Kyle seeks steady improvement at South Putnam

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

Kurt Kyle took over as head baseball coach at South Putnam Middle/High School in Greencastle, Ind., for the 2022 season.
As he gets his Eagles ready for 2023, there are a few things he sees as important.
“We want to continue to have a (junior varsity) and go down to the (South Putnam Youth League) and build our program back up,” says Kyle. “We want to make the routine plays. You should look to better yourself every practice.
“Don’t beat yourself up on errors. Let stuff go or it’s going to haunt you the rest of the game.”
As Kyle sees it, pitchers “have a job to do.”
“Don’t let batters or runners get in your head,” says Kyle. “We have defense behind you.
“I want to win, but I want to see you guys progress throughout the season.”
A fan of “small ball” — things like bunting and hitting behind the runner — Kyle wants his team to put that into their arsenal.
“A lot of teams in (the Western Indiana Conference) do it,” says Kyle. “It’s a lost art around (Putnam County).”
South Putnam (enrollment around 385) is a member of the WIC with Brown County, Cascade, Cloverdale, Edgewood, Greencastle, Indian Creek, North Putnam, Northview, Owen Valley, Sullivan and West Vigo.
Each conference foe meets once each.
The Eagles were part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2022 with Cloverdale, North Putnam, Parke Heritage and Southmont. South Putnam has won four sectional championships— the last in 2010.
IHSAA Limited Contact Period activity began from the week of Labor Day and wrapped past week.
With most baseball players in the school involved with football, Kyle had about eight at twice-a-week sessions.
The Eagles play home games on Dalton Field, which is characterized by the short distance from home plate to the back stop (Kyle estimates 10 feet) and the left field fence (the coach guesses less than 300 feet).
Bill Jackman is one assistant coach and Kyle says he hopes to bring in Mike Wolvin as the other.
Gavin Eyster (Class of 2023) plays travel baseball. Kyle says he could play in college.
As a feeder system, there is South Putnam Youth League (T-ball to 12U) and middle school club ball (grades 6-8) which plays its games at the high school.
A 1994 graduate of Cloverdale (Ind.) High School, Kyle served as an assistant or middle school coach at his alma mater before taking over as head coach in 2019. He led the Clovers through 2021.
Kyle played at Cloverdale for head coach Sonny Stolz.
“He was old school an tough-nosed,” says Kyle. “He never let us get away with anything.
“He was tough on me. I was a catcher all four years.”
Kyle is employed by Crown Equipment Corporation in Greencastle, where he builds and repairs lift trucks.
Kurt is married to Jessica. Between them they have four children (three girls) — Kendra (22), Kayla (20), Keenan (13) and Olive (9).

Kurt Kyle.

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Meyer now leading Guerin Catholic on diamond

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

New Guerin Catholic High School head baseball coach Tony Meyer comes from a family of coaches.

His father, Ed Meyer, led the football and baseball program at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., for nearly four decades. The DePauw graduate’s baseball teams won 522 games. Ed and wife MaryAnn (who taught at Cloverdale High Schoolfor 30 years) both died in 2015.

“At my age, I look back at all the things that he taught me that I didn’t realize he was teaching me,” says Tony Meyer. “It was the way he dealt with players and parents. He could take a player and make him feel like a million bucks or take him down. He never had to raise his voice.”

The elder Meyer also stressed the importance of education.

“He was a very calming influence in the dugout, on the field and in recruiting,” says Tony Meyer. “If I could be half of what he was as a coach, I’d be pretty good.”

Brother Pat Meyer was a good baseball player, he went into sales and now lives in the Chicago suburbs. Sister Anne was a strong all-around athlete and is now in banking in Florida.

Two other brothers — Mike Meyer and Pete Meyer — went into coaching.

Mike Meyer is in his second stint as head football coach at Greencastle High School. He has also been the defensive coordinator at Northview High School in Brazil and served as a football assistant at Ohio Northern University and Case Western University and football head coach at Hiram College.

Pete Meyer was head baseball coach and athletic director at Florida Southern College before moving back to Greencastle.

Tony’s wife, Denise Meyer, is an assistant volleyball coach at Greencastle High School and coaches the Crossroads Of America Volleyball Club‘s 14-1’s out of Terre Haute. She is a product of the Muncie Burris High School volleyball program. All three of Tony and Denise’s three daughters play volleyball — Marian University sophomore Maggie Meyer (part of the 2019 NAIA national championship team), Indiana State University freshman Abigail Meyer and Greencastle junior Lilly Meyer.

Tony Meyer graduated from Greencastle in 1988 and Wabash College in 1993. He played baseball for the Little Giants and head coach Scott Boone for four seasons (1989-92) and football for head coach Greg Carlson for two (1990 and 1991).

After graduation, Meyer went to Hanover College to coach football and baseball. He was on the baseball staff of American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Dick Naylor.

Meyer remembers Naylor for his persistence in finding players.

“He put me on the road to recruit,” says Meyer. “He showed me what to look for.”

Meyer spent 1994 conducting USA Baseball camps in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma and was head scout for the U.S. team for the Pan-American Games.

He then went to DePauw and coached on the diamond with his father.

Terry Gobert, the long-time Jasper High School head coach and IHSBCA Hall of Famer, is a Greencastle graduate and was a graduate assistant to Ed Meyer in 1984 and 1985 along with basketball coach Mike Steele. He was a teammate of Mike Meyer and coached Pete and Pat in Babe Ruth baseball.

After his stint with the Tigers, Meyer coached various teams, including the Waukegan (Ill.) Waves and a summer collegiate team in Indianapolis.

When Meyer began a family, he went into sales but still volunteered in Babe Ruth and youth league baseball and gave lessons.

Then a unique opportunity happened at Cloverdale. The Clovers had an opening for a head football coach and head baseball coach and athletic director J.J. Wade hired Meyer to take both posts which he held in 2015-16 and 2016-17. He had volunteered with the baseball program during the 2014 season.

“It was a learning experience,” says Meyer of his time at Cloverdale, where he got guidance from former Clovers head football coach Mike Parks. “He showed me how he deals with kids, their lives and education.”

Many of his players went on to college.

“That’s my biggest reward,” says Meyer.

He coached 13U then 14U travel teams for Bill Sampen’s Indiana Expos and then a 15U squad for Chris Estep’s Indiana Mustangs.

When IHSBCA Hall of Famer Rich Andriole resigned as head coach at Guerin Catholic, Meyer was encouraged to apply. He was hired by Ryan Davis, the Golden Eagles athletic director and a former assistant to Andriole at Indianapolis Cathedral High School.

“It’s been great so far,” says Meyer, who has been getting about 25 players at IHSAA Limited Contact sessions and expects up to 36 when the 2020 season rolls around. “This is one of the top baseball jobs in the state. There’s a whole lot to offer up there.

“I’ve got some good players. I think we’re going to be very competitive for 3A. Hopefully we can continue the upward trend Rich (Andriole) started two years ago.”

Meyer has named Jalen Cushenberry and John Magers, Eric Wott and Kevin Paulin as Guerin assistants and has two openings yet to fill.

What about the daily drive between Greencastle and Noblesville?

“It’s only a 53-minute commute,” says Meyer. “In sales, I drove to Carmel every day for five years.”

Guerin Catholic (enrollment around 725) is a member of the Circle City Conference (with Bishop Chatard, Brebeuf Jesuit, Covenant Christian, Heritage Christian and Roncalli).

The Golden Eagles are part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Delta, Hamilton Heights, Jay County, New Castle and Yorktown. Guerin has not yet won a sectional crown.

Tony Meyer is the head baseball coach at Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville, Ind. The 2020 season will be his first in charge of the Golden Eagles.