Adam Piotrowicz is preparing for his first season as a college baseball head coach. He is running the show at NCAA Division II Saginaw Valley State University in University Center, Mich., after assistant stints at NCAA D-III Heidelberg University (2008-10), NCAA D-I Valparaiso (Ind.) University (2010-13) and NCAA D-I Western Michigan University (2013-22). “I feel very prepared for this because of all the people I’ve worked for and with,” says Piotrowicz, 37. “(Western Michigan head coach) Billy Gernon gave me all kinds of freedom and increased my role every year. “Brian Scmack at Valpo is another big mentor for me I’ve always been able to lean on.” Piotrowicz served as the associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, hitting coach and catching coach at WMU before making the transition to skipper of the SVSU Cardinals. “The one big difference is that my phone is always ringing,” says Piotrowicz. “It was always ringing before but I always knew it was recruits. Now it’s anything and everything. “It’s compliance or a fundraising thing or an alum that wants to meet up for dinner or the bus company. I was prepared for it. It comes with the territory. I knew that was what the job was going to be.” As Saginaw Valley prepares to open the 2023 season Friday, Feb. 17 against Cedarville University in Xenia, Ohio, the roster is full of upperclassmen. “Thankfully we have a real good group of older guys coming back,” says Piotrowicz. “It helps from a recruiting standpoint that I’ve been recruiting the state for the past nine years. “I’ve got good assistants in-place and that’s key, having the right people around you.” The coaching staff features pitching coach/co-recruiting coordinator Justin McMurtrey, co-recruiting coordinator/baserunning/outfield coach Brandon Evans and hitting/infielder coach Demeris Barlow. McMurtrey pitched at Eastern Michigan University. Evans was an pitcher/outfielder at Rochester University. Barlow was a corner infielder at Indiana Tech and Indiana University South Bend (playing for Doug Buysse, a teammate of Piotrowicz at John Glenn High School in Walkerton, Ind.) and is on the coaching staff of the 2023 Lafayette Aviators of the summer collegiate wood bat Prospect League. Piotriowicz took his assistants to the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Nashville in January. “I like to listen to the speakers,” says Piotrowicz. “We have a young coaching staff and it’s good for them to go down and network. They see what the profession is like.” Saginaw Valley belongs to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. As an NCAA D-II school, the game limit is 50 — six less than D-I. “My thing is I want this place to be ran like a Division I school,” says Piotrowicz. “The first guy I worked for — Matt Palm — said make it ‘big time wherever you’re at.’ We were a small, little Heidelberg University (in Tiffin, Ohio). We treated each day like we were competing for a spot in Omaha (and the D-I College World Series). “We have a few less hours to work with (players) out-of-season but it’s nothing major,” says Piotrowicz, who sees the recruiting, player development and in-season and out-of-season periods as very similar. In addition to getting the Cardinals prepared, SVSU has hosted prospect and youth camps. “We try to make those affordable so we can get more kids out and excited about baseball,” says Piotrowicz. “This area for baseball is really, really good. I feel like it gets under-recruited sometimes. Some of the best guys I coached at Western were from out of this area.” University Center is about 110 miles northwest of Detroit and about 100 miles northeast of Lansing. Left-hander Keegan Akin, who went to high school in Midland, Mich., made 45 appearances for the 2022 Baltimore Orioles. There’s also Connor Smith, Alex Goodwin, Chad Mayle and Grant Miller. “A lot of those guys didn’t have a lot going on out of high school,” says Piotrowicz. “You’ve got smaller schools but with that you get some multi-sport (athletes). Once they get to focus on baseball year-round the development really takes off.” Piotrowicz says the transfer portal has many D-I programs looking there for players at the expense of those at the prep level. “More and more high school guys are not getting the looks they would have four or five years ago. There are more grad transfers because of COVID. It all kind of goes together. “That opens up a really good market for us at the Division II level.” says Piotrowicz. Not many players come to the Cardinals via the portal. “It has to be the right fit,” says Piotrowicz. “I’d rather get guys through high school or our (junior college) connections.” Saginaw Valley plays at the SVSU Baseball Complex and — when the weather does not allow for outdoor work — trains in the SVSU Fieldhouse. “Everything we have is better than some of the (D-I Mid-American Conference) schools,” says Piotrowicz. “We have a beautiful indoor turf football field with a track and windows all around that makes it pop as a first impression. “There’s an auxiliary gym with an additional 2 1/2 batting cages. We’ve got a Division I weight room.” The Cardinals also have access to outdoor turf football and soccer fields. Piotrowicz graduated from John Glenn in 2004 and Manchester University (North Manchester, Ind.) in 2008. Adam and wife Heather have two sons — Hunter (7) and Elliot (4) — and a third one due in the middle of April. “It’s a very nature/outdoors type of area and my kids love that,” says Piotrowicz. “(First grader Hunter) is into baseball, basketball and hockey — all that stuff. He’s made the transition very well.”
Adam Piotrowicz. (Saginaw Valley State University Image)
Kory Seitz has some points of emphasis as the new head baseball coach at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind. “Out of the gate we’ve got to get stronger and have a little more grit,” says Seitz. “We are going to live in the weight room. “I’m going to be a little less baseball and a little more that.” Seitz, a 1996 HSE graduate who has been on the Royals coaching staff the last 18 years under four head coaches (Curry Harden, Scott Johnson, Scott Henson and Jeremy Sassanella), has witnessed a huge uptick in strikeouts by the program’s hitters in recent seasons and sees a solution. “We’ve been overthinking things,” says Seitz. “It’s going to be different. They’re not going to be told they have to swing a certain way. The kids have to relax and be comfortable in their own skin.” Seitz spent his entire pre-college career in the Hamilton Southeastern system. His father Ken Seitz was HSE head baseball coach for 25 years and is a member of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The elder Seitz was also the school’s athletic director for 25 years and was IHSBCA State Clinic chairman for 15. Kory, a former infielder who played for Bob Morgan at Indiana University, describes his father’s coaching style. “My dad’s not a yeller,” says Kory. “He built relationships with kids. When he did get loud he got a lot better response. If you’re constantly on the negative side they’re going shut down. “There’s a reason guys come back 30 years later at alumni night.” Seitz uses a phrase from HSE head football coach Mike Kelly which also fits. “You can’t make withdrawals without making deposits with kids,” says Seitz. “They know that you care about them.” The Royals play and practice on Ken Seitz Field. Since his retirement as head coach, Ken Seitz (who is married to Kathy with a daughter, Kristy) has served several years as an assistant and is on Kory’s varsity staff along with pitching coach Owen Callaghan (HSE Class of 2017), who just finished his fifth year at Indiana University-Kokomo and was the Cougars’ Friday starter in 2022. “He is mature beyond his years on the baseball side,” says Seitz of Callaghan, who follows Harden as the man in charge of Royals pitchers There is one opening at the varsity level. HSE fields two junior varsity teams — Royal and White. Coaches include Ken Shepherd, Mason Love, John Gibbons and Brian Harrison. Hamilton Southeastern (enrollment around 3,475) is a member of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference (with Avon, Brownsburg, Franklin Central, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville). HCC teams play two-game series. “I love the competition,” says Seitz of the conference. “Playing against the best puts you in the best come tournament time.” The Royals were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2022 with Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville. HSE has won 15 sectional titles — the last in 2019. The team went on to win a 4A state championship, edging Columbus East 3-2 in the finale with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Eight of the 12 players to appear in that game were seniors, including starter pitcher Michael Dillon and reliever Tyler Schweitzer. Right-hander Dillon ranked No. 2 among all NCAA Division II pitchers in saves with 14 for Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in 2022. Lefty Schweitzer went 11-2 at Ball State and was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox. Among other recent alums to move on to college baseball are Matt Gorski (Class of 2016) at Indiana University (drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019), Carter Poiry (Class of 2016) at Western Illinois (later Lincoln Trail College, Morehead State University and Quinnipiac University), Sam Bachman (Class of 2018) to Miami (Ohio) University (drafted in the first round in 2021 by the Los Angeles Angels), Carter Lohman (Class of 2018) at the University of Louisville (drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022), Andrew Morlen (Class of 2018) at Anderson University, Lake Land College and Delta State University, Rutger Poiry (Class of 2018) at Lincoln Trail College and Eastern Kentucky University, Greyson Droste (Class of 2019) at the University of Akron, Cole Graverson (Class of 2020) at Butler University and Griffin Lohman (Class of 2020) at Purdue University. There are no college commitments yet among current players. Seitz looks at a number of returning pitchers who logged innings for HSE in 2022, including the Class of 2023’s Brady Strawmyer, Eli Lantz, Griffen Haas and Ty Bradle and the Class of 2024’s Ethan Lund. Lund and Haas are left-handers. The rest of right-handers. “Growing up in this program and working under different coaches,” says Seitz. “I know a lot of these kids really well. “I know what we have coming.” Started three years ago, the Royals Baseball Club serves as kind of feeder for HSE. It is run as a separate entity from the school. Beginning at 13, teams play a full travel ball schedule from March to July. Kory’s oldest son, Kam Seitz (Class of 2024), played for the 16U RBC Select team this summer. “In our district kids have a choice of which high school they want to go to — HSE or Fishers,” says Seitz. “(With the RBC), we get get to know who are kids are. Our whole coaching staff involved in their winter workouts and are in-charge of teams if possible. “We don’t have junior high baseball here. This is our way of connecting with those kids and building a relationship with them.” Besides being a coach, Seitz is a realtor/broker for Keller Williams Realty. “It’s easy for me to want to promote this area,” says Seitz. Kory and wife Heather also have twins in the Class of 2027 — Karson (baseball) and Haleigh (softball).
Kory Seitz (Hamilton Southeastern High School Photo)
Friday night starter Austin Peterson has been sitting batters down at a consistent pace so far in 2022. The 6-foot-6 senior right-handed pitcher has made four starts for the University of Connecticut and was 2-0 with 44 strikeouts and five walks in 24 2/3 innings heading into the Week of March 14-20. A 2018 Chesterton (Ind.) High School graduate, Peterson played at Purdue and Wabash Valley College before winding up at UConn. Peterson is more than one of 120 players from Indiana high schools (or hometowns) on NCAA Division I rosters outside the state. Many are key contributors. Freshman right-hander Casey Sorg (Floyd Central) sported a 1.59 ERA in five mound appearances for Bellarmine, a squad with nine Indiana products on a team led by Jeffersonville alum Larry Owens. Sophomore outfielder Carson Husmann (South Central of Union Mills) was hitting .318 with two home runs and 11 runs batted in for Bradley. Senior outfielder Damon Lux (Shelbyville) had driven in 12 runs for Duke. Redshirt junior right-hander Blake Malatestnic (Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter) was 3-0 with a 2.82 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings for Eastern Illinois. Sophomore second baseman Tim Borden II (Providence) was hitting .316 with four homers and 11 RBIs for Georgia Tech. Freshman outfielder Jared Comia (Hanover Central) was hitting .283 with two homers and eight RBIs for Illinois. Redshirt senior catcher/first baseman Nolan Metcalf (Penn) was hitting .306 with nine RBIs for Kansas. Senior right-hander Jack Myers (Indianapolis Cathedral) had 16 strikeouts in 19 innings for Kennesaw State. Sophomore left-hander Michael Dunkelberger (South Bend Saint Joseph) was 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA for Lipscomb. Senior right-hander Jared Poland (Indianapolis Cathedral) was 1-1 with 1.38 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13 innings for Louisville. Redshirt sophomore J.J. Woolwine (Fishers) was hitting .439 with one homer and eight RBIs and freshman right-hander Luke Leverton (Seton Catholic) was 1-0 with 1.00 ERA and nine strikeouts in innings for Miami (Ohio). Senior shortstop Riley Bertram (ZIonsville Community) was hitting .293 with one homer and 11 RBIs for Michigan. Sophomore outfielder Roman Kuntz (New Prairie) was hitting .370 with three homers and 10 RBIs for Morehead State. Freshman right-hander Landon Kruer (Providence) was 1-0 with 1.59 ERA for Navy. Redshirt junior outfielder Trevyn Moss (Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran) was hitting .274 with one homer, one triple and 14 RBIs for Northern Kentucky. Redshirt junior shortstop Xavier Haendiges (Salem) was hitting .353 for Ohio. Junior right-hander Bayden Root (Kokomo) was 1.0 with a 2.61 ERA in six appearances for Oklahoma State. Senior right-hander Cameron Pferrer (Carmel) was 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings for Saint Louis. Freshman Nick Mitchell (Carmel) was hitting .357 with eight RBIs for Western Illinois. Junior infielder/outfielder Matthew Meyer (Westfield) was hitting .260 with one homer and 11 RBIs for Western Kentucky. Senior outfielder Ryan Missal (Lowell) was hitting .257 with four homers and 11 RBIs for Western Michigan. Sophomore first baseman Julian Greenwell (Columbus East) was hitting .310 with one homer and nine RBIs. There’s several more coaches with Indiana prep roots — head coach Billy Gernon (New Albany) and associate head coach Adam Piotrowicz (John Glenn) at Western Michigan, head coach Eric Wedge (Fort Wayne Northrop) at Wichita State and assistants Jared Broughton (Indianapolis Lutheran) at Clemson, Nick McIntyre (McCutcheon) at Toledo, Justin Parker (Fort Wayne Wayne) at South Carolina, Matt Reida (Western) at Alabama and Bobby Rinard (Mishwawaka Marian) at Dixie State.
INDIANA D-I PLAYERS OUTSIDE STATE 2022 Alabama So. IF Bryce Eblin (Center Grove) Volunteer Assistant Coach Matt Reida (Western)
Alabama State Fr. RHP/IF Kyler McIntosh (Columbus North)
Illinois Fr. OF Jared Comia (Hanover Central) Jr./Sr. C Ryan Hampe (Hometown — Crown Point, Ind. — Sandburg HS) Fr. RHP Calvin Shepherd (Lawrence North)
“I’m a humongous believer in owning that inside part of the plate with the fastball,” says Welliever. “It seems to have worked.
“If you can throw the inside fastball, every other pitch is available to you.”
Welliever wants his hurlers to employ solid mechanics. But he is also unique in today’s deviating from today’s prevelant approach.
“My pitchers are always working on stuff, stuff, stuff,” says Welliever, who knows his players enjoy throwing hard. “Most people work on location, location, location.”
Welliever has his catchers set up on the inside black for bullpens about 60-70 percent of the time. Many of his hurlers go hard in and soft away though some have done the opposite.
“It’s OK if once in awhile you hit a batter,” says Welliever. “Don’t get upset.”
Breaking balls are also thrown hard.
“We’re trying to create as much spin on that ball so it breaks as late as possible and the hitter has the least amount of time to react to it,” says Welliever. “I think that’s the best way to do it.”
Welliever has his pitchers build arm strength with long toss and with burnouts aka pulldowns.
The 2008 Crawfordsville pitching staff racked up 397 (No. 3 in the IHSBCA Record Book; No. 1 Lafayette Jeff fanned 450 in 43 games in 1971).
Steven Rice fanned 198 batters in 2009 and finished his Athenians career (2007-10) with 521 K’s.
Welliever worked alongside brother-in-law and Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer John Froedge through 2020.
“One of John’s strengths teaching the fundamentals of fielding,” says Welliever. “(Strong defense) helps pitchers.
“It gives them confidence to attack the hitters and throw strikes.”
Brett Motz, a 1995 Crawfordsville graduate, is now Athenians head coach. Motz played at the University of Evansville, served as a graduate assistant at Purdue University and was head coach at North Putnam High School before returning to his alma mater, where he is also the strength & conditioning coach.
The Athenians won Class 3A state championships in 2008 (32-4) and 2011 (29-6).
What keeps Welliever coming back?
“It’s working with the kids and getting them to the point where they’re confident about themselves,” says Welliever. “It’s seeing them succeed in baseball and in life.”
He has witnessed many former players giving back to the community as coaches at the youth and high school levels.
“It is the most satisfying thing,” says Welliever, who grew up around New Market, Ind., and is a 1980 graduate of Southmont High School in Crawfordsville, where he played baseball for Mounties head coach George Davis and counted Froedge and the Taylor twins — Dave and Dan — as teammates. Dave Taylor went on to help found the Indiana Bulls travel organization.
“We played a lot of baseball together,” says Welliever. “It was a really special group of guys.”
Dan Welliever, Rhett’s father, taught junior high and was a wrestling head coach and an assistant in baseball, football and softball at Crawfordsville.
Jamie Welliever, Rhett’s brother, is retired from teaching and has spent two tenures each as head baseball and head wrestling coach at Southmont.
Landon McBride (New Palestine)
A middle school coach for five years (seventh and eighth grade teams often play up to 20 games while feeding the high school program), Landon McBride joined the New Palestine High School staff for the 2007 season. He is the Dragons infield coach and helps with hitters on a staff led since 2012 by Shawn Lyons.
“The thing that jumps out at me the most about Coach Lyons is his absolute passion for his kids,” says McBride. “If you’re not in the inner circle you may not see that. But he does a great job of having his finger no the pulse of where our team is at and where each individual is at.”
McBride sees Lyons as steady.
“He doesn’t get too high; He doesn’t get too low,” says McBride. “He tries to keep our players on that even-keel, knowing there’s going to be ups and downs everyday.”
On game days, McBride serves as Lyons’ right-hand man, bouncing lineups off one another and trading ideas about strategy while also coaching first base.
McBride emphasizes fundamentals when it comes to his infielders fielding ground balls.
“We’re getting reps in every day — the way we think is the right way,” says McBride. “With hitting, we believe in going the other way. We’re utilizing our speed, bunt and steal bases when we can.”
McBride regularly throws batting practice.
“I’m 59 but I’m still chucking it in there,” says McBride. “I try to give them a little sense of velocity (by moving the L screen closer to the plate.”
When the varsity field is not available, New Pal baseball has been able to use the turf football field for long toss, tracking fly balls and taking grounders.
A 1980 graduate of Marshall High School in Indianapolis where he played three seasons for Bob Tremain and one for Brad Goffinet, McBride was a four-year player for Lynn Morrell at Marian University in Indianapolis — at the time an independent NAIA program.
McBride says he appreciates the discipline, structure and attention to detail that Tremain and Goffinet brought to Redskins baseball.
“(Coach Morrell) liked getting the ball into play and swinging away,” says McBride. “It was the pure joy of being around the game.”
Landon, a partner in Indiana Property Services which gives him the schedule freedom to coach baseball, and wife Shari McBride have three children — Ryan (30), Angela (28) and Wes (24). The boys played baseball and Angela was also an athlete at New Palestine.
Mike Zeilinga (New Palestine)
A 1976 New Palestine graduate, Mike Zeilinga coaches Dragons outfielders and leads the junior varsity.
Zeilinga began coaching boys basketball at New Pal in 1996 and led the freshmen for two seasons and the JV for four. He joined Al Cooper’s baseball staff in 2003. Cooper was a Dragons senior when Zeilinga was a freshman.
New Palestine earned a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2003 and state title in 2004.
“The kids keep me young,” says Zeilinga. “I’ve always enjoyed teaching.”
Most Dragons practices begin with stretching and throwing followed by individual defensive position work and team drills (cuts, double cuts and knowing situations).
“Coach McBride is excellent about working with our infielders,” says Zeilinga. “He makes sure they are moving with every pitch.
“Coach Lyons trusts the coaches that he has. He and Coach McBride have coached together that they can read each other’s mind. They have that kind of chemistry.”
During the fall IHSAA Limited Contract Period (twice a week for two hours), 73 players were at workouts while participation was around 65 for recent winter sessions.
“All coaches at New Pal work very well with sharing athletes,” says Zeilinga. “That’s straight from the mentality of Coach (Al) Cooper (athletic director and former head baseball coach).
Zeilinga often works with New Pal outfielders and JV players.
Since varsity and JV teams tend to play on the same night, Zeilinga rarely sees the varsity once the regular season starts.
After each JV game, Zeilinga sends an overview of what his players did well or areas where they need improvement and share that with head coach Shawn Lyons and varsity assistant Landon McBride.
Like McBride, Zeilinga has noticed the head coach’s temperament.
“Coach Lyons doesn’t get real high or real low after a big win or a hard loss,” says Zeilinga. “He’s just a real gentleman of the game.”
Mike, who worked at Eli Lily & Company 35 years before retiring, and wife Susan Zeilinga have two children — Stephanie (a teacher at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis) and Michael (who was the starting center fielder on New Palestine’s 2004 state championship team).
Kevin Hall (New Albany)
Kevin Hall is a 1986 New Albany High School graduate who was a scrappy middle infielder and lead-off hitter for John Buerger, but his association with Bulldogs baseball goes back to before he started school.
Hall, who credits his work ethic for being the youngest of 11, was a batboy for teams featuring older brother David and coached by Stan Sajko in the early 1970’s. Hall still has the tiny pinstriped uniform from those days.
“(Coach Berger) had an attention to detail,” says Hall. “John was very big on pitching and defense. He believed in the bunting game.”
With a few years off here and there, Hall has been on the New Albany baseball coaching staff since 1990. He has been Bulldogs head coach and IHSBCA Hall of Famer Chris McIntyre’s top assistant for more than two decades.
“We both have the same philosophy on winning and we’re teaching these kids how to be young men,” says Hall, who leads infielders while also helping with outfielders, hitters and catchers. “When kids get out of school they’re probably not going to be their own boss. They need to learn to take direction.
“We understand that this is the game of failure. If you give us effort, we’ll never get on you about that.”
Hall coaches first base with McIntyre in the third base box.
“Coach McIntyre has a mind like nobody I’ve ever met,” says Hall. “He can process things. He’s analytical. He’s a math teacher. He loves the numbers.”
One day, Hall brought a stop watch to time runners without McIntyre knowing it and — counting in his head — the head coach was only off the actual number by about 1/10th of a second.
“Our program wouldn’t be near where it would be without Chris McIntyre.”
Hall calls baseball “the fairest game ever.”
“Each team gets the same number of outs, same number of opportunities and deals with the same conditions,” says Hall. “There’s no clock.
“You just have to go play.”
Hall throws a good deal of batting practice to the Bulldogs.
“Our kids get a lot of live arms,” says Hall. “I just use aspirin and ice and go back and do it again the next day.”
When McIntyre was approaching New Albany’s all-time win mark, Hall helped organize a special night for him.
After the celebration, Mac pulled Hall aside and said, “Don’t ever do that again” and then thanked him the next day.
“He’s very humble,” says Hall of McIntyre. “He wants the kids to have that limelight and not him.”
With the loss of the 2020 season because of COVID-19, New Albany had time to upgrade its baseball field while also putting in a new softball diamond next door.
Kevin, a plant operator at Grant Line Elementary School in New Albany, and wife Melia Hall have a daughter together — eighth grader Anderson (named for Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson). Kevin’s two older daughters are Samantha and Stephanie. Melia’s son is Aidan.
Steve Ford (Lewis Cass)
IHSBCA Hall of Famer Greg Marschand has had Steve Ford on his staff for three-quarters of his tenure leading Lewis Cass High School in Walton, Ind.
The 2021 season will mark Ford’s 31st with the Kings. He has always led the infield defense and helped with hitting instruction at Cass, which finished as Class 2A state runners-up in 2009 (20-9).
“It’s pretty collaborative in our program,” says Ford, who coaches first base and sits next to Marschand when the coaches are in the dugout. “We get a sense of the style of play we’re going to use and we coach each of the areas based on what we’re trying to do for that season.
“We we like to put pressure on the defense (on offense). You can do that a lot of different ways. If we have plodders (on the base paths), we can bunt them over. If we have rabbits, we can have more stolen bases, double steals and taking of extra bases.”
Kings coaches like players to play to their strengths and learn to do things like hit behind the runner and put the ball on the ground up the middle.
“We want them to be well-versed in the approach they are going to be taking at the plate based on the situation,” says Ford. “We would really like our players to learn the strategies and the options.
“In practice, we put runners in position and they decide how they are going to score the run.
“Once they have a broader knowledge of how to play, they are going to enjoy it more and be more successful.”
A big part of the Cass offensive blueprint is to get accumulate freebies with dirt-ball reads etc.
“Our approach at the plate has to be to hit hittable strikes,” says Ford. “Early in the count we’re not going to hit his pitch. We’re going to hit our pitch.”
A goal in batting practice is for each player to figure out which pitch he hits best.
BP goal – each player to learn to figure out which pitch he hits best
“Hitting a pitcher’s pitch is giving him a freebie,” says Ford. “Hitting our pitch is somewhat of a freebie for us.”
As part of its SAFE-T offensive plan, Cass wants to score the game’s first run.
Going for the long ball is not a priority, especially at home games where it’s 330 feet down the foul lines and 408 to center field.
“There’s a lot of outfield grass and we’re going to try to pepper it rather than try to hit it out of the park,” says Ford.
Kings defenders focus a lot of on momentum changers.
“One of he biggest on defense is the double play,” says Ford. “We work a lot on turns, feeds and throws to first base while trying to help our pitcher.
“At the high school level, pitching can be a huge variable. Defensive positioning os based on the speed of our pitcher.
“I can’t tell (infielders) every pitch where to align so they have to be cognizant of signals between the pitchers and catcher and know what pitch is coming.”
The Kings also look to prevent opponents from taking the extra base by being in the proper position for cut-offs and double-cuts.
“We’re making sure to be in a good back-up position in case the throw isn’t perfect,” says Ford. “There are a lot of nuances in defense like where the first baseman takes the throw or where the third baseman goes based on the count. At the high school level, the drag bunt is a big strategy.”
Taking nothing for granted, Ford wants his infielders to back up throws from the catcher to the pitcher.
Ford, a 1970 Kokomo Haworth graduate played for for IHSBCA Hall of Famer Keith Slaughter. The 1970 Haworth Huskies were state finalists.
Bill Bright was middle infielder Ford’s coach at Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis).
Steve and wife Julia Ford have been married since 1974 and have two daughters — Amanda (a local farm wife with a son and two daughters) and Melanie (who played four years of basketball at the University of Charleston and is now associate athletic director, senior women’s administrator and NCAA compliance officer at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va.). Amanda was a manager and Melanie a player for their father as a basketball coach.
Steve Ford was the girls basketball coach at Cass for 18 seasons, concluding in 2007-08.
Jim Kominkiewicz (Penn)
IHSBCA Hall of Famer Greg Dikos has been head coach at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., for four Class 4A state titles (1994, 1998, 2001 and 2015) and a state runner-up finish (2017).
Jim Kominiewicz has been there as an assistant for all of them. The 2021 season will be Komo’s 31st on the Kingsmen coaching staff. He has been in education for 38 years — eight in South Bend and 30 in the Penn system.
The current staff has Dikos leading the catcher, Kominkiewicz the infielders, Tom Stanton the pitchers and John Westra the outfielders.
“Greg is one of the best catching coaches in the state,” says Kominkiewicz, noting that Penn has produced its share of college backstops. “Catching is one of the hardest things to do. You’re involved in every play.
“When have pitchers like Skylar Szynski or Ryan Lynch, you better make sure your catcher can catch the ball.”
Kominkiewicz applauds Dikos for his willingness to keep learning and incorporating them into the Kingsmen program.
“Every year we try to do something better,” says Kominkiewicz. “We never stay the same. We try to change things up and keep the kids excited about it.
“Greg is always going to clinics. He’s the best.”
Kominkiewicz has noticed that many clinic speakers reinforce concepts already being taught by Penn coaches.
“It shows we’re doing things right,” says Kominkiewicz.
As an infield coach, Komo stresses getting the palm to the baseball and fielding through it. Time is spent on back-handing and picking up short hops.
Kominkiewicz graduated from South Bend John Adams High School in 1972, where he played baseball for IHSBCA Hall of Famer Len Buczkowski.
Komo’s first baseball coaching post was at South Bend Washington High School on the staff of IHSBCA Hall of Famer Ric Tomaszewski that also included pitching coach Larry Jackowiak.
“Rick was very intense,” says Kominkiewicz. “He’s a book. We spent a lot of time together. We’d come in on Saturday morning and leave at 4 or 5 in the afternoon.
“I learned a lot of baseball from those guys. Both of them were great coaches.”
A popular drill during the indoor portion of the preseason was a game called “27 Outs.”
As fielders got closer to making it to the finish, balls off fungo bats got harder.
“That’s why (Tomaszewski’s) team were good,” says Kominkiewicz. “They competed every practice.
“We do the same things at Penn. We compete. We test for sit-ups, push-ups and longest throws. We rate their at-bats (4 points for a line drive, 3 for a hard ground ball etc.). Pitchers try to throw the most strikes — things like that.”
Ground balls and double plays are often timed.
Splitting the team into three groups, the Kingsmen go nine outs per round. Losers do extra running or clean up the field.
“A lot of times our practices are harder than the games,” says Kominkiewicz. “But it’s got to be good practice — not just practice. We want to do it right.
“Our theory is we want to good game of catch, put the ball in play (on offense) and pitchers have to throw strikes. That’s what we stress.”
After Washington, Kominkiewicz went to Adams to coach football, wrestling, baseball and and weightlifting then went back to Washington to coach baseball.
Then came the move to Penn, where he also coached football for two years. He has taught and coaches football and wrestling and served as athletic director at Grissom Middle School.
Jim and wife Beth Kominkiewicz have four children — Ryan (38), Brandon (32), Jill (29) and Matt (21) — and seven grandchildren ages six months to 9 years.
Ryan, an engineer with Caterpillar, played baseball at Penn.
Brandon played football at Penn and the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne and coaches football at Fort Wayne North Side High School.
Jill is a dental assistant.
Matt played baseball and football at Penn and is on the football team at Saint Francis.
Kevin Fitzgerald (Noblesville)
A 1987 graduate of Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis where he played two seasons each for former big league pitcher Russ Kemmerer and Richard Bender, Noblesville High School assistant Kevin Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Marine Corps 1989-94 then was an assistant to Duke Burns at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis (2000-02), Dave Mundy at Sheridan (Ind.) High School (2003 and 2004) and head coach at Sheridan (2005 and 2006).
“He was fantastic,” says Fitzgerald of Kemmerer. “There were so many lessons I learned that I didn’t realize I was learning at the time.
“For him, it was really teaching about life and baseball was just the tool. He said baseball is played on a six-inch field — the six inches between your ears. There are no such things as physical errors — they’re all mental. You weren’t prepared.”
Bender, who had big shoes to fill replacing the popular Kemmerer, is credited by Fitzgerald for the opportunity to explore leadership.
Fitzgerald joined Justin Keever’s staff at Noblesville in 2007.
Involved in all aspects of the program, Fitzgerald’s primary focuses is on hitters and outfielders. He also coaches third base and runs the Millers’ analytics.
“I take a lot of stuff off Justin’s plate,” says Fitzgerald. “Being an assistant coach at Noblesville High School is a better gig than a lot of head coaching jobs around the state.
“(Assistants are) all given specific areas (by Keever). Having that kind of trust and autonomy is one of the keys to the program
“He’s built an unbelievable culture in the program that was evident from Day 1.
“We have pretty intense discussions as a staff on direction. One of Justin’s gifts is to pull that together. When we walk out the door, it’s one voice. It’s a purely collaborative process.
“Justin Keever, to me, is the quintessential baseball coach. It’s truly a joy to be on his staff.”
Fitzgerald says Millers hitters are approach-driven.
“Two strikes and less than two strikes are the only two counts that matter,” says Fitzgerald. “With less then two strikes we’re looking to do damage.
“We want to grind pitchers up so we’re aggressively patient. We’ll give up a pitcher’s strike early in the count because it’s not one we can do damage with. But we’ll wait for a mistake.
“The best way to hit a breaking ball is to don’t miss the fastball.”
Points of emphasis for outfielders include trying not to let balls hit the ground and throwing the ball to the right place so runners don’t move up.
Fitzgerald keeps a freebies chart that tracks trail-runner advances.
“We look to win the freebie war every game,” says Fitzgerald. “We want to score plus-5 or more.”
Tools like FlightScope and Rapsodo are used to gather analytic metrics that can be studied and adapted to what Noblesville seeks to accomplish in individual player development.
“It’s not about maintenance,” says Fitzgerald. “It’s about being progressive and moving to the next level.”
Fitzgerald has gained an appreciation for where the Hoosier State stands in the diamond world.
“I don’t think Indiana high school baseball gets enough credit from the public for being as good as it is,” says Fitzgerald. “big-time college programs are always recruiting in Indiana. They know.”
When talking with a coach from a Southeastern Conference school, Fitzgerald asked the difference between players from warm-weather states and places like Indiana.
“He said that northern players are academy players,” says Fitzgerald. “They lack some of that instruct. They don’t play (as much as warm-weather players).
“That’s our biggest challenge during the off-season (at Noblesville High). We try to be game-like with game speed and tempo indoors. We do anything we can to create instinct.”
The Chargers were Class 3A state runners-up in 1999 and Class 4A state champions in 2010 and 2011.
“(Coach Ginder) understands the things to be good at,” says Windmiller. “His practice organization great and he’s very aware of time.
“If we’re not doing something right, we move on. We’re not going to beat a dead horse.
“As an assistant coach he’s great to work for. You truly feel like you have a say in things. He asks our opinion.”
Windmiller guides the Chargers’ catchers and infielders.
He expects catchers to learn how to run a game (Ginder and Windmiller do not call pitches).
“We teach our kids this is what we want in certain counts,” says Windmiller. “Practice is where we teach. Kids are freed up to play at game time.”
The Chargers talk about the mental game and preparing for each pitch as taught by Brian Cain.
“Players on our 2011 team were masters of the mental game before we emphasized it,” says Windmiller. “They flat out knew they were going to win.
“It was an amazing group.”
Ginder played at Carroll (Class of 1991) for Chris Adams and at Anderson University for IHSBCA, Anderson U., and American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Don Brandon.
Brett played four seasons at Huntington (Ind.) College (now Huntington University) for IHSBCA/NEIBA Hall of Famer Mike Frame, graduating in December 1995.
Before landing at Carroll, Brett was on his father’s Dwenger staff from 1996-2002.
Hershberger, who was an elementary physical education teacher for Windmiller, taught his players about focus and intensity.
“It started with him from the time you started playing catch until you got on the bus and went home,” says Windmiller. “All those things in between mattered. Not that you’re going to dwell on it afterward but this current pitch or at-bat is important.
“If you weren’t ready, you were going to hear about it from Lance.”
Hershberger reminded his players that there was a difference between baseball during the high school and summer seasons. There’s a finality to the high school season while the summer — though very important for development and exposure — is a series of games and unattached tournaments.
Brett did not feel the stigma of being a coach’s son.
“It may have just been the guys I played with,” says Brett. “In hindsight, it may be that dad handled it real well.
“I enjoyed playing for him. There were expectations with the way he wanted you to play. He was good at detecting an issue by watching you swing or throw.”
In his son’s eyes, Larry Windmiller was pretty even-keeled.
“He never got upset,” says Brett. “He was kind of in the middle all the time.
“He really let us play. We had a lot of kids with talent. We played loose and had a lot of success.”
The Dwenger Saints bowed out to Highland in the 1991 South Bend Semistate championship game.
At Huntington, Windmiller learned to play with intensity but not to let a mistake or a perceived bad call fester.
“The intensity of a baseball game is there,” says Windmiller. “It has to be. You learn the moments of the game where that’s appropriate. It cannot drive you into making a second mistake. You can’t carry your at-bat into the field. My red light was strike calls I didn’t agree with.
“Coach Frame was great as far as getting me to try to understand that I’m killing myself when I’m doing that. He helped me lose a little bit of the football mentality.”
Windmiller says he and his fellow coaches have matured over the years and tries set a good example for the players.
“When something bad happens, they are going to look at us,” says Windmiller. “We want to be cheering them on and saying let’s go to the next pitch.”
His first spring at Carroll, Windmiller coached junior varsity players with Mike Klopfenstein.
“JV’s great,” says Windmiller. “There’s no all-conference. There’s no media. It’s just young kids learning how to play baseball the correct way.”
At the JV level, win-loss record is irrelevant. It’s about developing. Between the spring and summer ball and getting in the weight room, a player can make big jumps from one season to the next.
Windmiller is a public address announcer for many Carroll sports, including football, boys basketball, girls basketball and wrestling. He has coached eighth grade football and seventh grade girls basketball in the system.
He is also an NEIBA board member and president of the Fort Wayne Baseball Federation, running the Red Carrington League with Richard Brown.
Brett took over the FWBF post after the passing of NEIBA Hall of Famer Dick Crumback in 2019.
The NEIBA presents the Dick Crumback Player of the Year annually to an area ballplayer. The honor comes with a $1,000 donation ($500 from the Crumback family and $500 for the FWBF) to the program of the recipient.
“It’s a pretty tight-knit baseball community in Fort Wayne,” says Windmiller, who has also been a Wildcat League coach.
Brett, a sixth grade science teacher at Carroll Middle School, and wife Kara Windmiller (secretary to Chargers athletic director Dan Ginder) live in the Carroll school district and have two daughters — high school sophomore Ryli and seventh grader Hannah.
Brett’s sister Kari played volleyball and basketball at Dwenger.
Rhett Welliever is an assistant baseball coach at Crawfordsville (Ind.) High School. (Susan Ehrlich Photo)Landon McBride is an assistant baseball coach at New Palestine (Ind.) High School.Mike Zeilinga is an assistant baseball coach at New Palestine (Ind.) High School.Kevin (right), with wife Melia, is an assistant baseball coach at New Albany (Ind.) High School.Steve Ford is an assistant baseball coach at Lewis Cass High School in Walton, Ind.Jim Kominkiewicz is an assistant baseball coach at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind. (The Pennant Photo)Kevin Fitzgerald is an assistant baseball coach at Noblesville (Ind.) High School.Brett Windmiller is an assistant baseball coach at Carroll High School in Allen County, Ind.
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