Notre Dame’s Wallace talks about coaching the bases

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

Notre Dame baseball generated plenty of base path traffic in 2021 — Rich Wallace’s second season in the third base coach’s box for the Irish.
ND led the Atlantic Coast Conference in on-base percentage (.379), runs scored per game (7.06) and runs batted in per game (6.55).
Wallace talked about coaching the bases for the South Bend Cubs Foundation Coaches Club Tuesday, Feb. 8 in the Pepsi Stadium Club at Four Winds Field.
Wallace has been coaching the bases for almost half his life. He started as a 22-year-old graduate assistant at the University of Central Florida in the first base box. At 24, he began coaching third.
Over the years, he’s learned to be ready for all situations.
“One thing that I always try to do is prepare enough that I can become invisible,” says Wallace. “I do enough work with our guys and with the scouting that nobody even notices me out there.”
Wallace looks at coaching the bases from both internal and external perspectives.
“At Notre Dame we practice base running and I practice base coaching more than any place I’ve ever been,” says Wallace, who is on a staff led by Link Jarrett. “We’ll never run the bases without both base coaches out there for our drills.
“Good base runners do not need help. The problem is they’re very hard to find and are getting harder to find.
“We’re on the bases (as coaches) all the time to get to know (the runners) — the way they run, the types of jumps, what they screw up and what they’re good at.”
Runners also get accustomed to Wallace and first base coach Brad Vanderglas.
“I have a different cadence from another third base coach they’ve had,” says Wallace. “I have different mannerisms.”
There is also creativity in the Notre Dame practice plan that allows for base running work.
“Anything that we feel is going to come up in a game or something we’ve screwed up before or might screw up we do it live,” says Wallace. “You have to have some tough skin to make it through base running because it happens so fast.
“But if you don’t put them in those situations there’s really no way they can handle it.”
Communication between coaches and players is key.
“The language needs to be the same from the head coach to the first base coach to myself so that (players) are not hearing one thing from the first base coach and it sounds like something different from me and something different from (Coach Jarrett),” says Wallace.
The Irish use a wristband system.
“We have more things in our offensive package than you could possibly imagine,” says Wallace, who notes that ND has nine different ways to bunt. “We haven’t missed a sign in three years.”
Not that the execution has always been right 100 percent of the time. But no signs have been missed.
When Wallace yells out instructions, it’s always “yes, yes, yes or no, no, no.”
“I never say ‘go’ because ‘go’ sounds like ‘no,’” says Wallace. “Make sure that you practice hand signals.”
Verbal signals are just a single word — one for advance and another to go back.
Wallace addressed spacing for base coaches. NCAA Division I rules say the coach must be touching the coaches box and the time of the pitch, but can move after that.
“Then you can be as far north (toward the outfield) and as close to the dugout as you want from that spot,” says Wallace. “Use your space. I think about what might possibly happen and I put myself in position (to make a decision where the runner will be able to see me).”
With no runners on-base, Wallace likes to get as deep as possible in anticipation of a triple.
“Everything else in the field (runners) are making their own decisions,” says Wallace. “If the ball gets in the corner then I’ll help them.
“If there’s a runner on second, I’ll be down the line as far as I can.
“I want to make sure I can see the runner and both middle infielders. Depending on where the umpire is, you adjust from there.”
Coaches also help the runner read the pitcher’s pick-off move. There’s also the back-pick attempt by the catcher.
Wallace says it blows his mind when a first base coach lets a runner get picked off with the first baseman playing behind him.
“There’s really nothing else for you to do except tell the runner what is happening behind him,” says Wallace. “So (the back-pick) should never happen.”
Wallace says its the first base coach’s job to gather information on things that will help the runner like pitcher’s grip, rhythm of delivery, catcher’s set-up and arm strength, defensive positioning and more.
The coach communicates this to the dugout without tipping anything to the opponent.
As a third base coach, Wallace is always looking for “chinks in the armor” of the opponent.
“Is there something out there I can see that’s going to allow us to exploit them and do something pretty cool that the guys enjoy themselves and score runs?,” says Wallace.
External preparation includes watching the opponent warm up to study outfielders’ arms, cut-off systems, speed of players and more.
Wallace addressed the Coaches Club in 2019 about recruiting.
Jarrett talked about what it means to be a coach in January 2022.
Notre Dame opens the 2022 season Feb. 18 against Manhattan in Deland, Fla. The first ACC game is March 11 at North Carolina State. The Irish’s first home game is slated for March 15 against Valparaiso.
Performance consultant Dr. Amber Selking will be the guest speaker at the next South Bend Cubs Foundation Coaches Club meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 29.

Rich Wallace (University of Notre Dame Photo)

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Notre Dame’s Jarrett talks about what it means to be a coach

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

In Link Jarrett’s second season as head baseball coach at the University of Notre Dame he led the Fighting Irish to 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Notre Dame went 34-13 overall and 25-10 in the ACC and Jarrett was selected as Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (Midwest), D1Baseball.com and the ACC.
Jarrett, who established his system for Notre Dame baseball in the fall of 2019, spoke to the South Bend Cubs Foundation Coaches Club Tuesday, Jan. 11 at Four Winds Field. His audience included youth, high school and college coaches.
A collegiate coach since 1999, Jarrett talked about what it means to carry that title.
“There’s still expectation in that level that you have because you do the things to help (players) figure out how to be successful,” said Jarrett.
In his experience, a coach should do the following:

• Be accessible.
• Study and Communicate.
• Use Video, Chart, Compete, Score It.
• Learn what motivates.
  • Instruct, Motivate, Inspire.
    Jarrett said being accessible means being there 45 minutes before practice for extra hitting cage work. It’s something that ND volunteer assistant Brad Vanderglas, who was in attendance Tuesday, knows well since he is the first coach to arrive at the office each day and the last to leave.
    As for studying and communicating, it’s about giving players the right information.
    “If you’re giving them the wrong information it’s not going to work,” said Jarrett. “You’re not going to ultimately be as successful as you would want. The older players start to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
    “If you want them to listen, you better give them the right stuff. You have an obligation to give them the right information. (You must) study what they do and how they do it and use your resources.”
    Jarrett suggests that something like a quick phone video of a player’s swing at practice and a review can be very helpful.
    To promote competition, especially during the winter months of what can be tedious indoor work, Jarrett keeps score with some of the drills.
    Motivation is not a cookie-cutter kind of thing.
    “It’s just one at a time and pushing the right buttons,” said Jarrett. “Like some guys can take being crawled on a little bit and some you might have to sandwich what you’re trying to message in between two good things so they don’t melt down.
    “If you’re not accessible and you don’t study and communicate, how can you learn what each guy needs and then give the right instruction?”
    J.T. Jarrett, Link’s son, is a fifth-year player at North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack’s head coach Elliott Avent, who constantly sends strong motivational and inspirational messages.
    Jarrett considers belief a part of inspiration.
    “Sometimes (players) have to think that they’re better than they are,” said Jarrett. “You almost can make them believe that they’re going to win just telling them that if we do this the right way — man — you guys we’re gonna win and win big. It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    “If you can get them to buy in and understand that this you can do. That confidence, that swagger, that belief when they walk out there, it does matter.”
    Jarrett gave a presentation at the 2020 Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association State Clinic on “Building Complete Hitters” and he shared many offensive pointers at Tuesday’s gathering.
    Among the concepts that he broke down was hitting approach.
    Jarrett, who was part of an ABCA virtual coaching clinic on hitting approach in 2020, defines approach as “a mental and physical strategy to competitive success.”
    Each hitter must develop their own approach. One size does not fit all.
    What made sense for lefty slugger Niko Kavadas did not necessarily apply to other hitters in the Irish lineup in 2021.
    The coach says there is no universal way to finish a swing. Hitters must be able adjust for hard stuff and off-speed pitches.
    “We’re just trying to flush up as many balls as we can flush up and (hitters) know that,” said Jarrett. “The line drive is the ticket. Kavadas (a Penn High School graduate who hit 22 home runs and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox) missed some and they go out (to the opposite field). The hard ground ball and the hard fly ball are productive. But the goal in this is to how hard can you hit it on a line.”
    Looking for his ND hitters to do damage, Jarrett says a .400 on-base percentage is elite in major college baseball and he wants his club to average seven runs per game and make a third of all hits to go for extra bases — something that’s not easy at Frank Eck Stadium where the wind tends to always be a factor.
    “Somebody’s got to step on some balls because you don’t get enough opportunities against good pitching to string together 12 singles,” said Jarrett, who saw the 2021 Irish average post a .379 team OBP with 7.06 runs per game and 166 extra-base hits (36.8 percent).
    Notre Dame opens the 2022 season Feb. 18 against Manhattan in Deland, Fla. The first home game is slated for March 15 against Valparaiso.
  • The next South Bend Cubs Foundation Coaches Club session in the Pepsi Stadium Club (second floor) at Four Winds Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8. Notre Dame’s Rich Wallace will talk on base coaching. All are invited. Admission is free.

Link Jarrett (University of Notre Dame Photo)

After four seasons at Spalding U., righty Parisi transfers to Indiana State

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

Tell Jack Parisi he can’t do something and that’s just the motivation he needs.
“My whole baseball career — starting in high school, people said I’m never going to play college baseball and I’m never going to throw 90 mph,” says Parisi, a right-handed pitcher who four seasons at NCAA Division III Spalding University in Louisville, Ky. (2018-21), and is now at NCAA Division I Indiana State University for a graduate transfer year in 2022. “I bundled it all up, threw it aside and went to prove all these people wrong.
“Once somebody tells me a goal of mine can’t be achieved I know they’re wrong and I go to work to make it possible.”
Parisi, a 2017 graduate of Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., made 41 appearances (38 starts) for Spalding, going 21-8 with four complete games and a 2.97 earned run average. He produced 269 strikeouts and 107 walks in 218 innings while holding opponents to a .215 batting average.
In 2021, the 22-year-old righty made 12 starts for Eagles head coach Matt Downs and pitching coach Tayler Sheriff and was 8-3 with two complete games and a 1.67 ERA. He racked up 96 K’s and 29 walks in 75 2/3 innings and foes hit .200.
“He is definitely baseball-driven and has a positive mindset,” says Parisi of Downs. “He’s a great friend who I can have trust in.”
“One of my best best qualities as an athlete is I’m goal-driven and willing to put in the work to get better,” says Parisi. “I have a strong mindset — on and off the field. I’m very in-tune with everything happening around me.
“I’m a pretty focused athlete.”
Parisi, a 6-foot, 210-pounder, decided to take his extra year of eligibility granted because the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, began getting calls and texts just minutes after entering the transfer portal.
“I let it all come to me,” says Parisi. “Indiana State was one of the first teams to reach out to me.
“They were very interested in me. This is a chance to play for a great coaching staff and great team. I want to prove that I can pitch against the best out there and get my (Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft) stock up and keep my name out there.”
ISU head coach Mitch Hannahs indicated that he wanted Parisi to make a visit to the Terre Haute school’s campus as soon as possible. As a Sycamore, he gets to work with a staff of Hannahs, associate head coach Brian Smiley, assistant Brad Vanderglas and volunteer Justin Hancock while continuing to develop as a pitcher.
Parisi moved to Terre Haute last week — about two weeks before the start of fall classes — to familiar himself with the ISU weight room and athletic trainers.
He earned a Business Administration degree with a focus in Marketing and a minor in Communication at Spalding and plans to pursue a masters in Sport Management at Indiana State.
Throwing from a low to middle three-quarter overhand arm slot, Parisi throws a four-seam cutter, sinker, change-up and two kinds of sliders.
“My junior year of high school someone noticed that the ball was cutting out of my hand,” says Parisi. “I began calling my fastball a cutter.”
His fastest pitch is the sinker, which has been clocked as high as 95 mph and sits at 90 to 93.
He uses a “circle” change. His hard slider has a sharp bite at the end a tops out around 85 mpg. His soft slider is more of a “gyro” ball that moves across the plate like a frisbee and maxes out near 79 mph.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Jack played from 4 until 12 at Don Ayres Little League then had travel ball stints with the Mark DeLaGarza-led Summit City Sluggers, AWP and the Javier DeJesus-coached Fort Wayne Diamondbacks.
At Homestead, Parisi played for two Spartans head coaches — Steve Sotir as a freshman and Nick Byall the last three seasons.
“I learned a lot from both of them,” says Parisi. “(Byall’s) a great guy and a great coach. He’s there for his players. He’s one of those teachers you can reach out to.
“He’s looking out for your best interests.”
During his college summers, Parisi has been with the Manatees of the Port Lucie-based Central Florida Collegiate League in 2018, Casey Harms-coached Waterloo (Iowa) Bucks of the Northwoods League in 2019 and trained with Greg Vogt at PRP Baseball in Noblesville, Ind., in 2020 and 2021.
He credits his time at PRP last summer with developing his sinker and hard slider.
Casa Restaurants director of operations Tom Parisi and wife Kathy Parisi have two sons — J.T. (28) and Jack. J.T. Parisi played baseball at Homestead then graduated from Indiana University and law school at Vandberbilt University. He is now a lawyer in Chicago.

Jack Parisi (Spalding University Photo)

Jack Parisi (Spalding University Photo)

Jack Parisi (Spalding University Photo)

Jack Parisi (Spalding University Photo)

Vanderglas contributes as Indiana State baseball assistant

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Three weekends into the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season there have already been plenty of surprising outcomes.

Brad Vanderglas, an assistant coach at Indiana State University, thinks he knows one of the reasons.

When the 2020 season and the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft were clipped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, players were given the option of extra years of illegibility.

That means more talent has stayed in D-I that normally would have moved on.

“It’s testament to so many early-season upsets,” says Vanderglas, whose seen the Terre Haute-based Sycamores get off to a 6-4 start with a couple wins at No. 16-ranked Tennessee. “The pitching staffs have a lot more depth.

“There’s no such thing as an easy match-up.”

Vanderglas joined ISU as a volunteer in 2017 and was elevated to assistant coach prior to the 2020 season.

His responsibilities include working with catchers and outfielders and helping with hitters. During games, he is the first base coach.

Vanderglas also assists associate head coach Brian Smiley with recruiting and scouting.

With D-I continuing to be in a “dead” period where it can’t see potential recruits in-person, Vanderglas says there has been a shift in recruiting focus.

“We go a lot more on coach’s recommendations and video,” says Vanderglas. “We’re a lot more virtual with everything. And we have to do a lot more due diligence.

“We like to evaluate a recruit several times so they fit our style. We can see a guy’s physical tools on video, but not the intangibles like how they respond to failure and the overall makeup of the kid. Is he trying to do his best for himself or is he worried about the team?”

The “dead” period is scheduled to end May 30.

“When we get back on the road it will be an action-packed summer,” says Vanderglas. “There are tournaments and showcases about every day of the week. 

“We’ll host some prospects showcases on our campus as well.”

Using software called Synergy, a report is compiled with video and statistics. The Sycamores can see the tendencies of opposing pitcher and the trends of hitters so they can move their fielders accordingly.

“We do a decent amount (of defensive shifting) with the analytics,” says Vanderglas. “We try to take away the areas of strength (for opponents).

“In the outfielder, we are a little different that many teams. We’re aggressive. We want to take away bleeders, especially when we’re way ahead or way behind in the (ball-strike) count. The last few years, we’ve shifted a lot more.”

Mitch Hannahs is in his eighth grade leading ISU after returning to his alma mater in 2013.

“His leadership is outstanding,” says Vanderglas. “He’s extremely consistent with guys. There are no ‘off’ days with us. You’ve got to get better each and every day.

“He’s good at blending personalities and getting everyone to commit to a common goal.”

The Sycamores roster includes players from 14 different states plus the Bahamas, Canada, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

Hannahs is demanding with his players and expects his assistants to be prepared.

“We don’t want to feel like we’re searching for answers,” says Vanderglas. 

Before coming to Indiana State, Vanderglas was at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill., where he was associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for Statesmen head coach Kevin Bowers.

“(Bowers) was great to me,” says Vandeglas. “He trusted me. He let me have lot of responsibility. I got to learn from learn from trial and error while he offered constant assistance.

“We got after it and opened our boundaries in recruiting. He introduced me to people and gave me free rein to go after the people we wanted.”

As an infielder, Vanderglas played at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky., for Norse head coach Todd Asalon.

“Todd is a great players’ coach,” says Vanderglas. “He was great with building relationships.

“He is also tough-nosed and we played with no excuses.”

Asalon, who has indicated he will retire at the end of the 2021 season, has the knack for getting former players to come back to support the program.

A 2009 graduate of Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, Ky., Vanderglas played for Gators head coach Chris Decker.

“He worked extremely hard and expected details to be sharp in practice,” says Vanderglas. “He was keen on the fundamentals of the game. 

“He made sure we were prepared no matter who we played and he made sure everyone could contribute to the team.”

Brad Vanderglas is an assistant baseball coach at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. He joined the Sycamores staff in 2017. (Indiana State University Photo)