By STEVE KRAH
Alum Joseph Mitchell was approved earlier this month as head baseball coach at Northfield Junior/Senior High School in Wabash, Ind., and he’s already thinking about setting the culture for the Norsemen.
“My big saying is do everything right every time,” says Mitchell, a 2015 Northfield graduate and science teacher at the school. “Baseball is a game of little things. How you practice in August is how you’ll end up playing in May.”
Northfield (enrollment around 270) is a member of the Three Rivers Conference (with Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Manchester, North Miami, Peru, Rochester, Southwood, Wabash and Whitko).
“The TRC is pretty good,” says Mitchell. “Rochester is returning a lot of kids.
“If we play well and we have a good off-season, there’s no reason we can’t compete with them.”
Each conference team plays one another one time.
The Norsemen are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional in 2024 grouping with Caston, North Miami, North White, Southwood and West Central. Northfield has won 10 sectional titles — the last in 2018. The Norsemen reigned as 2A state champions in 2001 and 2012.
Northfield has a streak of double-digit victory seasons that stretches back to 2012 not counting the 2020 slate canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mitchell spent the past two seasons as a Norseman assistant.
In 2019-20 and 2020-21, he was an assistant baseball coach and teacher at Churubuso (Ind.) Junior-Senior High School.
An IHSAA Limited Contact Period Aug. 28-Oct. 14.
So far the focus for Northfield participants has been hitting.
There were about 25 in the program in 2023 and Mitchell expects around that number in 2024 for varsity and junior varsity squads.
His coaching staff includes Greg Tomlinson, Stan Cox, Braden Riplinger and Nate Hembree. All but Southwood Junior-Senior High School graduate Cox are Northfield graduates.
Northfield practices and plays home games on Winegardner Field (named for former coach Craig Winegardner).
Winegardner has done some work on the bullpen mounds.
Mitchell says he hopes that the game mound can be repaired and base paths can be filled in with dirt things along with some other cosmetic things.
Northfield does not have a junior high baseball team. Many players in that age group play travel ball and are encouraged to get an athletic physical and join high schoolers during open field.
“We want them to know how we expect things to be done,” says Mitchell.
While there are no recent college baseball commits, Mitchell says Brandon McKillip can play at the next level if he so desires. The coach is also encouraged by the talent of incoming freshmen Wyatt Bucher and Caleb Dubois.
Mitchell was born in Terre Haute, Ind., and moved to Wabash early in elementary school. He played at Wabash Little League.
He was a four-year high school player, including three on the varsity.
Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Tony Uggen was his head coach.
“Phenomenal baseball coach” is the first thing that comes to mind when Mitchell thinks about Uggen. “He is very knowledgable about the game and how to prepare to play it.”
After participating in football, wrestling and baseball at Northfield, Mitchell moved on to Huntington (Ind.) University and graduated as a double major in Education and Chemistry in 2019 and went to work at Churubusco. This term at Northfield he is teaching Junior High Science, Earth Science and Advanced Placement Physics.
Joseph and Abby Mitchell have a 3-month old son named Miles.
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