to the young college players at his age, the combination of that too is what set him apart.”
Even after his cancer diagnosis, Wilk went out of his way to come up and coach the team the second half of last Summer, during which the team honored him with a special “Dig in for Pete” night.
“He never gave up,” Knudsen said. “He was literally optimistic til the end. He was a true fighter and really a true champion.”
Knudsen says the outpouring of support from the league, Monsters family, and community at large as been remarkable.
“Pete was a true leader,” he said. “On the field, off the field. And the reaction from our fanbase: on social media to emails to phone calls we’re getting. Everybody really is heartbroken.”
And this team has a special goal in mind to honor Pete this Summer.
“If there’s one thing we want to try to do this year, we want to win for Wilk.”