Mahar back in Region coaching with Lowell Red Devils

By STEVE KRAH

IndianaRBI.com

Ben Mahar is back and coaching baseball in northwest Indiana.

After four years at Barry Goldwater High School in Phoenix, Ariz., and taking 2023 off, Mahar is going into his first season as Lowell High School head coach in 2024.

The 2011 Mundelein (Ill.) High School alum and 2015 Valparaiso (Ind.) University graduate and former Crusaders (now Beacons) pitcher was head coach at Lake Station (Ind.) Edison Junior/Senior High School 2016-18 and has returned to teach History there.

Mahar was named head coach at Lowell in October 2023 and led the Red Devils of the Calumet Region through the end of fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period events as well as the entirety of winter activities leading up to the official start of practice on March 11.

“We’re emphasizing accountability and all the standards like playing the game the right way and doing your job on a daily basis,” says Mahar, who leads a program with 43 players varsity, junior varsity and freshmen/sophomore teams. “We lifted twice a week and did conditioning during non-limited contact. In December, we built arms and introduce concepts.

“With the help of my coaches it was pretty easy transition back into high school coaching.”

Mahar’s Lowell staff features former Wabash College player and Griffith (Ind.) High School assistant Jared Wolfe (Terre Haute South Vigo Class of 2015) as hitting coach and former Ancilla College player and Boone Grove High School assistant Diante Kincaid (LaPorte Class of 2011) as JV head coach with Shannon Umfleet at the lower levels and volunteers Jim Brooker with the varsity and Jim Galvin with the JV and freshmen/sophomores.

Lowell (enrollment around 1,000) is a member of the Northwest Crossroads Conference (with Andrean, Hanover Central, Highland, Hobart, Kankakee Valley and Munster).

NCC games are played as home-and-home series on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The Red Devils are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Chesterton, Crown Point, Kankakee Valley, Portage and Valparaiso. Lowell has won nine sectional titles — the last in 1994.

The 2024 season/home opener is slated for Monday, April 1 against Highland. The Red Devils take to the road in May when construction begins on a new on-campus home diamond that will feature turf.

Other teams on the schedule include Boone Grove, Griffith, Hammond Morton, Hebron, Illiana Christian, LaPorte, Merrillville, Morgan Township, Rensselaer Central and Wheeler.

A pair of recent Lowell graduates graduates that moved on to collegiate baseball include Joey Paternostro at Goshen College and Chris Vinson at Lake Michigan College.

Mahar and others in the community are working to build up the Red Devils feeder system. There are a few age groups represented in the Lowell Devils.

“It’s a matter of going with all levels,” says Mahar. “It’s a work-in-progress.”

The high school staff was involved with recent evaluations for Lowell Baseball League (Babe Ruth).

Ben and wife Jenessa have four children (three girls and a boy) — Ava (7), Layla (6), Dani (3) and Eddie (six months).

Follow the Red Devils on X (formerly Twitter) at @rdpathletics.

Ben Mahar.

Lowell High School.

It’s all about ‘family’ for Nowakowski, Calumet College of St. Joseph Crimson Wave

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

Calumet College of St. Joseph — a private four-year Catholic institution with about 380 undergraduates in Whiting, Ind., embraces a close-knit community.
“It’s a family-oriented school and we have a family-oriented team,” says Brian Nowakowski, head baseball coach for the Crimson Wave since the fall of 2012. “We do everything together (including community service, meals and study tables). We don’t single out a single player for any misdoing.
“When someone hurts we all hurt.”
When Brian and Jeannine Nowakowski’s son, Bryce, required two open heart surgeries in the first year of his young life and then a heart transplant at 2, the CCSJ family rallied with support. Part of the cost of tickets to the Midwest Collegiate League (now rebranded as the Northern League) All-Star Game held at the Crimson Wave’s home park — Oil City Stadium — were given to the Nowakowski family.
When Bryce was prepared for, underwent and recovered from his July 30, 2014 transplant at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the school allowed the head coach to stay there while his assistants — younger brother Scott Nowakowski and Juan Alonso — led the CCSJ baseball team.
“The school let me work from home and I never skipped a beat,” says Nowakowski, whose son is now 9. “I could never re-pay them back.”
With Bryce’s medical condition and his mother recovering after beating cancer, Nowakowski decided it was best not to travel much during a 2021 season effected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If I had COIVD I would not be able to go home,” says Nowakowski, who resides with his wife of 11 years and child in Dyer, Ind.
The 2021 Crimson Wave only played games in the NAIA-affiliated Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
“Competing in the CCAC is hard,” says Nowakowski. “We’re fighting for same kids in recruiting. All the teams are very competitive.”
Olivet Nazarene University finished atop the ’21 conference standings.
One feather in the Crimson Wave’s cap is Oil City Stadium, located on 119th Street in downtown Whiting with a unique oil refinery backdrop in the outfield.
“It’s a great stadium,” says Nowakowski. “The City of Whiting does a great job keeping it up. It helps in recruiting.”
Eight Calumet of St. Joseph players — Michael Biegel, Julian Espino, Kevin McCune, Thomas Montes, Cody Plebanski, Shaun Quinn, Glenford Wagner and Luke Woodward — made the 2021 CCAC all-academic team.
A typical mix, the current Crimson Waves roster consists mostly of players from Chicagoland and the Calumet Region with some international students.
“We find the best players we can,” says Nowakowki. “If you want to be a part of the school we’re going to take you.
“We have affordable tuition. There’s no in-state, out-of-state or intentional. It’s all the same.”
Located on New York Avenue in Whiting, CCSJ has an agreement with The Illiana, located across the street. In Oct. 1, the school broke ground on its first residence hall.
In 2022, CCSJ is to open the season Feb. 25 at Hannibal (Mo.)-LaGrange.
The following weekend the Crimson Wave plays a series at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga.
From there CCSJ goes to Lake Wales, Fla., to play in the Warner University Invitational and other games, including at Southeastern.
CCSJ finished outdoor fall practice about two weeks ago. The Crimson Wave did drill work four days a week and competed in intrasquad games on the fifth day.
Right now, players are at the Rittenmeyer Center four days a week conditioning with weightlifting and stability exercises.
Besides Scott Nowakowski (in his seventh year at Calumet College of St. Joseph), the coaching staff also features Nick Relli, Nestor Carillo and Rocco Mossuto. Elli played for Nowakowski at CCSJ. Carillo (Morton Community College in Cicero, Ill.) and Rocco Mossuto (Saint Xavier University in Chicago) are both former head coaches.
Nowakowski grew up on Chicago’s East Side and graduated in 1997 from St. Francis de Sales High School, a member of the vaunted Chicago Catholic League.
“It’s tough competition,” says Nowakowki. “There’s no easy games in the Chicago Catholic League.”
Nowakowski played for Pioneers head coach Al Lodl and was good enough as a right-handed pitcher to sign a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins organization in 1997 and reported to spring training in 1998. He pitched in the minors that year and 1999 and then was employed in private sector jobs.
But the diamond beckoned.
“I’ve been a baseball guy most of my life,” says Nowakowski. “I missed the game.”
Nowakowski got into coaching as an assistant to Pat Montalbano at Hammond Clark High School and was a Crimson Waves assistant to Tony Myszak for one year before becoming head coach.
A few years into the job, Nowakowski earned an Organizational Management degree from CCSJ.

Brian Nowakowski (Calumet College of St. Joseph Photo)