Todd DeWeese likes to keep it moving on the baseball field. Especially when it comes to the offensive side of the game. A 1986 graduate of Francis Joseph Reitz High School in Evansville, Ind., DeWeese played for a coach — Steve Johnston — who taught some of the concepts that DeWeese uses as the 10th-year head coach at his alma mater. “We learned to do a lot more offensive situational things,” says DeWeese. “There were hit-and-runs, bunts and steals. “There are a couple of things from when I played at Reitz that we still use in today’s game. It’s a lot of putting runners in motion and playing small ball.” Led by seniors Anthony Acuff (8), Pierce Herrenbruck (5) and Nate York (5), Reitz (14-10) had 43 stolen bases and four home runs through the first 24 games of 2023. “We use the steal more than the sacrifice bunt,” says DeWeese. “We don’t have the firepower right now so we have to incorporate the small ball.” Former second baseman and Greater Evansville Baseball Hall of Fame inductee DeWeese played at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville for Gary Redman. “We use defensive bunt situations that he instilled in us,” says DeWeese. “We use his slap-and-steal. You don’t see a whole lot of that. “Rodman was very good in first-and-third situations.” Before taking his current post, DeWeese was an assistant at Evansville Bosse for four years on the staff of Jeremy Jones (current Evansville North head coach). Reitz (enrollment around 1,300) is a member of the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference (with Castle,Evansville Bosse, Evansville Central, Evansville Harrison, Evansville Mater Dei, Evansville Memorial, Evansville North, Jasper and Vincennes Lincoln). The Panthers are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2023 with Castle, Evansville Central, Evansville Harrison and Evansville North. Reitz has won five sectional titles — the last in 2015. Elijah Dunham (Reitz Class of 2017) was a standout at Indiana University and is now with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the New York Yankees organization. Other recent graduates moving on to college baseball include the Class of 2019’s Nolan Cook (University of Southern Indiana), Class of 2020’s Adam Euler (University of Evansville), Colin Long (Vincennes University) and Aaron Massie (Northern Kentucky University), Class of 2021’s Bryce Cape (Southeastern Illinois College) and Class of 2022’s Gavin Schippert (Wabash College) and Stone Silver (Wabash Valley College). Cooper Davis (DePauw University), Herrenbruck (Rend Lake College), Kiefer Parsons (Oakland City University) and York (Rend Lake College) are current commits in the Class of 2023. Reitz, which is a part of Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, plays its varsity home games at historic Bosse Field (which opened in 1915). The facility is also used by Mater Dei High in the spring and the professional Evansville Otters in the spring and summer. While its 315 feet down the lines, it’s around 400 feet to center field and about 375 to the gaps, meaning the old park has an outfield bigger than most. Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Don Mattingly (Evansville Memorial Class of 1979) poked 25 career triples — an IHSBCA record. Three of the top 10 single-season triples marks in IHSBCA annals belong to Memorial teams that played many of their games at Bosse Field. “You better have a center fielder that can cover some ground,” says DeWeese. Expansive foul ball territory often makes pop-ups an adventure. “Bosse Field can make a lot of third basemen and first basemen look lost,” says DeWeese. “They give up on it. There’s a lot of movement and (the ball) ends up behind them.” There’s another quirk with the proximity of dugouts to home plate. “Bosse Field is so tight if we’re in the third base dugout and there’s a left-hander up I’ll duck down below the net line of the dugout,” says DeWeese. “You’re probably 25 feet away from home. “You don’t have time to react. It’s right on you.” Junior varsity, freshmen and Cub teams play and varsity practices — and occasionally plays games — at Barker Avenue Sports Complex. Reitz Cub Baseball this year features about 20 eighth graders that are on a path toward the high school. That squad plays doubleheaders each Sunday. There are also rural youth leagues on the west side that feed athletes to Reitz. In 2023, DeWeese counts Steve Gresham and Jay Hille as varsity assistants. Mark Zeller leads the junior varsity team with help from Camden Hahn and Terrance Davis. Freshmen are guided by Garry Barr with assistance from Kevin Kisner. Hille, Zeller, Hahn and Barr are all Reitz grads. Gresham went to Wood Memorial High School in Oakland City, Ind., and Davis to Ben Davis in Indianapolis. DeWeese teaches Social Studies to sixth graders at Perry Heights Middle School. Todd and wife Shelly DeWeese, a Jasper (Ind.) High School graduate, have two children — son Connor (24) and daughter Riley (23). Connor DeWeese (Class of 2017) played baseball and football and Reitz. Riley DeWeese (Class of 2018) was in soccer, track and cheerleading.
Todd DeWeese. (Evansville Reitz High School Photo)
NAIA conference tournaments are winding down as the calendar turns to the second week of May. Going into the finals today (May 8) at Huntington, the Crossroads League has three teams left — Indiana Wesleyan, Huntington and Saint Francis. Regular-season champion Taylor lost both its CL tournament games. The Trojans now turn their attention to hosting an NAIA Opening Round site May 15-18. Indiana University South Bend made it to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship slated later today (May 8) in Joliet, Ill. Indiana University Southeast lost in the championship of the River States Conference. RSC member Oakland City bowed out in the tournament and will now play in the National Christian College Athletic Association Mideast Regional May 9-11 as Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. Indiana Tech lost in the championship round of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament at Ann Arbor, Mich. The 2023 season has concluded for NAIA schools Bethel, Calumet St. Joseph, Goshen, Grace, IU-Kokomo, IUPU-Columbus and Marian. NCAA Division II Indianapolis is the No. 5 seed in the eight-team Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament May 11-14 in Marion, Ill. NCAA D-II Purdue Northwest is the No. 5 seed in the six-team Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference tournament May 11-14 in Lansing, Mich. At the NCAA D-III level, tournaments for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and North Coast Athletic Conference will include Indiana-based teams. The six-team HCAC tournament is May 11-14 at Kokomo Municipal Stadium. Regular-season champion Franklin is the No. 1 seed. Rose-Hulman is No. 4, Anderson No. 5 and Manchester No. 6. Earlham and Hanover did not make the postseason. The top four teams made the NCAC tourney field May 11-12 and 14 at Chillicothe, Ohio. Among those is No. 4 seed Wabash. DePauw did not make the tournament. Trine did not qualify in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In what is likely the program’s final season, Ivy Tech Northeast won the Ohio Community College Athletic Association Region/Sub-District and qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association Great Lakes Region 12 May 11-12 at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community College. In other NJCAA news, Vincennes sophomore Colin Long became the Trailblazers’ career hits leader. The Evansville (Ind.) Reitz High School graduate surpassed Jeffrey Hanna (1989) with 163 and now has 167.
The state’s longest current win streaks belong to Indiana State (6), Anderson (3), Franklin (3), Indiana (3), Indianapolis (3), Ivy Tech Northeast (3) and Rose-Hulman (3).
The NCAA Division I RPI (Rating Percentage Index) rankings through May 7 has Kentucky as the overall No. 1. Among the state’s schools, Indiana State is No. 9, Indiana No. 34, Notre Dame No. 43, Evansville No. 72, Ball State No. 102, Valparaiso No. 107, Purdue No. 196, Butler No. 232, Purdue Fort Wayne No. 278 and Southern Indiana No. 287. There are two more weekends left in the D-I regular season.
Below are season records, weekly results and links to web pages, schedules and statistics for all 39 programs.
Thursday, May 4 Notre Dame 9, North Carolina State 7
Friday, May 5 Ball State 5, Ohio 3 Georgetown 3, Butler 2 Evansville 13, Illinois State 3 Indiana 4, Northwestern 0 Indiana State 6, Bradley 1 North Carolina State 5, Notre Dame 1 Purdue 10, South Dakota State 7 Youngstown State 9, Purdue Fort Wayne 4 Arkansas-Little Rock 4, Southern Indiana 3 Valparaiso 9, Southern Illinois 8
Saturday, May 6 Ohio 5, Ball State 3 Ball State 7, Ohio 6 Butler at Georgetown Evansville 1, Illinois State 0 Indiana 5, Northwestern 2 (12 inn.) Indiana State 2, Bradley 0 North Carolina State 6, Notre Dame 1 South Dakota State 7, Purdue 5 Youngstown State 12, Purdue Fort Wayne 3 Arkansas-Little Rock 14, Southern Indiana 10 Southern Illinois 7, Valparaiso 3
Sunday, May 7 Butler 20, Georgetown 7 (7 inn.) Illinois State 7, Evansville 2 Indiana 11, Northwestern 9 Indiana State 8, Bradley 3 Purdue 3, South Dakota State 2 Youngstown State 14, Purdue Fort Wayne 10 Southern Illinois 10, Valparaiso 6
NCAA D-II Friday, May 5 Lewis 11, Indianapolis 1 (8 inn.) Wisconsin-Parkside 7, Purdue Northwest 5 Purdue Northwest 10, Wisconsin-Parkside 6
Saturday, May 6 Indianapolis 4, Lewis 1 Indianapolis 5, Lewis 3
Sunday, May 7 Indianapolis 11, Lewis 5 Wisconsin-Parkside 7, Purdue Northwest 4 Purdue Northwest 11, Wisconsin-Parkside 6
NCAA D-III Tuesday, May 2 Anderson 17, Hanover 16 Hanover 9, Anderson 5
Friday, May 5 Bluffton 6, Rose-Hulman 5 Rose-Hulman at Bluffton Hope 7, Trine 5 Trine 2, Hope 1
Saturday, May 6 Transylvania 13, Anderson 3 (7 inn.) Anderson 13, Transylvania 10 DePauw 13, Hiram 0 (7 inn.) Hiram 5, DePauw 3 Earlham 3, Franklin 2 (10 inn.) Franklin 11, Earlham 8 Hanover 4, Defiance 0 Hanover 6, Defiance 1 Manchester 7, Mount St. Joseph 4 Manchester 9, Mount St. Joseph 6 Wooster 9, Wabash 4 Wabash 8, Wooster 4
Sunday, May 7 Anderson 17, Mount St. Joseph 12 Anderson 10, Mount St. Joseph 7 Case Western Reserve 18, DePauw 7 (7 inn.) Transylvania 2, Earlham 0 Transylvania 5, Earlham 4 Franklin 13, Defiance 3 (7 inn.) Franklin 8, Defiance 2 Hanover 17, Bluffton 2 Bluffton 5, Hanover 2 Rose-Hulman 19, Manchester 3 Rose-Hulman 6, Manchester 5 Wabash 10, Ohio Wesleyan 4 Ohio Wesleyan 18, Wabash 7 (8 inn.)
NAIA Crossroads League Tournament (At Huntington, Ind.) Wednesday, May 3 Spring Arbor 6, Grace 2 Mount Vernon Nazarene 5, Bethel 3
Thursday, May 4 Huntington 7, Mount Vernon Nazarene 4 Spring Arbor 6, Taylor 4 (10 inn.) Indiana Wesleyan 7, Saint Francis (Ind.) 5
Friday, May 5 Mount Vernon Nazarene 5, Taylor 3 Saint Francis (Ind.) 12, Spring Arbor 4 Huntington 12, Indiana Wesleyan 3
Saturday, May 6 Indiana Wesleyan 8, Spring Arbor 5 Saint Francis (Ind.) 3, Mount Vernon Nazarene 2 Indiana Wesleyan 5, Huntington 1
Monday, May 8 Huntington vs. Saint Francis (Ind.) Championship Indiana Wesleyan vs. Huntington/Saint Francis (Ind.) winner
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament (At Joliet, Ill.) Thursday, May 4 IU South Bend 5, Trinity Christian 1 Saint Xavier 3, Olivet Nazarene 2 Roosevelt 12, Saint Ambrose 5 Saint Francis (Ill.) 10, Calumet of St. Joseph 5
Friday, May 5 Saint Ambrose 5, Olivet Nazarene 3 Trinity Christian 6, Calumet of St. Joseph 1 Roosevelt 7, Saint Xavier 1 IU South Bend 11, Saint Francis (Ill.) 7
Saturday, May 6 Saint Ambrose 7, Saint Francis (Ill.) 2 Saint Xavier 9, Trinity Christian 6 Saint Xavier 7, Saint Ambrose 2 IU South Bend 8, Roosevelt 7
Monday, May 8 Roosevelt vs. Saint Xavier Championship IU South Bend vs. Roosevelt/Saint Xavier winner
River States Conference Tournament (At Chillicothe, Ohio) Thursday, May 4 Midway 8, Oakland City 6 Rio Grande 7, Point Park 6 IU Southeast 5, IU-Kokomo 4
Friday, May 5 Point Park 6, Oakland City 1 IU-Kokomo 14, Midway 6 IU Southeast 8, Rio Grande 6
Saturday, May 6 Rio Grande 7, Midway 5 Point Park 9, IU-Kokomo 0 IU Southeast 8, Rio Grande 3
Sunday, May 7 Point Park 15, IU Southeast 3 Championship Point Park 18, IU Southeast 4
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Location A (Madonna) Thursday, May 4 Aquinas 9, Northwestern Ohio 5 Madonna 11, Northwestern Ohio 0 Madonna 7, Aquinas 4
Friday, May 5 Madonna 29, Aquinas 6
Location B (Concordia) Thursday, May 4 Indiana Tech 8, Lawrence Tech 6 Concordia 9, Lawrence Tech 4 Concordia 10, Indiana Tech 5
Friday, May 5 Concordia 8, Indiana Tech 4
Championship (Best-of-3) Monday, May 8 Madonna at Concordia
Tuesday, May 9 Madonna at Concordia Madonna at Concordia (if necessary)
Junior College Thursday, May 4 OCCAC/Region XII Sub-Regional Ivy Tech Northeast 3, Edison State 1 Championship Ivy Tech Northeast 6, Clark State 5
Other Games Kalamazoo Valley 0, Marian’s Ancilla 0, tie Kalamazoo Valley 4, Marian’s Ancilla 0
www.IndianaRBI.com 