Owens leading Bellarmine into NCAA D-I era

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

When Larry Owens was playing baseball for Jeffersonville (Ind.) High School in the mid-1980’s, he had no sense of his future in the game.

Red Devils coach Don Poole, who went into the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1990, helped Owens see what could be.

“He opened my eyes to what was possible in baseball,” says Owens of Poole. “I didn’t have any clue I could play baseball beyond high school.”

Poole let the young left-handed pitcher know that the coach and some of Owens’ teachers could open some doors with their recommendations.

“I thank God for him,” says Owens of Don Poole Sr., who died in June at 82. “He helped me see I can have a job in baseball. That’s cool.”

Owens also appreciated Poole’s steady demeanor as a coach.

“(Coach Poole) never got too high and he never got too low,” says Owens, who was a classmate and teammate at Jeff of 2021 IHSBCA Hall of Fame inductee Chris McIntyre (the long-time head coach at New Albany High School).

Owens, who graduated from Jeffersonville in 1986, went on to play in college and briefly in the pros and has been a baseball coach since the spring of 1992. 

The future head coach at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., was on the Jeffersonville High staff of Jerry Rusk (1992) and Al Rabe (1993).

Entering the college coaching ranks, Owens was as assistant to Warriors head coach Scott Rendel at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill., in 1994 and 1995. 

In the fall of 1995, Owens was a volunteer at Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) with Keith Guttin as Bears head coach and Paul Evans as pitching coach.

When Mike Snyder left the University of Louisville as pitching coach, Owens got the job and served with Cardinals head coach Lelo Prado in 1996 and 1997.

The 1999 and 2000 seasons saw Owens as pitching coach for Governors head coach Gary McClure at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.

That was follow by a four-year stint (2001-04) as Tigers head coach Dave Anderson’s pitching coach at the University of Memphis.

In the summer of 2005, Owens got his first taste of pro coaching. He was pitching coach for the independent Golden League’s San Diego Surf Dawgs with manager Terry Kennedy, who had played in the majors with Anderson. It was also the last season as a player for a 46-year-old Rickey Henderson.

“It was awesome,” says Owens of his season in San Diego. “We played National League rules with no DH. That changes how you run the game quite a bit with double-switching. It’s about getting through a game and not crushing your bullpen.”

Owens learned that managing at the pro level was as much about managing personalities as game situations.

“It was a way to deal with people that I appreciated,” says Owens. “There’s a skill to it. You’re trying to get people to do things.

“That’s the approach I take at Bellarmine. We’re marrying both sides — amateur and pro.”

Owens was an area scout with the Boston Red Sox in 2006.

The 2021 season will mark Owens’ eighth as head coach at Bellarmine. It will be the Knights’ first in NCAA Division I after years at the NCAA D-II level.

Owens played his freshmen college season at Bellarmine for coach Kevin Kocks.

“He was on the cutting edge with a boatload of passion,” says Owens of Kocks. “He believed in doing things fast and intense.”

One of Owens’ teammates was sophomore lefty Scott Wiegandt, who went on to a stellar diamond career and then became Bellarmine’s director of athletics. 

When the time was right, Owens accepted Wiegandt’s invitation to come “home” from a baseball odyssey that saw him hold coaching jobs in Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, California, North Carolina and Virginia. He was a pitching coach in the Chicago White Sox system from 2007-13, spending four seasons with the Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators and three with the Bristol (Va.) White Sox. His managers included Chris Jones, Nick Capra, Ernie Young, Pete Rose Jr., and Bobby Magallanes.

“I didn’t leave professional baseball just be in college,” says Owens, who turns 52 on Dec. 31. “It had to be the right fit for me to leave what I was doing and this is right fit.”

Owens notes that each time he moved in baseball it was to better himself. Coming back to his home area also meant being closer to family. A bachelor for his first four decades, he got married in 2008. Larry and Kelley’s blended family now includes four children — McKenna (22), Dawson (19), Grayson (11) and Easton (9).

Owens, who was featured on the Dec. 7, 2020 Dugout Chatter Podcast Powered by Stick & Ball TV and hosted by Jeremy Sheetinger, is leading Bellarmine’s move to D-I baseball. He cut his term as American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA D-II chair short when his program made the switch.

The northern-most team in a southern league, the Knights are now in the ASUN Conference (along with Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Lipscomb, North Alabama, North Florida and Stetson.

“It’s exciting,” says Owens of the process. “There’s a transition period that happens. I want to have what my opponents have in terms of player development and facilities. We don’t have those things yet.

“There’s so much value in player development. To me, it is many, many things — not just the just the physical, mechanics, measuring things or getting in the weight room,” says Owens.

Bellarmine is hoping to break ground soon on a new baseball complex.

“I’m excited for our returning seniors that were allowed to come back and play a Division I schedule,” says Owens, who welcomes back six of seven players who had originally assumed the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign was their last. The coach says four of those returnees have a legitimate chance at pro baseball.

After his one season playing with Bellarmine, Owens transferred to Vincennes (Ind.) University and played for Trailblazers head coach Jerry Blemker (National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame Class of 2007).

“He was a great man,” says Owens of Blemker. “He taught us how to grow up and be a man in a variety of ways.

“He was demanding, but fair. He wasn’t for everybody, but if you paid attention to the right things you were certainly going to learn a lot.”

Blemker held his student-athletes accountable. They were accountable to their teammates. They were expected to be a good person — on and off the field.

“Coach has some standards,” says Owens. “We’re on the team. We have to live up to them.”

At the time, junior college baseball was not restricted in number of games so Vincennes played around 45 games in the fall and 85 in the spring. The 1998 Blazers won more than 50.

“There was a doubleheader everyday,” says Owens.

On top of that, he had to take more than a full load in each semester and then six hours during the summer while playing in the Cape Cod League to be eligible for a four-year school.

That ended up being Armstrong State University in Savannah, Ga., where Lebanon, Ind., native Joe Roberts was the Pirates head coach.

“Joe gave us a chance to play,” says Owens. “He figured out how to build a roster and put guys in the right spots.”

Armstrong State went from NCAA D-I in 1987 to NCAA D-II in 1988 and went to the D-II World Series that first year and several times after that.

Clyde Oliver was then the Pirates pitching coach.

“Clyde taught us how to pitch,” says Owens. “You were not just heaving things. You’re trying to navigate the game. It’s how you use your stuff. The pitcher’s job is to get people out. 

“There’s a really good time for a 3-2 breaking ball and there’s a really bad time for it. You have to pay attention to the game situation. It’s not as simple as lifting your leg and throwing it as hard as you can.”

Owens was selected in the 27th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by he Atlanta Braves and played that summer for the Pulaski (Va.) Braves, but he knew his future was in coaching.

So after taking 1991 off, he launched into what has been a baseball coaching odyssey.

Larry Owens talks to Ryan Wheat (Louisville Legends Video).

Larry Owens, a 1986 graduate of Jeffersonville (Ind.) High School, is entering his eighth season as head baseball coach at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. The 2021 season is to be the Knights’ first in NCAA Division I. (Bellarmine University Photo)

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Indiana native Rodmaker keeping White Sox minor leaguers strong, conditioned

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Tim Rodmaker is in the business of making baseball players stronger, more agile and just plain physically better.

A strength and conditioning coach in the Chicago White Sox system since the 2006 season, Rodmaker looks to exploit athlete’s strengths while improving upon their weaknesses.

“It’s important for guys to use what they’re good at,” says Rodmaker, a native of Georgetown in Floyd County, Ind. “But you can’t forget about the things you’re not good at.”

Just because a guy can lift every weight at the gym doesn’t mean he skips cardio or vice versa.

“It comes down to knowing the individual you’re working with,” says Rodmaker, who will be back with the Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) Barons for the 2019 regular season. “Some guys need actual strength and some agility. Then there’s nutrition and mobility work. I tailor a plan that fits them specifically.”

Rodmaker, a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, does this be observing and then consulting with the player.

“I can make some notes myself where improvements can be made and where they’re doing a good job,” says Rodmaker. “But I want to hear from them. Who knows themselves better than they do?”

Rodmaker also welcomes input from managers, coaches and roving instructors.

Once a plan is formed, Rodmaker and the player go forward with it. To make it work, the athlete must be committed to it.

There are specific skill sets and strength and conditioning needs for baseball players, depending on their role. It might be third baseman or relief pitcher or designated hitter.

“These guys have the luxury that they to need to train for this one specific thing,” says Rodmaker. “It can’t get any more focused than it is.”

All of them will be asked to achieve a range of motion and strength in that motion that relates to their position.

“They will attack the movement chain,” says Rodmaker. “The game is played in short bursts of usually no more than 10 seconds. But a game could last 2 1/2 hours (and the minor league regular season lasts for 140 games).”

For this reason, a balance must be struck between aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

A typical day when the Barons are at home is a long one for Rodmaker.

With a 7:05 p.m. game time, he gets to the ballpark around 11 a.m. to get his own workout in and begin preparing for the arrival of players.

Most players in the White Sox system prefer to lift before the game and that begins around 1 p.m. Stretching for pitchers and position players is at 3:30. Pitchers do conditioning work during batting practice.

After a pre-game meal, starting pitchers will work out under Rodmaker’s supervision.

Pre-game routines start around 6:40.

“By Double-A, they have ownership of a pre-game routine,” says Rodmaker. “But, if necessary, I will lead it.”

During the game, the strength and conditioning coach is back in observation mode.

“I see if what we’re doing is paying off,” says Rodmaker.

Some players will choose to lift after the game. At this point, it’s 11:30 or midnight.

On the road, the schedule is condensed. The team usually finds a local gym for a 10 a.m. workout.

Rodmaker, who is active with the Professional Baseball Strength & Conditioning Coaches Society, spoke at the 2019 Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association State Clinic in Indianapolis. His topic was “Strength and Conditioning On a Budget.”

While even teams at the professional level think about financial constraints, it’s the time limitations that Rodmaker focuses on.

He says to focus on the big movements that will give the athlete the most bang for their buck.

These exercises require no equipment at all.

“They can show up at the park and do this stuff,” says Rodmaker.

He has also found that he does not like to use cones when doing agility work.

“Guys don’t respect cones,” says Rodmaker. “They can use their glove or mitt or hat. They will take care not to step on that.”

Rodmaker is a 2000 graduate of Floyd Central High School, where he was in wrestling for four seasons (making it as far as regional) and baseball for one season. He graduated from Indiana University in 2005, earning a B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in psychology and a certificate from the Kelly School of Business.

Besides baseball, where he has served as a trainer in Bristol, Great Falls, Kannapolis and Winston-Salem prior to Birmingham, he has worked in the off-season with Baseball Europe and the U.S. Paralympic Alpine Ski team. He has also helped at the University of Louisville, Bellarmine University and Spalding University.

Tim and Alex Rodmaker reside in Georgetown with their three daughters — Eli (3), Frankie (2) and Von (9 months).

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONIONG ON A BUDGET

Tim Rodmaker, Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox Double-A Affiliate)

Sample Warm-Up

• Jog lap around the warning track (build up sprints and the end of stretch).

• Shuffle, side-to-side.

• Skip, forward, backward, side-to-side.

• Backpedal (with change of direction.

• Ankle circles (both directions).

• Lunge (with reach to the sky paired with (straight front leg) triangle pose.

• Up, Down and Around (both directions).

• Side-to-side (wide stance).

• Squat and reach (with twist).

• Knees to chest (marching).

• Quad stretch (with reach).

• Twists

• Arm circles (small/big, both directions).

• Pec stretch (ALL angles).

• Internal/external rotation at 90/90 (walk a lap after practice, then speak to group).

Agility

Circle drill

Goal – Increase confidence and ability to run on edges of feet/lateral lean/maintaining speed.

Short shuttle

Goal – Change of direction, body awareness, energy absorption and redirection.

Bonus

• Juggling solo or with partner.

Workout

• Sample workout.

• Split squats.

• Rotational lateral lunge.

• Split stance RDL.

• Squat jump with 1/4 or 1/2 twist.

• Push-ups/Cobra Push-ups/Pike Push-ups.

• Triangle.

• Windmill.

• Walkout to plank.

• Planks.

• Plank with touches.

• Arm walk.

• Pro/Re-traction Push-ups.

Tim Rodmaker, a graduate of Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Ind., and Indiana University has been a strength and conditioning coach in the Chicago White Sox system since the 2006 season.

 

Anderson’s Earley enjoying his time with independent Southern Illinois Miners

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Nolan Earley is in his third season of independent professional baseball.

The Anderson, Ind., native is playing with the Marion, Ill.-based Southern Illinois Miners in the Frontier League.

While the lefty-swinging outfielder is driven to get back into Major League Baseball-affiliated ball, he is enjoying where he is now.

“It’s a great facility and the community is really supportive,” says Earley, 27, “This is a competitive league.”

Earley played at Brooklyn Little League in Anderson until age 12 and travel ball with the Indiana Bulls from 13 to 18. He also competed for Anderson High School and the University of South Alabama and then in the Chicago White Sox organization before joining the Miners in 2016.

Terry Turner was his high school head coach. His older brother Michael also played for the man who went on to win IHSAA Class 1A state titles at Daleville in 2016 and 2018.

“I remember his enthusiasm for baseball,” says Nolan Earley of Turner. “He’s probably one of the most positive people I’ve ever met. All the positive energy spreads throughout the team.

“I really enjoyed playing for him.”

At USA, Earley appeared in 201 games in four seasons with a .318 average, 11 homers, 138 RBIs, 53 doubles and 220 runs.

Steve Kittrell was head coach for the Jaguars when early arrived in Mobile, Ala., and Mark Calvi was and still is the leader of the program when he departed.

“I learned a lot from both of them,” says Earley. “(Kittrell) had an old-school look to the game. He all preached playing hard and control the things you can control.

“(Calvi) talked about being positive about the game. He had that hard-nosed mentality, but wanted you to keep your composure on the field.

“If stay positive and you can go a long way.”

Calvi was an assistant on the University of South Carolina staff when the Gamecocks won the 2010 College World Series. The next season, he became a South Alabama assistant and took over as head coach for the 2012 season.

Earley was selected in the 22nd round of the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the White Sox and signed by scout Warren Hughes. The outfielder saw time at Short Season Class-A Bristol, Low-A Kannapolis and High-A Winston-Salem through 2015. In 181 games in the affiliated minors, he hit .283 with five homers, 37 doubles, 76 RBIs and 62 runs.

Nolan was released out of spring training in 2016 and hooked on with the Miners — a team brother Michael hit .325 for in 96 games in 2015 after he was let go by the White Sox at the end of the 2014 season.

Michael Earley, a rigthy-hitting outfielder, graduated from Anderson High in 2006 and played one season at the University of Cincinnati and three at Indiana University before being drafted in the 29th round by the White Sox in 2010. After scout Mike Shirley signed him, Michael logged five seasons in the system, getting up to Triple-A Charlotte for 27 games in 2013.

Both Earley brothers have gotten instruction from and worked for Shirley at his Pro Source Baseball facility — aka “The Barn” — in Lapel, Ind.

Michael gave his endorsement of the Miners to his little brother.

“He definitely has a lot of influence when I make decisions,” says Nolan of Michael. “He told me how well he enjoyed this place. I’ve enjoyed everything about it.”

In 96 games in 2016, Nolan hit .291 with nine homers, 20 doubles, 70 RBIs and 53 runs.

The 2017 season saw him in 95 games and batting .264 with 11 homers, 16 doubles, 45 RBIs and 43 runs.

Through 56 games in 2018, Earley was hitting .264 with seven homers, 16 doubles, 21 runs batted in and 31 runs scored.

Mike Pinto is the longtime Miners manager.

“He’s definitely one of the most competitive field I’ve ever met,” says Earley. “He loves to win and hates to lose.

“If you’re going to play this game, you’ve got to have that feeling.”

Since there’s an age limit in the Frontier League, this season will be Earley’s last. If he is not picked up by an MLB organization, he has his sights on the independent Atlantic League or American Association.

Michael Earley is heading into his third year as an assistant baseball coach at Arizona State University, where Indiana native and former Indiana University head coach Tracy Smith is in charge of the Sun Devils.

Smith has turned over hitting coach duties to Earley.

Nolan gets pointers from Michael on the phone or makes a trek to Arizona to work with him.

“I take as much information as a I can and add it toward my game,” says Nolan, who enjoys learning things and holds a history degree from South Alabama.

Kevin and Tammy Earley are parents to Michael (married with children) and Nolan (single).

Nolan Earley, a 2009 Anderson (Ind.) High School graduate, is now in his third season with the independent Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. (Veronica Francis Photo)

Nolan Earley celebrates after scoring a run for the Southern Illinois Miners. Earley is graduated for Anderson (Ind.) High School and the University of South Alabama and played in the Chicago White Sox organization. (Southern Illinois Miners Photo)

 

Former Northview, Indiana State standout Shoemaker displays desire to win with St. Paul Saints

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Brady Shoemaker has a competitive fire. The Brazil, Ind., resident wants to come out on top on the baseball diamond.

The 31-year-old is currently feeding those flames in his second season as a first baseman with the St. Paul (Minn.) Saints of the independent American Association.

After being released by the Chicago White Sox organization in 2016, Shoemaker signed with St. Paul in February 2017.

The right-handed stick finished second in the AA in slugging percentage (.603) and on-base percentage (.435), tied for second in extra-base hits (44), tied for third in home runs (21), tied for fifth in walks (55) and eighth in average (.318).

Shoemaker opted to re-sign with the Saints for 2018.

“To me, independent baseball is more about baseball,” says Shoemaker. “It’s not so much about getting guys ready for the game. They want to win in this league. (St. Paul manager) George (Tsamis) is big about putting nine guys not the field who want to win.

“In (affiliated) minor league baseball, you have prospects and guys have to play. It’s not like that here. You’ve got to show up everyday wanting to win. And if you’re not one of those guys, you find yourself sitting on the bench.”

Shoemaker graduated from Northview High School in Brazil in 2005, played two seasons at Olney (Ill.) Central College (2006 and 2007) and two at Indiana State University (2008 and 2009).

He smacked 23 home runs and had 80 in pro ball leading into 2018.

Not that he goes to the plate thinking about hitting the ball over the fence.

“I’ve never, ever went up there trying to hit a home run,” says Shoemaker. “I just try to stay inside the baseball and drive it. If you hit it hard somewhere, good things will happen.”

Shoemaker’s earliest baseball days came in Clay Youth League. From ages 12 to 14, he played for the Wabash Valley Titans travel team

“That’s where I really started to learn a lot about baseball,” says Shoemaker. “We played really good competition. That helped boost me going into high school.”

At Northview High, Gary Witham was his head coach. Witham went 581-274-1 at Brazil and then the consolidated Northview.

“Coach Witham did a lot with us in the off-season,” says Shoemaker. “He was good in organizing off-season practices. He put together a place where some us could go hit.”

After graduation, Shoemaker played two summers for Terre Haute American Legion Post 346 and longtime manager John Hayes.

In 2006, Post 346 was American Legion World Series runners-up. Future major league catcher Josh Phegley was also on that squad.

Dennis Conley was Shoemaker’s head coach at Olney Central, where the player was a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-American.

“He was tough on us and made us work hard,” says Shoemaker of Conley. “You learned a lot about the game of baseball if you just listened to him.

“He was very instrumental with helping me further my baseball career.”

What Shoemaker remembers most from his time at Indiana State was how head coach Lindsay Meggs and his staff helped him make the transition to big-time baseball and the brotherhood of the players.

“Going from junior college to Division I baseball is a jump,” says Shoemaker, who was used mostly as a left fielder with the Sycamores. “During my time at Indiana State, we had a really close group of guys. We wanted to win together as a team.”

Shoemaker selected in the 19th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the White Sox.

He hit safely in the first 28 games of his pro career in 2009.

“I was a 19th-round guy and a senior sign,” says Shoemaker. “I’ve always had to prove myself and wanted to prove myself. So I wanted to get off to a good start.”

At Bristol, Shoemaker led the Appalachian League in doubles (21), on-base percentage (.426), extra-base hits (30) and ranked second in slugging percentage (.585), third in average (.351) and total bases (120) and fourth in home runs per at-bat with 1 out of every 22.78. He was chosen as a Postseason All-Star in the Appy League in 2009.

In 2010, he spent the entire season at Single-A Kannapolis.

Shoemaker was an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star in 2011 while finishing second in the South Atlantic League in average (.319) and fifth in on-base percentage (.399) and was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem in July.

In 2012, he went 2-for-4 in the Carolina League-Cailfornia League All-Star Game and was Carolina League Postseason All-Star and Orgainzational All-Star.

The right-handed thrower missed all of 2013 after surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder and biceps and was claimed by the Miami Marlins in the Rule 5 Draft in December

“It was more of over-usage tear,” says Shoemaker. “It wasn’t something that drastically happened.”

He spent the entire 2014 season with Double-A Jacksonville and was with Triple-A New Orleans all of 2015.

Shoemaker got into major league spring training games with the Marlins in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

After playing a combined 55 games at Double-A and Triple-A in 2016, the Marlins traded Shoemaker back to the White Sox July. He spent few games at Double-A Birmingham and was released by that organization in August 2016.

Some after that, his independent baseball experience began.

Supporting him along the way are the people at home in Clay County.

“I’m real close to my family,” says Brady, the son of Brian and Lorie Shoemaker, brother of Natalie (Shoemaker) Lizanich, husband to Chelsea Shoemaker and father to 9-month-old son Drew Shoemaker. “I always have been.

“My grandparents have been a big part of my baseball career.”

Ed Pearce, his grandfather on his mother’s side, passed away April 20 as Brady was getting ready for the season. Grandmother Janet Pearce survives.

Both grandparents on his father’s side — Don and Nina Shoemaker — are gone. Grandmother Nina did in 2014.

Saint Paul (5-1) opened the season at the Gary SouthShore RailCats. The Saints, which are in the AA’s North Division, are scheduled to come back to Gary July 20-22 and visit the Chicago Dogs in Rosemont, Ill., June 15-17 and Aug. 23-25.

Brady Shoemaker, a 2005 Northview High School graduate who played at Olney Central College, Indiana State University and in the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins organizations, is in his second season with the independent St. Paul Saints in 2018. (Saint Paul Saints Photo)