Carmel alum Williams contributes for Michigan State

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Christian Williams was in the mix Friday, May 3 as Michigan State University edged visiting rival Michigan 3-2 in Big Ten Conference baseball.

The righty-swinging redshirt junior occupied the No. 6 slot in the Spartans lineup.

Another Williams — Nick — lofted a 10th-inning sacrifice fly that won the game and was mobbed by his teammates.

Heading into Game 2 of the three-game Saturday, May 4 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in East Lansing, Mich., Christian Williams has played in 39 contests (37 starts) and is hitting .280 (37-of-132) with three home runs, no triples, eight doubles, 24 runs batted in, 28 runs scored and an .831 OPS (.422 on-base percentage plus .409 slugging average). The designated hitter has eight multi-hit games with four safeties Feb. 24 against Marshall and three Feb. 28 at Georgia.

“I just like to see the ball in the heart of the plate,” says Williams of his offensive approach. “I look for something middle-middle with the fastball and use my athleticism to adjust from there.”

Williams was red-shirted for the 2021 season. In 2022, he played in 24 games (18 starts) and hit .258 (17-of-66) with two homers, two triples, four doubles, 16 RBIs, 14 runs and a .816 OPS (.346/.470). As a catcher, he made 84 putouts with six assists and posted a .978 fielding percentage.

A broken hamate bone in his hand suffered while swinging the bat limited Williams to just two games for the 2023 Spartans. 

He was with the Midwest Collegiate League’s Northwest Indiana Oilmen (the MCL is now the Northern League) in the summer of 2021, the champion Bag Bandits in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2022, missed 2023 while rehabbing from his hamate surgery and plans to go this summer with the Coastal Plain League’s Lexington County (S.C.) Blowfish. He is to be be joined by MSU teammate Sam Busch.

Williams, 22, has at least one year of remaining eligibility and could have two if he seeks and is granted a medical redshirt for ’23. He graduated April 29 with a Kinesiology degree. He plans to pursue a certificate in Coaching, Leadership and Administration while playing in 2024-25. 

What about his defensive keys while behind the plate?

“Catching’s a tough position. You’re seeing the whole field. You’re kind of the unsung hero at times. Good catchers go unnoticed. 

“When I’m back there I try to help my pitchers as best as I can and be a leader on the field — stay calm, cool, collected and athletic and try to help the team win.”

It was at about age 12 that Williams became a catcher.

“When I was younger I liked the gear,” says Williams of why he decided to be a backstop. “I just stuck with it.”

Born in Tampa, Fla., Williams moved to Indiana at about 3 months. I’ve been in Indiana for most of my life. He played rec ball in Pike Township in Indianapolis until 12.

There was followed by a four-year stint in Michigan where he earned two baseball letters at Northville High School playing for head coach John Kostrzewa and played travel ball for the Michigan Bulls.

When he returned to the Hoosier State, Williams went with the Indiana Bulls for his 17U summer and earned two baseball letters at Carmel (Ind.) High School with his 2020 senior season taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greyhounds head coach was Matt Buczkowski.

“He was a great coach,” says Williams of Buczkowski. “He’s a great leader and a great guy. He led us in the right direction. He let us have fun — but at the same time — kept us on the straight and narrow.

“He kept us serious when we needed to be. We won a lot of games.”

Christian is the son of Alan and Lisa Williams. Dad played football at Williams & Mary University and mom soccer at Slippery Rock University. 

Among his football-coaching father’s teams have been the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. He is taking the year off.

Two brothers — Solomon Williams (Carmel Class of 2022 now a safety at Princeton University) and Nathan Williams (Carmel Class of 2025 and exploring college options) — are football players.

At Carmel (Ind.) High School, Christian was a quarterback, receiver and kick returner and considered football as his collegiate route. 

“I had a strong thought,” says Williams, who won four football letters as a high schooler and helped Carmel to a 2019 Class 6A state runner-up finish with 118 all-purpose yards in the title game. “I was being recruited in both (baseball and football) until just before my senior year. Ultimately, I decided on baseball. I couldn’t forgive myself if I wasn’t able to swing a bat again.

“I hit the recruiting process hard and ended up here at Michigan State.”

MSU counts Jake Boss Jr., as head coach.

“He’s a great leader and a strong Christian guy,” says Williams of Boss. “He’s an awesome guy to play for. He lets us do our thing and have fun.”

Spartans hitting coach duties fall to former Western Michigan University shortstop Andrew Stone.

“He’s taught me how to be a good, mature hitter, stay inside the baseball, take good swings and work on my mechanics,” says Williams of Stone. “I work on my approach at the plate and the mental side and being confident and collected.”

Adam Eaton, who logged 10 Major League Baseball seasons, is Michigan State’s director of player development.

“Just learning from a big leaguer has been amazing,” says Williams of Eaton. “He just has a different mentality and approach to the game. To pick up on little things that he teaches us has been huge for me.

“It’s really the mental side and how to be a good baseball player as much as the X’s and O’s and swing techniques. How do I approach baseball on a day-to-day basis? How do I show up and play hard? What do coaches look for?”

The rest of the MSU coaching staff includes Graham Sikes and Mark Van Ameyde plus director of baseball operations Tommy Merlo.

Williams’ favorite MLB team is the Boston Red Sox. He picked that up from his mother who grew up in New England and her side of the family.

Former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was a special player to Williams.

“He was a smaller player and I’ve always a shorter guy,” says Williams, who is 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds. “I liked how he played the game hard and well at his size.”

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Confidence key for Benedictine U. right-hander Pizer

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Austin Pizer is scheduled to make a spot start on the mound today (April 30) for the Benedictine University Eagles. A doubleheader is slated for noon Central Time at Illinois Tech in Chicago.

Whenever the junior right-hander takes to the hill, he has a few keys in his mind that he takes from Ben U. pitching coach Adam O’Malley.

“Throw everything with confidence,” says Pizer. “We’ve worked really hard to command the baseball and worked on the pitch shapes. Now I have to go to trust it. We know the stuff is there, we just to be able to throw every pitch in every count, have confidence in myself and the defense that we’re going to get the job done.”

The Eagles use Rapsodo camera/radar technology.

“It gives us all the data we could ever imagine for pitching,” says Pizer, who has used feedback on release height and movement patterns to help him throw more strikes.

“I want to limit the walks,” says Pizer. “That’s been a big key this year.”

In 13 appearances (12 out of the bullpen), Pizer is 4-1 with four saves, a 1.93 earned run average, 29 strikeouts and seven walks in 32 2/3 innings. Opponents hit .248 against the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder.

Benedictine, an NCAA Division III program steered by Adam Smith, is 25-9 overall and 14-6 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The Eagles are working to improve their seeding before the eight-team NACC tournament played at home in Lisle, Ill.

Pizer delivers the baseball sidearm.

From there, he mixes a two-seam fastball, slider and change-up.

The two-seamer is a strictly horizontal pitch — moving 9-to-3 on the clock face — with arm-side run. It’s topped at 84 mph and sits at 81 to 83.

The slider has very little to no vertical break.

“The two-seam and slider play very well off each other,” says Pizer. 

Since he has dropped down, it’s not a typical “circle” change that comes from Pizer.

“It drops a little more on the back foot of a righty that a traditional change-up,” says Pizer.

Throwing with minor discomfort during his first season at Benedictine, Pizer got into nine games (all in relief) and was 2-0 with one save, a 4.66 ERA, 15 strikeouts and five walks in 19 1/3 innings. He followed that up in 2023 with five bullpen appearances, a 0-0 record, a save 11.12 ERA, five K’s and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Born in Munster, Ind., Pizer grew up in Highland, Ind.

From age 7 to 13, he played both at Highland Little League and for much of that time with the traveling Highland Heat.

His 14U season found him with the New Lenox (Ill.) Rebels. From 15U to 17U, he played for the Cangelosi Sparks.

He was injured his freshman year (2018) at Highland High School. Pizer was on varsity as a sophomore (2019) and senior (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic took away his junior season in 2020.

John Bogner was Highland’s head coach. 

“He’s a great guy,” says Pizer of Bogner, who is now head coach at Chesterton (Ind.) High School. “He’s really, really passionate about what he does. I definitely would not be where I am now without him.

“He put a really big emphasis playing the game the right way. That’s one of the things I respected most about him. Whether we were going to win or lose it was going to be with class and the right way. That’s something I carry with me to this day.”

If his arm continues to feel good, Pizer says he plans to return to the Northern League’s Lake County CornDogs for summer ball. He was with the Crown Point, Ind.- based team in 2023. He took the summer of 2022 off to rest his arm. That led to an MRI which led to surgery for a torn labrum in August 2022.

Pizer, 21, is Social Science major at Benedictine with an emphasis in History. His minor is Secondary Education.

“I’m a big fan of the Revolutionary War and Colonial America,” says Pizer. “That’s what I’m interested in.”

Older brother Zak Pizer, who briefly attended Benedictine, is a Social Studies teacher and first-year head baseball coach at Highland High. 

Zak (who turns 24 in May) and Austin are the sons of Michael and Annamarie Pizer.

Austin roots for the Chicago White Sox. He admires many big leaguers.

“Tanner Houck of the (Boston) Red Sox is quickly becoming one of my favorite pitchers to watch,” says Pizer of the right-hander. “The way he throws and attacks the game is how I imagine myself to look like. We have a very similar pitch arsenal. 

“I’ve always partial to (right-hander) Marcus Stroman (now with the New York Yankees) as well and how he competes. He’s an undersized guy. He plays with a lot of passion.

“That’s something I like to emulate.”

Austin Pizer. (Benedictine University Photo)

Austin Pizer. (Benedictine University Photo)

Austin Pizer. (Lake County CornDogs Image)

Austin Pizer. (Nick Shelton Photo)

Austin Pizer. (Nick Shelton Photo)

Austin Pizer. (Nick Shelton Photo)

McCormick goes from Gyrenes to Red Sox

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

With know-how gained as a player, trainer and coach, Michael McCormick has been hired to guide pitchers in the Boston Red Sox organization.

McCormick, a 2012 graduate of Speedway (Ind.) High School, pitched at Parkland College in Champaign, Ill., and Eastern Illinois University and in the Chicago White Sox system and independent ball followed by stints as a Driveline Baseball trainer and pitching coach (2020) then head coach at Ave Maria (Fla.) University (2021-23).

The Red Sox reached out at the beginning of the fall. Hired about a month ago, McCormick will be a pitching coach for the rookie ball team based in Fort Myers, Fla. Camp starts in January and the Florida Complex League season begins in June.

Until seeing the players and other personnel, McCormick is go over data while familiarizing himself with different Red Sox systems and getting on-boarded onto those systems.

“I’m familiarizing myself with each guy and getting an idea of what they need to improve on this next season,” says McCormick.

He expects a smooth transition and will continue to emphasize relationship leadership over transactional.

“It reinforces the fact that the development of relationships between coaches and players in fundamental for trying to develop guys on the baseball field,” says McCormick, 30. “It’s just getting to know the person — off the field as well as on the field. 

“You’ve just got to build that rapport. It’s easier to make those adjustments when there’s trust going both ways.”

The roster will be made up of player selected in the 2023 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft or those coming from the Dominican academy.

McCormick, who took Spanish in highs school, says he is conversational in the language and got to use it while playing pro ball and with bilinguals at Ave Maria.

“I’m looking forward to using it everyday (with the Red Sox) and it getting even better,” says McCormick.

Former big league left-hander Craig Breslow was hired in October as the Red Sox chief baseball officer after being Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations with the Chicago Cubs.

Justin Willard became the Red Sox director of pitching in December after serving as pitching coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.

“I’m really excited to work with those two,” says McCormick. “It’s also the gains the Red Sox have been able to make on the pitching side I’m excited to contribute where I can.

“The emphasis will be more so on the player development side as opposed to winning at the rookie ball level. But when you focus on the important things sometimes winning is a result.

“The end goal is to win a (World Series) championship.”

McCormick will also interact with Red Sox Director of Player Development Brian Abraham as well as many others in the system’s player development department especially those who focus on pitchers. There are other former Driveline employees, too.

There will be daily interaction with the strength and conditioning staff, athletic trainers and nutritionists.

“It’s a holistic approach when it comes to player development,” says McCormick. “More goes into it than solely pitching.”

The job change does not require McCormick and his family to move. He will commute from Ave Maria to Fort Myers, a distance of about 35 miles.

Wife Teigan McCormick is heading into her first season as indoor/beach volleyball coach at AMU, which recently upgraded Tom Golisano Field House. 

The McCormicks met at Parkland when he was playing baseball and she volleyball. The couple has three children — daughter Kolby Rae (7) and sons Steston (2) and Augustin (4 months). Kolby Rae attends Rhodora J. Donahue Academy of Ave Maria.

“We love living here in Ave Maria,” says McCormick. “It really worked out.”

Staying in Ave Maria also means that when time allows Michael will be able to visit the team and his younger brother Nicholas McCormick (a Speedway and Eastern Illinois graduate) — who was elevated from Gyrenes pitching coach to head coach with Michael’s leaving. Nicholas is a 2014 Speedway alum.

Ave Maria plays in The Sun Conference and that NAIA-affiliated league’s tournament is slated for JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers.

Marcus McCormick — father of Michael and Nicholas — was the head baseball coach at Speedway through the 2023 season. He has stepped away from that position and is now athletic director at Speedway Middle School while also giving baseball lessons.

The Sparkplugs baseball program is now led by former McCormick assistant Matt Burke.

Michael McCormick. (Ave Maria University Photo)

Penn, Notre Dame alum Kavadas working way up ladder in Red Sox organization

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Niko Kavadas was a force to be reckoned in high school and college and is now becoming the same as a professional baseball player.

The powerful lefty swinger excelled at Penn High School (Mishawaka, Ind.) and the University of Notre Dame. 

Playing for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Greg Dikos at Penn, Kavadas helped the Kingsmen win a Class 4A state championship as sophomore center fielder in 2015 and finish as 4A state runners-up as a senior shortstop in 2017.

Coached by Mik Aoki (2018-19) and Link Jarrett (2020-21) at Notre Dame, Kavadas played 161 games in a Fighting Irish uniform and hit .286 (158-of-552) with 46 home runs, 28 doubles, 144 runs batted in, 112 runs scored and a 1.002 OPS (.415 on-base percentage plus .587 slugging average). 

In 2021, he thumped a single-season school record 22 homers, drove in 64 runs and was named to numerous All-American teams. He was a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award.

That year also brought a Business Management and Consulting degree from Notre Dame.

Selected in the 11th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox, Kavadas became a pro.

In three minor league seasons (2021-23) and 252 games, he has hit 

.242 (197-of-805) with 50 homers, one triple, 45 doubles, 161 RBIs, 143 runs, 337 strikeouts and 215 walks with a .903 OPS (.413/.489). He was the Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year and played briefly in the Arizona Fall League in 2022.

Splitting his time between the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs and Triple-A Worcester Red Sox in 2023, first baseman Kavadas played in 117 contests and hit .206 (76-of-369) with 22 homers, 16 doubles, 69 RBIs, 62 runs, 172 strikeouts and 98 walks with an .805 OPS (.377/.428).

A few times, Kavadas saw former Notre Dame teammate Nick Podkul (an Andrean High School graduate now in the Philadelphia Phillies system) in the opposing dugout.

Kavadas also made a point to follow former Irish outfielder Matt Vierling (Detroit Tigers) and infielder Jack Brannigan (Pittsburgh Pirates organization) and still communicates regularly with outfielder Jack Zyska (who played at ND 2019-23 and has transferred to the University of Central Florida where former Irish assistant Rich Wallace is now head coach).

Making the transition from college where teams tend to play weekend series with an occasional midweek contests to the minors and six games a week, Kavadas has embraced the grind.

“Now you’re playing every single day,” says Kavadas. “You have to find time prior to and after games to make improvements in your game or else you’re going to be static.”

Kavadas’ last game of the season for Worcester was on Sept. 22. He hustled home to Granger, Ind., and attended the wedding of older sister Abby then headed to Fort Myers, Fla., for a six-week camp.

“It was a big strength program,” says Kavadas. “Strength has always been something that’s come natural to me. Being more limber, having more range of motion and being quicker laterally has been a big focus for me since I’ve gotten to pro ball.

“I’ve lost a few pounds since my rookie season and I’m moving better. It’s less about moving more powerfully and moving faster and more agile.”

Kavadas, 25, carries about 225 pounds on his 6-foot frame.

“We had a lot of really good lifts and conditioning and were taking a lot of swings,” says Kavadas of his time in Fort Myers. “They have some really nice technology down there.”

Armed numbers from the season and the offensive-focused camp, Kavadas has spent time in the off-season putting that information to use with the help of Mike Marks.

While in high school, Kavadas, traveled to Sturgis, Mich., a few times a week to train with Marks at Hitters Edge.

Marks has opened a second facility in Osceola, Ind. — about 15 minutes from Kavadas’ home. 

“Mike’s awesome,” says Kavadas. “Mike has this ability to make really complicated things really simple.”

Getting feedback from Marks gives him a direction to move in.

“That really helps me,” says Kavadas. “There’s so many things pulling me in so many directions.

“Mike’s able to take all the data, watch me take a few swings and say ‘You’re in a spot sport. We’re this close.’”

Kavadas and Riley Tirotta, a Mishawaka Marian High School graduate and Toronto Blue Jays minor leaguer, have been off-season regulars at the new digs.

After enjoying time with family (he is the second of Jim and Robin Kavadas’ four children behind Abby and ahead of youngest son C.J. and youngest daughter Tess) and friends around the holidays, Kavadas plans to head back to Florida in January for another six-week camp that leads right into spring training.

There’s more work to do.

Niko Kavadas. (Boston Red Sox Photo)

Niko Kavadas. (University of Notre Dame Image)

Niko Kavadas. (Greenville Drive Image)

Niko Kavdas. (Portland Sea Dogs Image)

Niko Kavadas. (Salem rRd Sox Photo)

Poland puts focus on pitching, turns into professional with Marlins system

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Second-year professional Jared Poland’s path as a baseball player was primarily as an infielder.

Until it wasn’t.

Signed by the University of Louisville out of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Poland was a hitter who would also occasionally be called on to take the mound.

A four-year letterwinner at Cathedral, Poland drove in 57 runs his junior and senior years, helping the Fighting Irish to an IHSAA Class 4A state championship in 2017 and 4A state runner-up finish in 2018.

Poland the all-stater was selected in the 34th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox but did not go pro at that time and went to college.

In 2019 and 2020 (the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season), Louisville second baseman Poland played in 47 games and hit .236 (21-of-89) with two home runs, 25 runs batted in and 15 runs scored. On a team with a loaded starting rotation, he was also used as a relief pitcher.

Dan McDonnell is the head coach at Louisville.

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say (about Coach McDonnell),” says Poland. “I was recruited as an infielder and he was responsible for the infielders. I got a lot better and I learned a lot about the infield but also playing the game the right way. 

“In the bigger picture, it was being a man and doing the right things.”

Roger Williams is the Cardinals pitching coach.

“”He played minor league ball and is very knowledgeable,” says Poland of Williams. “He called the pitches for all of our games.

“He knew what was good for us. He’s old school.”

Poland played for the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Bourne Braves in the summer of 2019 and hit .271 (16-of-59) with seven RBIs and six runs in 19 games.

He was in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2020 with the Local Legends.

That fall at the U of L Poland was still a two-way player, But opted to give it up and began focusing on the mound.

“I felt like if I gave one up I could excel at the other,” says Poland. “Pitching is what was working in college so I decided to give up on the hitting aspect.”

Poland estimates he saved a 100 throws a day but not also being an infielder.

He started out the 2021 season as the Cardinals’ closer, broke his foot in his first game and later came back to earn a starting role, which continue for his senior year of 2022 (after a CSL stint in 2021 with the Turf Monsters).

Poland wound up with 43 collegiate mound appearances (17 starts), a 7-8 record, 4.04 earned run average, 149 strikeouts and 57 walks in 124 2/3 innings.

After earning second-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference and all-ACC academic honors while finishing a Finance degree, the righty was a 2022 sixth-round draft selection of the Miami Marlins. That summer, he split his time between the Florida Complex League Marlins and Class-A Florida State League‘s Jupiter Hammerheads. 

Poland pitched in five games (four starts) and was 0-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 11 strikeouts and five walks in 12 2/3 innings.

The 2023 season opened with three starts for Jupiter and Poland went 1-0 with a 1.69, 17 strikeouts and four walks in 16 innings.

With the Beloit (Wis.) Sky Carp of the High Class-A Midwest League since April 29, the 23-year-old Poland has made 14 starts and is 3-5 with a 5.38 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 20 walks in 72 innings. His most recent outing was Aug. 1.

Poland, a 6-foot, 200-pounder, throws a four-seam fastball, change-up, slider and curveball from a high three-quarter arm slot.

The four-seamer sits between 90 and 93 mph and touches 94.

It’s a two-seam “circle” change that Poland uses. The pitch travels 83-85 mph.

The slider goes 83-85 mph. It is mostly a horizontal pitch, but it does have some downward vertical break.

“It’s kind of different every time,” says Poland of his curve. Sometimes it’s like a sweeper. Sometimes it’s 2-to-7.”

Owing to his former two-way status, Poland’s motion is efficient without a lot of extra movement.

“I’m pretty simple for sure,” says Poland. “Growing up and going into college I never really put too much work or effort into pitching. I just rolled with what was comfortable.”

Indianapolis-born Poland grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan and started in travel ball at 8. He played for the Indiana Bandits, Indiana Prospects, Indiana Bulls and Indiana Nitro then the Cincinnati Spikes for his 14U to 18U summers.

He attended Hamilton Southeastern schools through eighth grade and went to Cathedral.

With the Fighting Irish, he was on teams guided by Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Rich Andriole and Ed Freje.

“Rest In Peace Coach Andriole (who died in 2020),” says Poland. “I was friends with both his sons (Nick and Jake) as well. He was also an old-school coach and got the best out of us. We had super-hard practices and grinded. He knew how to win.

“(Coach Freje) tried to keep the program running in a similar way to Coach Andriole and kept the core values.”

Jared’s parents are Christopher and Anna Poland and has a half brother, Christopher Poland (33).

Jared Poland. (Miami Marlins Photo)

Jared Poland. (Jupiter Hammheads Photo)

Jared Poland. (University of Louisville Photo)

Jared Poland. (Beloit Sky Carp Photo)

Indiana products making mark in bigs, minors

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson, who was a star at Wapahani High School in Selma, Ind., and the University of Kentucky, made his Major League Baseball debut when he earned a four-inning save for the St. Louis Cardinals June 3 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Thompson, 24, has made 10 starts for the Triple-A Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds in 2022 and is 2-2 with a 4.67 earned run average.
Zach McKinstry (Fort Wayne North Side/Central Michigan) has split his time between the minors and the big-league Los Angeles Dodgers and the lefty-swinging infielder is currently on the active roster with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers. He made his big league debut in 2020.
McKinstry, 27, is hitting .335 with three home runs and 20 runs batted in over 164 MiLB at-bats and is 1-for-5 with LA — the hit being a June 3 two-run home run off New York Mets right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (Westfield/Butler) had made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 11. He is back with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Pepiot, 24, is 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA in nine appearances for OKC and 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three games (11 1/3 innings) in the big leagues.
Many other players are also on active rosters in the minors.
Right-hander Luke Albright (Fishers/Kent State) is with the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Albright, 22, is 3-2 with a 3.64 ERA in 10 starts.
Third baseman Cole Barr (Yorktown/Indiana University) plays for the High-A Everett (Wash.) AquaSox (Seattle Mariners).
Barr, 24, is hitting .172 with three homers and 17 RBIs.
Right-hander Gabe Bierman (Jeffersonville/Indiana) toes the rubber for the Low-A Jupiter (Fla.) Hammerheads (Miami Marlins).
Bierman, 22, is 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts).
Right-hander Garrett Burhenn (Lawrence North/Ohio State) takes the bump for the Low-A Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers).
Burhenn, 22, is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in nine starts.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Zach Britton (Batesville/Louisville) is with the High-A Vancouver (B.C.) Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).
Britton, 23, is hitting .206 with four homers and 11 RBIs.
Right-hander Zack Brown (Seymour/Kentucky) is one step from the majors with the Triple-A Nashville (Tenn.) Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers).
Brown, 27, is 1-0 with two saves and a 3.54 ERA in 17 relief appearances.
Outfielder Drew Campbell (Jeffersonville/Louisville) swings from the left side for the High-A Rome Braves (Atlanta Braves).
Campbell, 24, is hitting .266 with one homer and 22 RBIs.
Left-hander Jacob Cantleberry (Center Grove/Missouri/San Jacinto) is with the High-A Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers) in Midland, Mich.
Cantleberry, 24, is 2-1 with one save and a 6.10 ERA in 13 games out of the bullpen.

Right-hander Adysin Coffey (Delta/Wabash Valley) is on the Development List as a reliever with the Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).

Coffey, 23, is 2-2 with two saves a 7.30 ERA in 13 games.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Craig Dedelow (Munster/Indiana) takes his cuts for the Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) Barons (Chicago White Sox).
Dedelow, 27, is hitting .226 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs.
Lefty-swinging second baseman Clay Dungan (Yorktown/Indiana State) is with Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals).
Dungan, 26, is hitting .204 with three homers and 18 RBIs.
Outfielder Elijah Dunham (Evansville Reitz/Indiana) bats lefty for the Double-A Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) in Bridgewater, N.J.
Dunham, 24, is hitting .346 with seven homers and 27 RBIs.
Right-hander Parker Dunshee (Zionsville/Wake Forest) is spinning pitches for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland Athletics).
Dunshee, 27, is 1-5 with a 7.24 ERA in 12 games (10 starts).

Righty-swinging outfielder Matt Gorski (Hamilton Southeastern/Indiana) is with Double-A Altoona (Pa.) Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates).

Gorski, 24, is hitting .290 with 19 homers and 46 RBIs.
Left-hander Timmy Herrin (Terre Haute South Vigo/Indiana) takes the mound for the Triple-A Columbus (Ohio) Clippers (Cleveland Guardians).
Herrin, 25, is 0-2 with one save and a 4.00 ERA in 17 relief appearances.
Right-hander Bryan Hoeing (Batesville/Louisville) challenges hitters for the Triple-A Jacksonville (Fla.) Jumbo Shrimp (Miami Marlins).
Hoeing, 25, is 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Jacob Hurtubise (Zionsville/Army) is with the Double-A Chattanooga (Tenn.) Lookouts (Cincinnati Reds).
Hurtubise, 24, is hitting .299 with no homers and five RBIs. He has spent some time on the IL.
Right-hander Drey Jameson (Greenfield-Central/Ball State) fires it for the Triple-A Reno (Nev.) Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Jameson, 24, is 3-5 with a 5.80 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).
Catcher Hayden Jones (Carroll/Mississippi State/Illinois State) is also a lefty swinger and plays for the Low-A Daytona (Fla.) Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds).
Jones, 22, is hitting .210 with one homer and eight RBIs.
Righty-swinging catcher Scott Kapers (Mount Carmel, Ill./Valparaiso) is with the High-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads (Texas Rangers).
Kapers, 25, is hitting .257 with five homers and 16 RBIs.
Lefty-swinging first baseman Niko Kavadas (Penn/Notre Dame) competes for the Low-A Salem (Va.) Red Sox (Boston Red Sox).
Kavadas, 23, is hitting .253 with seven homers and 31 RBIs.
Right-hander Chayce McDermott (Pendleton Heights/Ball State) journeys around the circuit with the High-A Asheville (N.C.) Tourists (Houston Astros).
McDermott, 23, is 5-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 12 games (six starts).
First baseman Jacson McGowan (Brownsburg/Purdue) plies his trade with the Double-A Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays).
McGowan, 24, is hitting .276 with one homer and two RBIs. He has been on the IL in 2022.
Right-hander Zach Messinger (Castle/Virginia) hurls for the Low-A Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons (New York Yankees).
Messinger, 22, is 0-4 with two saves and a 4.85 ERA in 18 games (15 in relief).
Right-hander Evan Miller (LaPorte/Purdue Fort Wayne) works mostly out of the bullpen for the Triple-A El Paso (Texas) Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres).
Miller, 27, is 1-2 with two saves and a 6.59 ERA in 21 games (19 in relief).
Lefty-swinging shortstop Colson Montgomery (Southridge) is with the Low-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).
Montgomery, 20, is hitting .295 with four homers and 23 RBIs.
Righty-swinging infielder Nick Podkul (Andrean/Notre Dame) was with the Buffalo (N.Y.) Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays).
Podkul, 25, is hitting .178 with two homers and nine RBIs.
Left-hander Triston Polley (Brownsburg/Indiana State) has been a reliever for the High-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads (Texas Rangers).
Polley, 25, is 6-2 with one save and a 5.67 ERA in 16 games (all out of the bullpen).
Outfielder Grant Richardson (Fishers/Indiana) bats lefty for the Low-A Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons (New York Yankees).
Richardson, 22, is hitting .207 with two homers and 16 RBIs.
Left-hander Andrew Saalfrank (Heritage/Indiana) is a reliever for the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Saalfrank, 24, is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 17 bullpen games.
Andy Samuelson (LaPorte/Wabash Valley) pitched for the Rookie-level Braves (Atlanta Braves) until retiring June 11.
Samuelson, 23, pitched 1/3 of an inning in 2022.
Right-hander Caleb Sampen (Brownsburg/Wright State) pours it in for the Double-A Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays).
Sampen, 25, is 1-12 with a 5.02 ERA in nine appearances (five starts). He has been on the IL in 2022.
Right-hander Reid Schaller (Lebanon/Vanderbilt) is part of the bullpen for the Double-A Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators (Washington Nationals).
Schaller, 25, is 2-0 with one save and a 2.89 ERA in 14 bullpen contests.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Nick Schnell (Roncalli) is back on the field after a long injury-list stint. He plays for the Low-A Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays).
Schnell, 22, was activated May 31 and is hitting .333 with no homers and six RBIs. The “Diamonds in the Rough” podcast features Schnell and Cole Wilcox.
Left-hander Garrett Schoenle (Fort Wayne Northrop/Cincinnati) mostly comes out of the bullpen for the High-A Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash (Chicago White Sox).
Schoenle, 23, is 3-1 with one save and a 1.39 ERA in 14 games (13 in relief).
Left-hander Avery Short (Southport) has been starting for the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Short, 21, is 0-4 with a 4.58 ERA in nine starts.
Left-hander Tommy Sommer (Carmel/Indiana) is a starter for the Low-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).
Sommer, 23, is 2-4 with a 3.13 ERA in 11 starts.
Right-hander Skylar Szynski (Penn) was drafted in 2016 and has missed much time because of injury. He is Low-A Stockton (Calif.) Ports (Oakland Athletics).
Szynski, 24, is 1-1 with a 12.66 ERA in 15 bullpen games.
Right-hander Nolan Watson (Lawrence North) is mostly a reliever for the Double-A San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres).
Watson, 25, is 1-2 with a 7.76 ERA in 14 appearances (12 in relief).
Among those on the 7-day injury list are right-hander Sam Bachman (Hamilton Southeastern/Miami of Ohio) with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels) in Madison, Ala., righty-swinging third baseman Kody Hoese (Griffith/Tulane) with the Tulsa (Okla.) Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers), right-hander Michael McAvene (Roncalli/Louisville) with the High-A South Bend Cubs (Chicago Cubs) and righty-swinging third baseman Riley Tirotta (Mishawaka Marian/Dayton) with the High-A Vancouver (B.C.) Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).
Bachman, 22, is 0-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts.
Hoese, 24, is hitting .284 with three homers and 21 RBIs.
McAvene, 24, is 0-0 with a 40.50 ERA in one relief appearance.
Tirotta, 23, is hitting .209 with three homers and 20 RBIs.
Right-hander Tanner Andrews (Tippecanoe Valley/Purdue) with the Triple-A Sacramento (Calif.) River Cats (San Francisco Giants), right-hander Pauly Milto (Roncalli/Indiana) with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash (Chicago White Sox) and righty-swinging third baseman Hunter Owen (Evansville Mater Dei/Indiana State) with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) are on the 60-day IL.
Andrews, 26, is 0-0 with an 11.12 ERA in four relief games.
Milto, 25, is 0-0 with a 3.07 ERA in nine games (eight in relief).
Owen, 28, is hitting .256 with no homers and five RBIs. He made his MLB debut in 2021.

Zack Thompson (MLB Photo)

Cooper, New Castle Trojans in semistate for first time since 1996

BY STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Josh Cooper may have been appointed as head coach one week before the start of the 2022 New Castle (Ind.) High School baseball season, but he was already quite familiar with the players.
With the help of Rodney Scott, Cooper had coached or coached against many of the Trojans since they were 7 and saw them having success coming up through the ranks.
Eli Cooper, who is 18 and Josh’s son, is one of New Castle’s seniors.
“I know them very, very well,” says Josh Cooper of the Trojans. “It’s easy to read them. I always try to be honest and upfront with them.”
Cooper tells his players about the importance of being a good teammate. A player’s performance or game situation should not dictate that.
The players are very close. Each day after practice or a game, they spend more time together at a team members’ house or at a restaurant.
So when circumstances had the Trojans looking for someone to lead the program, 1998 New Castle graduate Cooper was encouraged to apply for the job.
That was mid-March. Flash forward to the present and the Trojans are in the semistate for the second time and first since 1996 (Josh Cooper was a sophomore on that team). Uncle Dennis Bolden was on the first semistate team in 1970 and later played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
Cut from basketball in the seventh grade, Josh focused on baseball and played high school ball for New Castle alum Gary Brown.
“He was a pretty hard-nosed coach and a good guy,” says Cooper of Brown.
On Saturday, June 11, New Castle (18-5-1) takes on No. 1-ranked Andrean (29-4) in the IHSAA Class 3A Kokomo Semistate (following the 1 p.m. 2A game). New Castle will be out to win its first semistate crown.
New Castle (enrollment around 900) is a member of the Hoosier Heritage Conference (with Delta, Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon of Fortville, New Palestine, Pendleton Heights, Shelbyville and Yorktown).
In winning the 2022 Yorktown Sectional, New Castle topped Hamilton Heights 4-3, Jay County 6-2 and Guerin Catholic 3-2. To prevail at the Oak Hill Regional, the Trojans bested Wawasee 9-0 (Indiana University commit Aydan Decker-Petty pitched a 16-strikeout one-hitter) and held off Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 5-4 (behind the pitching of Eli Cooper and Corbin Malott). Dwenger scored all its runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“I put a lot of emphasis on pitching to contact and defense,” says Cooper. “But we also spend a lot of time working in hitting.”
Leading the offense is seniors Malott (.405 average, three home runs, 20 runs batted in, 18 stolen bases), Garrett Rusch (.324, 3 HR, 24 RBI), Bryce Jenkins (.296), Eli Cooper (.276, 3 HR, 23 RBI), Decker-Petty .262) and Jake Barber (.259, 22 RBI) and junior Max Upchurch (.239).
On the mound, the Trojans are guided by right-handers Decker-Petty 4-1, 2.64 earned run average, 91 strikeouts, 22 walks in 53 innings), Eli Cooper (5-1, 4.32, 66 K’s, 27 walks, 47 IP), senior Trighton Cummings 4-1, 5.32, 20 K’s, 17 walks, 25 IP) and Malott (2-2, 0.98, 34 K’s, 12 walks, 21 IP).
Josh Cooper says Decker-Petty has fastball that has touched 91 mph while Eli Cooper has gotten up to 88.
Malott is committed to Purdue University, Eli Cooper and Jenkins to Clark State College (Springfield, Ohio) and Rusch to Allen Community College (Iola, Kan.).
Nic Besecker (Class of 2020) was with Allen Community College in 2021 and Drew Barber (2019) was at Indiana University-Kokomo. The brother of Jake Barber intends to transfer to Indiana University South Bend.
Coaching New Castle’s pitchers is alum Trey Ball, who was the seventh overall selection in the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox. The 6-foot-5 lefty pitcher/batter had committed to the University of Texas before going pro.
“Trey Ball has been so great,” says Cooper. “He brings a lot of great information.”
Scott, Tyler Smith, Zak Kellogg are also New Castle assistants. Scott digs in on analytics and scouting.
“He did a great job against Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger,” says Cooper.
A Parks and Recreation employee for the City of New Castle, Josh Cooper had established a junior high program last winter (there were 22 seventh graders and 16 eighth graders playing this spring) and was working hard to turn Denny Bolden Field — named for his grandfather who coached Babe Ruth ball in town for 50 years — into the home for junior varsity and junior high baseball when he was called to his current baseball post, turning his attention to the high school facility — revamped Collin McAtee Memorial Field (formerly Sunnyside Field).
Fencing, dugouts and scoreboard are all new. Turf Dawgs put down a bluegrass hybrid.
“I’m very thankful and the city is thankful for it,” says Cooper.
Because of the wet weather in the spring and the renovation project in progress, New Castle played just five games on their home field in 2022. Practices were held at Denny Bolden Field and “home” games were contested near Middletown, Ind., at Shenandoah High School, which is 15 miles from New Castle High. The Raiders are coached by Ryan Painter.
“They were unbelievable about helping us,” says Cooper. “Coach Painter was so gracious.”
As a thank you, Cooper is helping Painter with a field project at Shenandoah.

The 2022 New Castle (Ind.) High School Trojans.

Eli (left) and father Josh Cooper after New Castle won a 2022 regional baseball championship.

Penn alums Yoder, Kavadas cross paths on Virginia field

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Mark Yoder thought he was done with umpiring for 2022.
His college slate wrapped up last week with an Atlantic-10 series and he was gearing up for rotator cuff and knee surgeries.
Then he gets a call to work one more game as a substitute in the Class-A Carolina League.
Yoder was the base umpire Tuesday, May 24 as the Fredericksburg (Va.) Nationals hosted the Salem (Va.) Red Sox.
In the pregame plate meeting he saw a familiar face from days gone by in Virginia baseball circles in Jake Lowery, who is now the FredNats manager.
This game was also rehab start for right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg (the 2019 World Series MVP).
But as Yoder, who worked in the 2021 NCAA Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took his spot on the field he began chatting with the Salem first baseman.
“His face looks really familiar to me but I just can’t place it,” says Yoder. “I ask him his name and he says, ‘Niko.’ There’s not that many guys named Niko.”
Yoder’s next question: “Where’d you play college ball?”
Niko Kavadas tells him: “Notre Dame.”
Come to find out Yoder (55) and Kavadas (23) both played at Penn High School — decades apart — for Greg Dikos. The latter was in his first season as Kingsmen junior varsity coach when Yoder met him.
So there they are in a professional game in Virginia.
Kavadas, who was selected in the 11th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox, smacked a two-run double off Strasburg in the top of the third inning.
Strasburg wound up throwing 2 2/3 innings and giving up three runs (all earned) and throwing 61 pitches.
The lefty-swinging Kavadas is hitting .264 (29-of-110) with three home runs, one triple, 12 doubles, 19 runs batted and 16 runs scored in 34 games.
Shortly before the game was over, Yoder came to the slugger and fellow Penn alum.
Said Yoder, “I told Niko in the ninth inning: I can’t root for you tonight but I’m rooting for you the rest of the year and the rest of your career.”

Mark Yoder (NCAA Photo)

Niko Kavadas (Notre Dame Photo)

Retired big leaguer Lind using language as way to prepare for his next career

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana native Adam Lind enjoyed 14 seasons as a professional baseball player — 12 in the majors.
The lefty-swinging first baseman, designated hitter and left fielder donned the jerseys of the Toronto Blue Jays (2006-14), Milwaukee Brewers (2015), Seattle Mariners (2016) and Washington Nationals (2017) and took his last pro at-bats with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the New York Yankees system and Pawtucket in the Boston Red Sox organization in 2018.
His MLB managers were John Gibbons (two stints), Cito Gaston and John Farrell in Toronto, Ron Roenicke and Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, Scott Servais in Seattle and Dusty Baker in Washington.
All but 391 of his 1,334 career big league games were played with Toronto. He hit .272 with 200 home runs, 259 doubles, 723 runs batted in and a .795 OPS (.330 on-base percentage plus .465 slugging average).
In 2009, “Adam Bomb” won a Silver Slugger, the Edgar Martinez Award (best DH) and was an Unsung Star of the Year Award finalist after hitting .305 with 35 homers, 46 doubles, 114 RBIs and a .932 OPS (.370/.562).
His last three dingers came in the same Sept. 29 game — an 8-7 Blue Jays win in Boston. Lind went deep twice off Clay Buchholz and once against Takashi Saito.
While he logged 418 contests at DH and 249 in left field, Lind enjoyed it most at first base, where he fielded at a .993 clip and participated in 480 double plays.
“You’re more involved and closer to the action,” says Lind. “You can affect a game at first base.”
And there was April 20, 2012 when Lind started a triple play for the Blue Jays at Kansas City. Alex Gordon was on second base and Yuniesky Betancourt on first when Eric Hosner lined to Lind for the first out.
“I caught the ball in self defense,” says Lind, who stepped on first to force Betancourt and fired to second where Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar touched the bag to force Gordon.
Lind describes playing all those years in the American League East as good and bad.
“You see how good of a baseball player you are, playing 20 times each year against the Red Sox and Yankees,” says Lind. “You go against the best of the best — Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
“At the same time it’s why I never got into the playoffs (as a Blue Jay).”
In Lind’s lone postseason appearance — the 2017 National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs — he went 2-for-3 as a pinch-hitter.
As his playing days were ending, Lind began thinking about getting back in the game — likely as a coach.
Meanwhile, wife Lakeyshia received Spanish lessons as a Christmas gift.
“I enjoyed that,” says Lind, who decided after retirement to enroll in the World Languages Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa and major in Spanish. The 38-year old father of three is now in his second semester of in-person classes after the COVID-19 pandemic made for a virtual experience. “I’m using school to qualify me and give me the tools to go into another career that I want to achieve. By earning a degree and being able to communicate with Latin Americans hopefully it will get my foot in the door (in baseball).
“My kids are young and I don’t want to be gone yet, but I would be a commodity. It used to be that 10 years in the big leagues almost guaranteed you could latch on. In my opinion that has changed quite a bit in the last decade.”
To accumulate credits in a shorter period of time and to immerse himself in the language and culture, Lind has decided to study abroad.
“I don’t like the word fluent,” says Lind. “I’m nowhere near that.
“I can at least communicate and get a point across.”
Plans now call for him to spend May 11-June 18 in Chile, where he’ll take two classes, live with a host family and take a few excursions including to the Andes Mountains. It’s possible Lakeyshia might be able to visit.
The couple met during the 2007 season and were married in Toronto in 2010. Their children are daughter Martinne (10), son Louie (8) and daughter Elodie (5). The two oldest kids are dual Canadian-American citizens.
Born in Muncie, Ind., Adam Alan Lind moved to Anderson as a youngster and played his first organized baseball at Chesterfield Little League.
The son of educators Al and Kathy and younger brother of sister Allison played in the Anderson Babe Ruth League and was with the John Miles-managed and Dan Ball-coached Anderson American Legion Post 127 team.
“He was a great grandfather figure and he had clout,” says Lind. “It was an honor to be a freshman and asked to play for that team.”
Attending a Ball State hitting camp and taking a growth spurt between his eighth and ninth grade years brought power to Lind’s game.
Taking batting practice in the fall of his freshmen year, he smacked one over the fence.
“It was the first homer I hit on the big field,” says Lind, who parked it an offering from Jason Stecher.
It was Stecher who had been his seventh grade basketball coach as a first-year teacher and was a baseball assistant to his father through 2001 when the Anderson Highland High School diamond was named Bob Stecher Field then took over the Scots program.
“(Jason) was not much older than us so he knew all our tricks when the coach isn’t looking,” says Lind. “Bob Stecher was an Anderson legend. He was a great man.”
A 2002 Highland graduate, Lind hit .675 with 16 homers and was named Indiana Mr. Baseball as a senior.
“It was a great honor,” says Lind of the statewide recognition. “It’s something I think about at times.
“It’s a cool memory.”
The lefty belted three in a game against visiting Noblesville as a sophomore. His senior homer total might’ve been larger.
“There was that fair ball called foul in Martinsville,” says Lind.
Heading into his senior year, Lind traveled far and wide with the Indiana Bulls.
“I loved that summer,” says Lind. “It was the first time I was away from my high school friends. I was playing with established players. It was a little intimidating being around higher level of competition.”
One of his highlights was a homer at the University of Tennessee against Georgia’s famed East Cobb squad.
Anderson Highland consolidated with Anderson High School after the 2009-10 academic year.
In 2002, Lind was selected in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins and opted instead for the University of South Alabama.
Lind did not study Spanish at USA. He told people his major was business.
“It was baseball,” says Lind, who played two seasons (2003 and 2004) for the Steve Kittrell-coached Jaguars and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 2004.
He made his MLB debut Sept. 2, 2006. His first of 1,247 career hits was a double off left-hander Lenny DiNardo.

Adam Lind homers three time in Boston (MLB Video)

Adam Lind starts a triple play in Kansas City (MLB Video)

Adam Lind (Toronto Blue Jays Photo)

Hisner gets to see baseball from umpires’ view and more

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Randy Hisner has viewed baseball from four angles — player, coach, umpire and reporter.
A 1976 graduate of Heritage Junior/High School in Monroeville, Ind., Hisner played for the Patriots and was a freshman when current Heritage head coach Dean Lehrman was a senior. They were later men’s league baseball teammates.
Hisner, 64, spent the first four years of his career as an English teacher at Monroe Central Junior/High School in Parker City, Ind., then taught at Bellmont High School and Bellmont Middle School 1984-2018.
He has been the Braves head boys cross country coach for 37 years and led the Bellmont baseball program for two seasons — winning 19 games in both 2009 and 2010. While at Monroe Central, he was a baseball assistant for three years and head coach for one.
Hisner started umpiring in the summer around 2008. After his prep coaching stint, he got his high school license. He has called games from youth league to college and 30-and-over leagues.
Many of his college games are in the NAIA-affiliated River States Conference, which has baseball-playing members in Indiana (Indiana University Kokomo, Indiana University Southeast and Oakland City University), Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Semi-retired, Hisner plans to coach middle school track in the spring — cutting back his umpiring schedule during that season — and will continue to take sports assignments for the Decatur Daily Democrat.
Randy and wife Cheryl, who is part-time Title I elementary teacher, have four sons who all graduated from Bellmont — Erik (Class of 2001), Ryan (2002), Shane (2007) and Gavin (2009). All umpired as a summer job in high school.
Erik Hisner is athletic director and head baseball coach at Eastern High School in Greentown, Ind. He coached at Whitko for a decade and was the North head coach Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series in 2017.
Ryan Hisner and Gavin Hisner are both teachers in Adams Central Community Schools in Monroe, Ind. — Ryan Title I at the middle school and Gavin English at the high school. Gavin also does some umpiring.
Shane Hisner used to teach English overseas and now does so online.
Harley Parnell Hisner, Randy’s father and a graduate of Hoagland (Ind.) High School, pitched in the Boston Red Sox system. In his only big league appearance, he started the final game of 1951 season against the New York Yankees. Two of the three strikeouts for Hisner came in that Sept. 30 contest came against rookie Mickey Mantle. He also yielded Joe DiMaggio’s last major league hit.
When Randy Hisner stepped away from coaching baseball, he saw umpiring as a way to stay connected to the game.
“As umpires, we get paid to know the rules,” says Hisner. “A lot of coaches think they do.
“I re-read the high school and college rule books every year. You really have to be on top of that.”
Umpires must also be ready when they see a situation that rarely comes up.
For instance, the time Randy was working a college game together a few years ago. As the base umpire, he was positioned in front of the shortstop with a runner at second base.
The next thing Hisner knew the runner, third baseman and batted ball all converged near the third base bag.
The runner was attempting to steal and made his slide into the third baseman at the same time the ball arrived. The ball dribbled away.
“In all the years I’d played and coached I’d never seen anything like that,” says Hisner. “I called interference on the runner. The runner did not give the fielder a chance to field the ball.
“If the fielder had fielded the ball and then the guy had hit him and knocked it loose that would’ve been different.”
In a travel tournament a few summers back, Randy and Gavin were working the game and the hitter sent a long drive to left-center field.
The center fielder made a great back-hand running catch, took four or five steps and ran into the fence and dropped the ball over the barrier.
“We called a home run,” says Hisner. “We had a long discussion with the defensive coach.
“The rule is that the momentum of the play has to stop and has release has to be voluntary and intentional.”
Hisner says there’s sure to be an argument when it comes down to hit-by-pitch and calling it differs between high school and college.
“In high school games, as an umpire you almost have to be a mind reader,” says Hisner. “The way the rule book reads the hitter can’t permit the ball to let the ball hit him. In high school, it’s a really tough call.
“They made a change to the college rule a couple of years ago. If the ball is in the batter’s box, he can freeze (and be struck by the pitch and take his base). He can’t move into it and try to get hit. You don’t have to read anybody’s mind.”
Since three-man is usually not employed during regular-season games he works, Hisner is accustomed to two-man mechanics.
“I’ve done well over 1,000 games of two-man so I just react,” says Hisner. “I went to a college three-man camp one time. But until you’re used to it, it’s really uncomfortable.”
Preferring to watch Erik’s teams, Randy does not apply for the IHSAA tournament series.
One two-man mechanic that many non-umpires may not consider is the plate arbiter covering second base.
With no runners on base and the base umpire positioned near first base and the right field line, a hitter hits the ball to right field. It might be over the fielder’s head, call for a diving catch and come down near the foul line.
If the batter/runner continues to second base, the base umpire won’t be in-position to make the call. That’s the plate umpire’s duty. With all his protective equipment and steel-toed shoes, he must get to second base before then batter/runner. His path takes him to the right side of the mound to avoid tripping on the rubber.
“That had never ever crossed my radar until I had started umpiring,” says Hisner of the plate ump going to second base. “As soon as its hit, I’m taking my mask off and heading out that way anyway.
“Ideally, you get within 30 feet to make the call. You also have to be ready if (the batter/runner) heads back to first base. That’s a play I hope I have in the first inning if I have the plate.
“I want the coaches and players to see that I’m working hard. This guy is not just collecting a check. He’s hustling like we are. He might not be getting every call right but it’s not for lack of effort.”

Randy Hisner.

The Hisners on a Disney vacation.