By STEVE KRAH
Born and raised in Highland, Ind., Zak Pizer has been offered the opportunity to lead the baseball program at his alma mater — Highland High School.
Pending school board approval Sept. 19, the 2018 graduate and HHS Social Studies teacher is the next Trojans head coach.
The position came open for Pizer when John Bogner left to become head coach at Chesterton (Ind.) High School after Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jack Campbell retired from the dugout after 52 seasons.
“I love Coach,” says Pizer of Bogner. “He instilled some baseball knowledge in me.
“It’s sad to see him go. He had to do what’s good for his family.”
Pizer spent the 2023 prep season as a junior varsity assistant. Before that he was a JV/freshman coach at Hobart (Ind.) High School on Trent Howard’s staff.
An injury his sophomore year at Highland ended Pizer’s playing career and he turned his attention to coaching at 18. With the help of Sam Michel, he guided Highland Babe Ruth teams to four state championships, two region titles and a pair of World Series berths.
Pizer plans to have Michel on his high school staff and hopes long-time Trojans assistant Bryan Gordon will return. The interview process has begun for JV and freshmen coaches.
An IHSAA Limited Contact Period goes from Aug. 28-Oct. 14. Pizer has participants doing long toss drills.
“We’re continuing a tradition of Coach Bogner,” says Pizer. “We want to get arm strength up for our potential players.”
What’s important to Pizer?
“Developing stronger baseball players (mentally and physically), maintaining Coach’s 2-strike approach, and emphasizing being a good teammate by getting runner who are on-base to score,” says Pizer.
Highland (enrollment around 1,000) is a member of the Northwest Crossroads Conference (with Andrean, Hanover Central, Hobart, Kankakee Valley and Lowell and Munster).
The Trojans are part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping in 2024 with Andrean, Boone Grove, Calumet New Tech, Griffith, Hanover Central, Rensselaer Central and River Forest. Highland has won 12 sectional titles — the last in 2000.
Recent Highland players moving on to college baseball include the Class of 2020’s A.J. Reid to Wabash (Ind.) College, 2021’s Mike Perry to Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Ind., Austin Pizer (Zak’s little brother) to Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., and Camden Scheidt to Wabash, 2022’s Jayden Rhyne and Ryan Smith to CCSJ and 2023’s George Leouses to Olivet Harvey in Chicago.
Among others who played college ball after donning the Royal Blue and Gold are Damon Castillo and Dimitri Ivetic. Sullivan Stickann is now an assistant at Olivet-Harvey and was manager this summer of the Northern League’s Southland Vikings. NL’s Indiana Panthers played their home games at Highland.
While there are no college commitments among current players, Class of 2024’s Ryan Gordon and Kyle Stacy are getting some looks.
Highland’s home diamond is on the southeast corner of the campus along 41st Street. The last big upgrade was a new scoreboard. The facility has lights thanks to a donation a few years ago by George Bizoukas.
Pizer has a goal of strengthening the relationship between the high school program and Highland Little League.
“A lot of Highland kids are not going to Highland (High School),” says Pizer. “We want to keep those Highland kids in Highland.”
After a year at Benedictine, Zak Pizer finished his college education at Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Ind., graduating in December 2022.
Zak and Lauren (Gora) Pizer were married July 21, 2023. Zak and Austin are the sons of Michael and Annamarie Pizer.
www.IndianaRBI.com 