BY STEVE KRAH
It’s an unprecedented baseball season at Hanover (Ind.) College.
By taking the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, the 2024 Panthers won the program’s first HCAC title and are heading to a NCAA Division III regional May 17-19 at Denison (Ohio) University. Denison is the No. 1 seed, Rowan No. 2, Millikin No. 3 and Hanover No. 4. Regional champions feed into super regionals May 24-25. The D-III World Series is May 31-June 6 at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake, Ohio.
Junior left fielder Andrew Oesterling has helped Hanover (30-15) get here.
The lefty swinger has played in 45 games in 2024 (43 starts) and is hitting .304 (45-of-148), three home runs with no triples, 15 doubles, 43 runs batted in, 32 runs scored and an .888 OPS (.422 on-base percentage plus .466 slugging average). He has 11 multi-hit games with a three-hit effort April 12 at Manchester.
For his Hanover career (2022-24), the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Oesterling has been in 95 games (88 starts) and is hitting .281 (91-of-324) with six homers, four triples, 21 doubles, 69 RBIs, 72 runs and an .810 OPS (.384/.426). On defense, the righty thrower has 142 putouts and 51 assists.
Honorable mention selection Oesterling (pronounced Oh-Ster-Ling) shares the outfield with a pair of all-HCAC second teamers in sophomore center fielder Robert Carroll (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and senior right fielder Eric Roudebush (New Palestine Class of 2020).
Sophomore left-hander John Girard (Richmond, Ky.) was named HCAC Pitcher of the Year.
Besides Girard, Hanover players on the first team include senior right-hander Matthew Alter (Indianapolis Lutheran Class of 2019), senior third baseman Alex Christie (Center Grove Class of 2020), junior shortstop Jake Danneman (Edgewood, Ky.) and junior catcher Reid Douglas (Rossville Class of 2021).
Hanover junior right-hander Chris Hautmann (Oldenburg Academy Class of 2021) is also a second-team all-conference pick.
Sixth-year Panthers head coach Grant Bellak is the 2024 HCAC Coach of the Year.
“He’s completely honest with you as a coach which I like,” says Oesterling of Bellak. “He loves to win. He’s very competitive. That really rubs off on the team. We feed off his competitiveness.”
Away from the game setting, Bellak chats with his players and gets to known them on a personal level.
Bellak doubles as HC’s hitting coach.
Oesterling, who turned 22 in May 5, describes his offensive approach.
“I like to be aggressive early in the count,” says Oesterling. “I’m hunting fastball. I’m trying to put a good swing on it and do some damage.”
It’s also important to be able to adjust to that day’s home plate umpire and his strike zone.
Student assistant coach Cooper French works with outfielders, swinging a fungo bat and feeding a machine to provide reps.
“Defensively, I try to get good positioning,” says Oesterling. “I try to align myself with where I think the hitter is going to hit the ball. We do get scouting reports but I’m also trying to get a good read and jump on the ball.”
Getting familiar with the conditions at an away field is also key. Dimensions, wind and game situations are factors that Oesterling encounters. Communication between the three outfielders helps.
Kase Lawson and Sean Pennington are also Hanover coaches.
Preferring to train and improve his strength and speed, Oesterling has not played summer collegiate baseball.
A Business major with one year of remaining eligibility, Oesterling was born and raised in Batesville, Ind.
He attended St. Louis Catholic School from grades K-8 and played baseball for local travel teams, including Cook Performance then the Indiana Bulls in his 15U to 17U summers.
At Oldenburg (Ind.) Academy, Oesterling played varsity basketball and baseball from freshmen year on. He was used plenty as a shortstop, second baseman and pitcher and was even a catcher when needed. As a senior, he was named Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association honorable mention Class 1A all-state and chosen for the IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series.
His head coach in the diamond was program originator Doug Behlmer.
“Coach Behlmer is a really down-to-earth guy,” says Oesterling. “He loves baseball a lot. He’s a really good guy. I can’t say enough good things about him.
“He’s very good at relating to the players. He’s one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever been around.”
Patrick Kolks was a Behlmer assistant and is now OA’s head coach.
“He’s a high-energy guy,” says Oesterling of Kolks. “He just loves to be involved with baseball and coaching.
“He gets a lot of enjoyment out of helping younger guys.”
Gary Moorman was the OA boys basketball coach.
Oesterling went to the University of Cincinnati as a student only in the fall of 2021. He transferred to Hanover at the semester break to joined baseball team at the beginning of 2022. Hanover is about 50 miles south of Batesville.
As the youngest of Jim and Toby Oesterling’s three children, Andrew has two older sisters — Oldenburg Academy graduates Emily and Audrey. The latter played volleyball and basketball for the Twisters.
Jim Oesterling was a baseball player at Batesville High School and what is now Marian University in Indianapolis.
Andrew roots for the Cincinnati Reds. He counts Joey Votto as a favorite as well as Pete Rose.
“(Votto) was always loyal to the Reds. I always enjoyed watching Joey play,” says Oesterling. “He was a left-handed hitter, too.
“I just really love Pete Rose and the way he played the game. He was always hustling.”
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