BY STEVE KRAH
Greyhounds don’t give up.
At least not the kind that play baseball at the University of Indianapolis.
UIndy head coach Al Ready sees to that.
“It’s part of our culture,” says Ready. “Our team will just not quit.”
Indianapolis went 39-21 and qualified for the 2023 D-II World Series in Cary, N.C., while showing that never-day-die spirit over and over again.
A few examples …
On April 11 against Ohio Dominican, UIndy prevalied 24-23 in 11 innings. Indianapolis trailed 19-18 going into the bottom of the ninth and score on run to force extra frames. Both teams tallied three in the 10th. The visitors scored one in the top of the 11th and the Hounds walked it off with two in the bottom.
On April 25, UIndy trailed 10-7 against Kentucky Wesleyan and scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win.
There was postseason magic, too.
In a May 18 regional game at the Illinois Springfield, Indianapolis was behind 8-5 through seven innings. The Greyhounds scored five in the top of the eighth and the Prairie Stars two in the bottom. UIndy won 11-10 with the game-winner in the 11th.
What turned about to be the final game of the 2023 season was against Cal State San Bernadino had Indianapolis rallying again. The Greyhounds went down 6-0 and 9-2 then produced five runs in the bottom of the ninth in a 10-8 loss.
A player at Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Quincy (Ill.) University — center fielder Brock Boynton — used the word scrappy to describe the Hounds.
“Brock Boynton is one of the my favorite players to watch in the GLVC,” says Ready. “He’s exactly right. That’s a good assessment. We are scrappy. We just never quit.
“A lot of teams are not built to come back.”
Ready, who attended the 2024 American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Dallas and received the ABCA/ATEC D-II Midwest Regional Coach of the Year Award for 2023, has been head coach at UIndy for five seasons after 11 as an assistant to ABCA Hall of Famer Gary Vaught.
A former UIndy player, London, Ont., native Ready holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the school.
His coaching style in recent years has changed as athletes have changed.
Performance Psychology coach Scott Holdsworth — father of former UIndy All-American Macy Holdsworth — meets with the team once a week.
“I’ve learned so much from Scott in just how to get my message across to the kids,” says Ready, 46. “The message hasn’t really changed about what we need to do on the field. But the way I deliver the message is much different.
“How the coach should interact with the kids is the biggest thing that I’ve learned. The way I deliver the message is much different.
“Coaches that are my age could probably relate to this. In my generation, coaches just told you to do something and you didn’t ask questions. You just did it because the coach told you to do it. Now the players need to know why. You need to provide much more information and you need to teach them.”
To prove his point, Ready uses the video game MLB: The Show as an analogy.
“A lot of coaches up to the early and mid-2000’s were coaching their teams like the video game. The players don’t have a brain. Just do this because I tell you to do it.”
Ready no longer coaches third base but stays in the dugout so he can communicate with the hitter and the players on-deck and in the hole about the situation.
“The stars are aligning here for this play and this is what we’re going to do,” says Ready.
“Small ball” is a big part of what make UIndy click. The Hounds will bunt and they will certainly run. Indianapolis obliterated the previous single-season stolen base record with 153 (in 180 attempts) in 2023. Individual leaders were Caleb Vaughn (a school-record 43), Easton Good (25), Jared Bujdos (22), Brandon DeWitt (17), Drew Donaldson (17) and Nick Lukac (17).
Ready’s coaching staff for 2024 features pitching coach/recruiting director Adam Cornwell and hitting/third base/infield coach E.J. Devarie plus graduate assistants DeWitt and Alex Vela. Trevor Forde has left to become head coach at Illinois Springfield.
UIndy opens the 2024 season Feb. 16 against Notre Dame College in Indianapolis. The South Euclid, Ohio-based Falcons are coached by former big league pitcher Len Barker.
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