Jeff Rutherford takes over as head coach at Griffith (Ind.) High School with plans to have the same kind of emphasis he has put forth throughout his coaching career. “I like the offensive side,” says Rutherford, who takes over for Brian Jennings who retired at the end of the 2022 season. “I like to run a lot, hit-and-run and bunt-and-run. “We’ve always been offensive-minded. We get a guy on and we’re going to do what we can to get him over.” Rutherford was on the Griffith staff in 2019 and has also assisted Dave Griffin at Purdue Calumet and Purdue Northwest and coached travel ball with the Indiana Playmakers and a Cal Ripken all-star team. The 45-year-old played baseball for East Chicago (Ind.) American Legion Post 266 and graduated from Hammond (Ind.) High School. Two sons — Julian Rutherford (Class of 2018) and Jaylen Rutherford (Class of 2025) — have played baseball for Jennings at Griffith. “What Jennings has done there has been great,” says Rutherford. “He’s been a big staple at Griffith. It was hard to see him leave (the baseball post). I watched him coach both of my kids and couldn’t be happier with the coaching he’s done. “Jennings always been a great guy. I wish him all the best.” Julian Rutherford played at Wabash (Ind.) College and is now employed by U.S. Foods. Jaylen Rutherford was on the Panthers varsity as a freshman outfielder and sometimes lead-off hitter and is one of the few non-upperclassmen expected to represent the program in 2023. Griffith (enrollment around 600) is a member of the Greater South Shore Conference (with Boone Grove, Hammond Bishop Noll, Hanover Central,Lake Station Edison, River Forest, South Central of Union Mills, Wheeler and Whiting). The Panthers were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional in 2022 grouping with Andrean, Calumet New Tech and Gary West Side Leadership Academy. Griffith has won 18 sectional titles — the last in 2021. “It’s a great opportunity and I look forward to continuing the tradition of success,” says Rutherford. “I can’t wait to get started.” He is looking to build his coaching staff, tapping into some of his younger former players. He also hopes to have players come to IHSAA Limited Contact Period activities Aug. 29-Oct. 15. “I plan on some long toss,” says Rutherford. “We can get a few of the players familiar with each other. Most of the (2022) team comes back. Quite a few starters are playing another sport.” Rutherford believes in the multi-sport athlete. “I think they should play as much as they can,” says Rutherford. “Holding them to one sport doesn’t benefit them.” Recent graduates Bubba Davenport (Calumet College of Saint Joseph) and Kyle Iwinski (Kankakee Community College and headed to Purdue University) are playing college baseball. Rutherford says he wants to have camps for Griffith Youth Baseball players. “(GBL) is basically the only feeder system,” says Rutherford. “We have to pull from our own town.” Outside of coaching, Rutherford is a public works supervisor for the City of Hammond. Besides sons Julian (22) and Jaylen (15), he and wife Heather have a daughter Jaesela (11).
Notre Dame — the last college baseball team from Indiana left standing in 2022 — found out today (May 30) that the Irish will be in the Statesboro Regional for the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament. The No. 2-seeded Irish (35-14) play No. 3 Texas Tech (37-20) at 2 p.m. Friday, June 3. Site host and top-seeded Georgia Southern (40-18) plays No. UNC Greensboro (34-28) at 7 p.m. Friday. Notre Dame made it to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Regionals continue through June 6 with super regionals June 10-13 and the College World Series June 17-27. Ball State made it to the “if necessary” Mid-American Conference tournament championship game against Central Michigan and lost 11-7 to wind up the season at 40-19 overall and 32-7 as MAC regular-season champions. Central Michigan earned an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Evansville (32-24, 14-6), Indiana State (26-22-1, 10-10-1) and Valparaiso (16-32, 5-15) bowed out in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Seasons came to a close for Purdue (29-21, 9-12) and Indiana (27-32, 10-14) at the Big Ten tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne (18-36, 13-15) finished up in the Horizon League tournament. In the past few weeks, conferences have handed out postseason awards at the NCAA D-I, D-II and D-III, NAIA and junior college levels and there is a list of those below.
Junior College Michigan Community College: MARIAN’S ANCILLA — if Rylan Huntley (first team), if Josh Ledgard (honorable mention). Mid-West: Vincennes — ss Peyton Lane (second team), ut Colton Evans (second team).
Week of May 23-29 NCAA D-I Tuesday, May 24 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 12, Georgia Tech 6 North Carolina State 11, Wake Forest 8 North Carolina 9, Clemson 2
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Missouri State 9, Illinois State 4
Wednesday, May 25 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 6, Louisville 5 Florida State 13, Virginia 3 North Carolina State 9, Miami 6
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 6, Purdue Fort Wayne 0 Northern Kentucky 3, Illinois-Chicago 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 11, Toledo 10
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Indiana State 8, Valparaiso 0 Missouri State 5, Southern Illinois 1 Evansville 9, Indiana State 1
Thursday, May 26 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Georgia Tech 9, Louisville 4 Notre Dame 5, Florida State 3 Virginia Tech 18, Clemson 6
Big Ten Conference Tournament Penn State 5, Iowa 2 Rutgers 10, Purdue 3 Maryland 6, Indiana 5 Michigan 7, Illinois 5
Horizon League Tournament Wright State 18, Northern Kentucky 4 Oakland 2, Youngstown State 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Ball State 6, Ohio 4
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Dallas Baptist 4, Bradley 3
Friday, May 27 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Notre Dame 3, Virginia 0 Wake Forest 16, Miami 3 North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 0
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 5, Purdue 4 Rutgers 5, Penn State 4 Indiana 8, Illinois 1 Michigan 15, Maryland 8
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 11, Northern Kentucky 7 Wright State 14, Oakland 3 Oakland 4, Youngstown State 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Toledo 13, Ohio 5 Ball State 9, Central Michigan 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 8, Indiana State 2 Missouri State 19, Bradley 3 Evansville 21, Dallas Baptist 2
Saturday, May 28 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament North Carolina 7, Notre Dame 2 North Carolina State 8, Pittsburgh 3
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 11, Penn State 3 Indiana 6, Maryland 4 (11 inn.) Iowa 7, Michigan 3 Rutgers 14, Indiana 2
Horizon League Championship Wright State 24, Oakland 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 10, Toledo 7 Central Michigan 12, Ball State 3
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 7, Dallas Baptist 5 Missouri State 7, Evansville 6 Southern Illinois 8, Evansville 5
Sunday, May 29 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship North Carolina 9, North Carolina State 5
Big Ten Conference Tournament Michigan 13, Iowa 1 Championship Michigan 10, Rutgers 4
Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Central Michigan 11, Ball State 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 9, Missouri State 6 Championship Missouri State 13, Southern Illinois 3
INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL Records Through April 17 NCAA D-I Purdue 22-9 (4-6 Big Ten) Notre Dame 21-8 (8-7 ACC) Ball State 21-13 (15-3 MAC) Indiana State 19-9 (5-1 MVC) Evansville 19-16 (4-2 MVC) Butler 16-20 (2-4 Big East) Valparaiso 13-18 (2-4 MVC) Indiana 13-21 (2-7 Big Ten) Purdue Fort Wayne 10-23 (7-8 Horizon)
Week of April 11-17 NCAA D-I Tuesday, April 12 Evansville 11, Butler 1 Indiana 6, Indiana State 5 Notre Dame 14, Michigan 5 Eastern Illinois 7, Valparaiso 5
Thursday, April 14 Georgetown 14, Butler 8 Duke 15, Notre Dame 5 Penn State 12, Purdue 7 Purdue Fort Wayne 9, Northern Kentucky 5
Friday, April 15 Ball State 8, Akron 3 Butler 8, Georgetown 7 Evansville 6, Southern Illinois 4 Rutgers 5, Indiana 3 Duke 4, Notre Dame 3 (11 inn.) Purdue 11, Penn State 5 Northern Kentucky 5, Purdue Fort Wayne 4 Illinois State 7, Valparaiso 0
Saturday, April 16 Ball State 5, Akron 1 Ball State 16, Akron 0 Georgetown 8, Butler 4 Evansville 9, Southern Illinois 2 Evansville 14, Southern Illinois 2 Rutgers 4, Indiana 2 Duke 6, Notre Dame 2 Penn State 7, Purdue 5 Purdue Fort Wayne 10, Northern Kentucky 5 Valparaiso 10, Illinois State 2
Sunday, April 17 Akron 4, Ball State 3 Rutgers 10, Indiana 9 Valparaiso 2, Illinois State 1
NCAA D-II Tuesday, April 12 Indianapolis 15, Kentucky Wesleyan 1 Indianapolis 11, Kentucky Wesleyan 7 Grand Valley State 10, Purdue Northwest 7 Grand Valley State 9, Purdue Northwest 6 Oakland City 6, Southern Indiana 4
Thursday, April 14 Quincy 14, Indianapolis 4 Purdue Northwest 21, Northwood 19 Truman State vs. Southern Indiana
Friday, April 15 Indianapolis 3, Quincy 2 Indianapolis 3, Quincy 0 Purdue Northwest 2, Northwood 0 Northwood 18, Purdue Northwest 0 Truman State 6, Southern Indiana 5 Truman State 11, Southern Indiana 10
Saturday, April 16 Indianapolis 5, Quincy 3 Northwood 9, Purdue Northwest 7 Southern Indiana 16, Truman State 4
NCAA D-III Monday, April 11 Trine 7, Kalamazoo 5
Tuesday, April 12 Earlham 12, Transylvania 7 Transylvania vs. Earlham Hanover 12, Spalding 11 Wabash 6, Manchester 4 Manchester vs. Wabash Rose-Hulman 3, Mount St. Joseph 2 Rose-Hulman 16, Mount St. Joseph 1
Wednesday, April 13 Trine 11, Adrian 5
Thursday, April 14 Wittenberg 10, Wabash 4
Friday, April 15 Bluffton 11, Earlham 6 Bluffton 9, Earlham 3 Alma 8, Trine 5
Saturday, April 16 Hanover 10, Anderson 4 Hanover 10, Anderson 8 Kenyon 12, DePauw 1 Kenyon 4, DePauw 3 Franklin 9, Manchester 8 Franklin 6, Manchester 4 Rose-Hulman 10, Transylvania 4 Rose-Hulman 12, Transylvania 8 Alma 9, Trine 6 Alma 10, Trine 6 Wooster 4, Wabash 3 Wooster 12, Wabash 7
NAIA Monday, April 11 Bethel 13, Goshen 10 Bethel 12, Goshen 1 Calumet of St. Joseph 13, Trinity Christian 8 Indiana Tech 1, Rochester 0 Indiana Tech 12, Rochester 5 Spring Arbor 15, Taylor 7 Taylor 10, Spring Arbor 9
Tuesday, April 12 Goshen 17, Grace Christian 5 Goshen 3, Grace Christian 1 Marian 5, Huntington 2 Marian 19, Huntington 5 Oakland City 6, Southern Indiana 4 IU South Bend 18, Trinity Christian 8 IU Southeast 7, Georgetown (Ky.) 5 Madonna 7, Indiana Tech 6 Indiana Tech 16, Madonna 6 Indiana Wesleyan 10, Cleary 7 Indiana Wesleyan 8, Cleary 0 Mount Vernon Nazarene 10, Saint Francis 6 Saint Francis 9, Mount Vernon Nazarene 2
Thursday, April 14 Saint Xaver 17, IU South Bend 13
Friday, April 15 Bethel 2, Huntington 1 Huntington 9, Bethel 7 Olivet Nazarene 15, Calumet of St. Joseph 2 Indiana Wesleyan 14, Goshen 2 Indiana Wesleyan 13, Goshen 6 Saint Francis 5, Grace 3 Saint Francis 2, Grace 1 IU Kokomo 9, Brescia 1 IU Southeast 11, West Virginia Tech 0 Spring Arbor 8, Marian 5 Marian 16, Spring Arbor 3 Taylor 9, Mount Vernon Nazarene 5 Taylor 17, Mount Vernon Nazarene 9
Saturday, April 16 Bethel 3, Huntington 1 Huntington 9, Bethel 2 Olivet Nazarene 12, Calumet of St. Joseph 4 Olivet Nazarene 14, Calumet of St. Joseph 3 Indiana Wesleyan 12, Goshen 2 Indiana Wesleyan 15, Goshen 6 Grace 10, Saint Francis 8 Saint Francis 14, Grace 4 IU Kokomo 7, Brescia 3 IU Kokomo 13, Brescia 2 IU Southeast 11, West Virginia Tech 1 IU Southeast 9, West Virginia Tech 6 Lawrence Tech 2, Indiana Tech 1 Lawrence Tech 7, Indiana Tech 4 Marian 7, Spring Arbor 5 Marian 11, Spring Arbor 3 Mount Vernon Nazarene 6, Taylor 4 Mount Vernon Nazarene 14, Taylor 1
Junior College Monday, April 11 Ivy Tech Northeast 6, Trine JV 5 Ivy Tech Northeast 8, Trine JV 5