Relationships key for Hundley, Canes Midwest Baseball

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Coaching continuity is one of the ingredients that helps fuel the Canes Midwest Baseball travel program.

In order to build relationships and develop players, coaching staffs tend to stay with the same group of players from their 14U through 17U seasons.

“If I’ve only been around these kids for eight weeks in summer, I don’t really get to know the kid and the family,” says Jay Hundley, Canes Midwest Baseball president and 17U head coach. “The cycle — I believe in that.”

Hundley recalls an emotional goodbye by himself and his assistant coaches to the Canes 17U team when they played their last game of 2019.

“We cried like babies for 25 minutes straight,” says Hundley. “(The players and their parents) became our second family.”

That bond happens through years of training (off-season workouts are done at Pro X Athlete Development in Westfield, Ind.), traveling and playing together. 

In 2020, Canes Midwest Baseball is fielding six teams — 11U (head coach Eric McGaha with help from Joe Haley), 12U (Jamie Nanny with Jeremy Sensenbaugh), 13U (Jeff Millington with Ryan Wolfe), 15U (Jeremy Honaker with Drew Koning and Drew Bertram), 16U (Phil McIntyre with David Bear) and 17U (Hundley with Phillip Webb, Ben McDaniel and Hunter McIntosh). 

McGaha (Mooresville), Honaker (Martinsville), McIntyre (Indianapolis North Central), Bear (Ben Davis), Webb (Western Boone) and McDaniel (Columbus North) are all high school head coaches. Sensenbaugh (Indianapolis Cathedral), Koning (Zionsville) and McIntosh (Columbus North) are also high school assistants. Bertram played at Purdue University and just graduated.

Hundley says there will be teams at each age from 10U to 17U when new squads are formed for 2020-21.

“We’ll only only ever have only one team per age group,” says Hundley. “We want to have the best kids and coaches. We’re trying to grow it the right way — slowly and surely.

“We’ve had the same coaches for almost 10 years.”

Hundley founded the Indiana Outlaws around 2012. A few years ago, that organization merged with Canes Baseball.

With President and CEO and 18U National head coach Jeff Petty and general manager and 14U National head coach Dan Gitzen based in the Virginia/Maryland/North Carolina area, Canes Baseball is one of the biggest travel programs in the country with thousands of players and a very large social media presence.

“The Outlaws were known in Indiana and surrounding areas,” says Hundley. 

While Canes Midwest Baseball is locally owned and operated, Hundley says the national Canes brand helps with outreach in getting better players and with exposure to college programs.

Canes Midwest Baseball does not have a huge board of directors.

“It’s like a mom-and-pop operation,” says Hundley. “It’s myself and our coaches. It’s about baseball at the end of the day. 

“We’re getting guys into college and developing our younger players. We build great relationships with families. We do it for the right reasons.”

Hundley says 21 of the 23 players on the 17U team in 2019 (members of the Class of 2020) made college baseball commitments.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 college season was cut short and players were given an extra year of eligibility. High school seniors missed the entire spring campaign.

The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was sliced from 40 to five rounds. 

On top of that, the recruiting calendar for NCAA Divisions I and II was changed so coaches can’t see players in-person until after July 31. The travel season is essentially over by then.

To deal with that, Hundley says Canes Midwest Baseball will continue to provide those college coaches with video and use the equity built built over the years between the travel group and the college recruiters.

“We have to vouch for our player’s character, but we can’t oversell a player who’s not a fit for the school or we lose credibility,” says Hundley. “(Recruiters) can see a guy’s talent, but can’t see what’s in his heart or between his ears.”

It’s typical that close to 90 percent of players are committed by the end of the 17U summer.

Hundley says that it used to be that the 17U summer was the most important for players bound for Division I Power 5 programs. 

That has changed to 16U and some players have even made verbal commitments as 15U players. At 17U, there are still D-I commitments made as well as at other collegiate levels.

“The landscape has changed so much,” says Hundley. “There may be a chain reaction for three or four years. There are a lot of guys that didn’t leave college because of not being drafted.

“The waters have gotten very muddy. I don’t think it’s going to get clear for awhile.”

The 17U Canes Midwest team has already participated in three events for 2020. This week, the squad goes to the Prep Baseball Report Midwest Premier Super 17 at Creekside Baseball Park — an invitational-only tournament near Kansas City. That will be followed by the PBR Indiana Upperclass State Games and Bullpen 17 Amateur Baseball Championships (both at Grand Park in Westfield), the PBR 17U National Championship at LakePoint near Atlanta. 

Depending on participation by college recruiters, Hundley says the 17U Canes Midwest team might also play in the next Bullpen Midwest Prospect League event at Grand Park.

With their bright gold attire, it’s usually not difficult to spot the Canes at a tournament.

Hundley is a 1997 graduate of Ben Davis High School and played for head coach Dave Brown. Later on, Hundley was a Ben Davis assistant for six years and followed Aaron Kroll to staff Roncalli High School in Indianapolis and was on his staff 2015-19. 

The Roncalli Rebels — junior Michael McAvene was the winning pitcher (who later played at the University of Louisville and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2019) and sophomore Nick Schnell (who was selected as Indiana Mr. Baseball in 2018 and drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays that same year) —  won the 2016 IHSAA Class 4A state title. McAvene and Schnell are also Outlaws/Canes Midwest alums.

Other Outlaws/Canes Midwest players drafted in recent years include Jacson McGowan (Rays, 2018), Drew Campbell (Atlanta Braves, 2019), Andrew Saalfrank (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2019).

For the past 22 years, Hundley has been part of the concrete construction industry. He is the owner of Extreme Concrete Cutting, Inc.

The Canes Midwest travel baseball organization has six teams in 2020.

Jay Hundley (center) is the head coach and president of the Canes Midwest travel organization. The graduate of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis started the Indiana Outlaws and later merged with the Canes.

Jay Hundley (right) with son Bronx Robert Hundley. Jay is the president and coach of Canes Midwest travel baseball.

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Chandler uses Jaguars Baseball to give back to Lafayette youth

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Advancing the player and the person is the driving force behind the Jaguars Baseball Baseball Organization, Inc., based in Lafayette, Ind.

“We focus more so on youth development — all the skill sets,” says Matt Chandler, who founded the Jaguars in the early 2000’s and is in the second year of a re-boot with a 13U squad in 2020 — his 31st year as a baseball coach. “We cover the intangibles that rec ball may not provide.

“We emphasize body and athletic development before we even get to the baseball training.”

Using the gym at Sunrise Christian Reformed Church in Lafayette and Family Sports Center in West Lafayette, the Jaguars do strength and speed work as well as learn about pitching, hitting and fielding.

Chandler says there is an emphasis on arm care, including recovery.

“There is a specific way we develop our pitchers,” says Chandler. “The kids experience what they’re going to experience in high school if they get to that level.

“Typically, we take 30 minutes of every practice for stretching and throwing properly and that includes some long toss.”

All bullpen pitches are charted.

“We have a bullpen goal for each kid,” says Chandler. “For example, we might try to throw at least 50 percent strikes.”

These numbers are turned into rankings and shared with the players.

“We build a lesson on how to compete, hold yourself accountable and improve,” says Chandler. “We do similar things for hitting and fielding.”

During batting practice, all defensive chances are charted and the goal is to go error-free on at least 96 percent of them.

But it’s about more than baseball.

“We’ve got to continue to let kids know it’s OK to pray,” says Chandler, who has lost two former players to suicide — one who had played for him at Harrison High School and another former Jaguar. “After every game, we take a knee and give God the glory.

“We want them to know that their coaches have their best interests at heart and they’re more than a jersey number. Every kid I come in contact with them, that I’m here for them and they’re loved. I want to be an outlet for these kids.”

Chandler says he wants players to continue to learn and grow in the game and also have fun so they don’t get burned out, giving it up even before they get to high school.

The organization’s originator says the Jaguars gives opportunities to families who may not have the time or funds to devote to full-fledge travel ball. The team plays many of its games in Lafayette with the Wea Summer Rec complex being a common site.

In 2019, the Jaguars played around 30 games.

“We’re in wait-and-see mode,” says Chandler. “We ordered equipment and gear in anticipation of playing a 15-game schedule that would begin in May. It’ll be whatever state and federal government allow. We usually have a Tippecanoe County rec league.

“But with the (COVID-19 Coronavirus) pandemic that did not get off the ground. Many local teams shut down for the year. We want to allow kids and families to continue and grow and develop so we organized our own league (run by Ryan Johnson).”

Chandler regularly consults with high school, college and pro coaches to increase his baseball knowledge.

“In order for the Jaguars organization to grow, I have to grow as a coach,” says Chandler. “If I don’t, I’m doing a disservice to my players and my program.”

Over the years, the Jaguars have had high school-age players. There are currently 13 players — mostly sixth and seventh graders.

Chandler was born and raised in Lafayette. He played two years of high school baseball at Lafayette Central Catholic. After transferring to Lafayette Jeff, he was cut in his junior and senior years (1988 and 1989).

“I still loved the game,” says Chandler, who began coaching baseball in local youth leagues at 18 and is still at it.

Chandler served as head junior varsity coach on the staff of Joel Strode at West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School in 2009 and 2010 then went back to the youth leagues while coaching the Jaguars on a part-time basis. He was head JV coach at Harrison, where Pat Lowery is head coach, in 2015 and 2016.

In 2017 and 2018, Chandler was head coach at Faith Christian School in Lafayette. As far as he knows, he was the first African-American head baseball coach at the high school in Tippecanoe County.

“Then God called me to a bigger purpose — to re-start the Jaguars program to give back to the youth of our community,” says Chandler.

Matt is married to Jennifer Chandler and has a 20-year-old step-daughter named Hannah.

For just the third year in 31, Matt is coaching his sons — Matthew Chandler Jr. (13) and Thomas Chandler (12).

“It’s a blessing to mentor and coach them,” says Matthew Chandler Sr.

His Jaguars assistants for the second year are Mark McIntosh, James Casab and Vernon Ford.

McIntosh has been a board member and coach at Frankfort (Ind.) Little League. His son, Xavier McIntosh, is a Jaguar.

Casab (Harrison) and Ford (Faith Christian) both played for Chandler, making more than a dozen former players who have coached with him over the years.

“It’s bigger than any trophy I could ever win,” says Chandler. “They come back and give to the kids. They show (current players) what it looks like to give back.”

Thomas Chandler (left) and brother Matthew Chandler Jr., play for Jaguars Baseball Organization, Inc., in Lafayette, Ind. The Jaguars were formed by Matthew Chandler Sr., in the early 2000’s and re-booted in 2019.

Matthew Chandler Sr., is the founder of Jaguars Baseball Organization, Inc., in Lafayette, Ind. The 2020 season marks his 31st of coaching the sport.