BY STEVE KRAH
In his capacity as head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind., Reed Foxworthy wants his players to know that they’re all in it together.
“One of our big things is always be a good teammate,” says Foxworthy, who heads into his fourth season of leading the Patriots in 2019. “That covers a lot of stuff like getting your schoolwork done and making sure you’re eligible, being prepared and giving it your best effort.”
Foxworthy, a 2008 Seeger graduate who spent three seasons as junior varsity coach before taking over the program, also emphasizes the importance of having a good attitude.
“Focus your energy on things you can control,” says Foxworthy. “Don’t worry about what you can’t control.
“Hopefully, that carries on to life and whatever they do after baseball.”
Foxworthy graduated from Purdue University in 2012 with a degree in social studies education. He now teaches math to seventh graders and psychology and sociology to high schoolers at Seeger, which is located in Warren County and 15 miles east of the Indiana-Illinois state line.
When he was a high school student, Foxworthy played baseball for head coaches Doug Allison and Brent Rademacher and basketball for head coach Brad Metzger.
Foxworthy credits Allison and Rademacher for running well-organized practices.
“We had something to do,” says Foxworthy. “There was never down time. I try to carry that over. That’s important to us.”
Those coaches also instilled characteristics that Foxworthy wants from his players.
“We were always doing things the right way, being on time and respectful toward officials,” says Foxworthy. “We tried to control what we could control.”
Foxworthy remembers Metzger as a stickler for details.
“The little things add up,” says Foxworthy.
Seeger (enrollment around 390) is a member of the Wabash River Conference (with Attica, Covington, Fountain Central, North Vermillion, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke and South Vermillion).
WRC teams play each other twice to determine a conference champion. These games are played either as a weekday home-and-home series or in a Saturday doubleheader.
Non-conference opponents for the Patriots include Benton Central, Bismarck-Henning (Bismarck, Ill.), Clinton Prairie, Faith Christian (Lafayette), Frontier, North Montgomery, Oakwood (Fithian, Ill.), Southmont, South Newton and Tri-County.
There has been talk about having Seeger play Cascade, where Cadets head coach Ty Foster is Foxworthy’s cousin. But the two schools are 85 miles apart.
The Patriots are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic and Western Boone. Seeger has won five sectional titles — the last two in 2012 and 2015.
Foxworthy’s assistants are Dale Carroll, Avery Acton and Andy Stover. There are usually around 20 players for varsity and junior varsity squads.
“We’d like to have a few more,” says Foxworthy, who has played with 11 varsity players and sent nine to a JV game on the same night.
Home games are played on-campus on a diamond that in recent years has gained a new batting cage and bleachers and had its infield, mound, home plate and base areas re-done.
During the IHSAA limited contact periods since the end of the football season, baseball players — many of whom are also basketball players or wrestlers — have met on Thursday mornings. As the season approaches, workouts have been on Tuesday nights.
Taking advantage of auxiliary gym space, the Patriots have been able to pull down two indoor batting tunnels and have enough room for long toss.
“Not every school around here has this,” says Foxworthy. “It’s pretty nice.”
A junior high club team of seventh and eighth graders played in the spring. In the summer, those same kids take part in the Wabash Valley Summer Baseball League.
Players also play with various travel baseball organizations, including those around Crawfordsville, Indianapolis and Danville, Ill.
Reed and wife Madison Foxworthy do not have children.
Reed Foxworthy is head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind. He is a 2008 Seeger graduate.
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