Neal drawn to competitive community surrounding Carmel Greyhounds

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

Ty Neal is the new head baseball coach at Carmel (Ind.) High School.
While transitioning his wife and three children from southwestern Ohio to central Indiana, Neal embraces the expectations that come with leading the Greyhounds and performing in a community that demands excellence.
“This is the only high school job in the country I would have moved my family for,” says Neal, a former Indiana University assistant and University of Cincinnati head coach who is married to Christine and has sons Silas (14) and Beckett (12) and daughter Paisley (9). “I owe it to myself and my family to surround us with high-level people.
“I’m excited because it’s going to bring out the best in all of us.”
Both Neal boys were born in Bloomington.
“I’ve built so many relationships in Indiana,” says Ty Neal. “This is a great opportunity for my family to get back to the great state of Indiana.”
The competitive environment and lofty standards at his new school district suit Neal.
“The reason people are so critical of Carmel they expect so much out of everyone,” says Neal, who was hired in July. “As a coach that’s all positive.
“I want be held under a microscope and perform at a high level every single day of my life.”
After serving as the Director of Pitching at Pro X Athlete Development in Westfield, Ind., November 2018 to October 2019, Neal led the baseball program at Loveland High School (enrollment around 525) in the Greater Cincinnati area in 2020 and 2021. The Tigers did not play any games in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carmel (enrollment around 5,225) is currently an athletic independent.
The Greyhounds were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2022 with Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville. Those schools have combined for nine State Finals appearances — two each for Carmel (1997, 2000), Fishers (2018, 2021) and Westfield (1998, 2009) and one apiece for Hamilton Southeastern (2019), Noblesville (2014) and Zionsville (2016) with state titles in 2014, 2018 and 2019.
Carmel has earned 13 sectional championships — the last in 2016.
Neal intends to bring consistency as he builds the culture of his Greyhounds program.
“That starts at the top,” says Neal. “These are 14- to 18-year-old young men that have so many moving parts in their lives.
“I want to be consistent in my demeanor, expectations and standards for them. We show up everyday and there’s no surprises. We’re not going to get in mid-season and change the way we do things. We’re not going to panic.
“There’s a comfort level that comes with consistency where — hopefully — you can bring out the best in everyone.”
Neal, who has targeted potential assistant coaches, conducted a recent player-parent meeting to shake everyone’s hand and is planning to start IHSAA Limited Contact Period workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Sept. 13.
Carmel plays its home games on Hartman Field.
“I think it’s awesome,” says Neal. “It’s a brand new turf field with lights that I can turn on and off with an app on my phone.”
To serve a community that features the Carmel Dads Club, Carmel Pups travel baseball and teams at Carmel Clay Schools’ three middle schools — Carmel, Clay and Creekside — Neal plans a five-week middle school camp.
“I want to build relationships with the middle school coaches,” says Neal. “We’ll have similar concepts so we’re not starting from scratch freshman year.”
The Greyhounds routinely send players on to college baseball. Three alums — Ryan Campbell, Conrad Gregor and Tommy Sommer — are current or recent pros.
Born in West Elkton, Ohio (Dayton area), former left-handed pitcher Neal is a 1995 graduate of Preble Shawnee Junior/Senior High School in Camden, Ohio.
He earned four letters at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) 1996-99 and was team captain in 1999 and secured a Sport Management degree. Tracy Smith was his head coach.
Neal served as Smith’s pitching coach at Miami in 2000 and 2005 and was an assistant to Dan Callahan for three seasons (2001-03) at Southern Illinois University while getting a Masters of Sport and Fitness Administration/Management. He was pitching coach for the Cape Cod Baseball League‘s Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the summer of 2002.
There was one season as an assistant at Cincinnati (2004) and four as head coach (2014-17).
When Smith became head coach at Indiana, he brought Neal along and he was top assistant and recruiting coordinator for eight seasons (2006-13). He was also pitching coach for six of those campaigns and infield/third base coach for two. The Hoosiers went to the College World Series in 2013.
“He gave me an opportunity to help the team,” says Neal of the coach-player relationship with Smith (who is now head coach at the University of Michigan). “I had to grow up a lot under him.
“I learned from him to be agile and open to new things and learning. You change things when you need to.”
Neal was Smith’s Quality Control Analyst at Arizona State University in 2018.
While in Ohio, he created Serving Baseball Passion as a platform to share his knowledge with younger players.
In addition to coaching, Neal teaches Special Education at Carmel High School.

Beckett (left), Ty and Silas Neal.

Silas (left), Paisley, Christine and Beckett Neal.

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Gregor displaying baseball tools, helping others reach their goals

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Conrad Gregor does his best to use baseball’s five physical tools (speed, arm strength, fielding, hitting for average and hitting for power).

As a third baseman, first baseman and left fielder for the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Can-Am League, the lefty swinger has played in 72 games for the 2019 season (through Aug. 9) and is hitting .324 with nine home runs, 15 doubles, four triples, 49 runs batted in, 68 runs scored, 61 walks, 34 stolen bases and a .459 on-base percentage.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder has amassed 22 multi-hit games with four in a “friendly” against the Cuba National Team and four three-hit games.

Batting No. 3 for manager Brooks Carey, the graduate of Carmel (Ind.) High School (2010) and Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University (2016) went 0-of-3 then 1-for-1 with a double, three runs scored two walks and one stolen base Friday as New Jersey (40-32) beat Sussex County 4-0 and 10-1 at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, N.J., and moved within 5.5 games of the league-leading Miners.

Besides the tools, Gregor also sees the importance of using mental skills, work ethic, mindset, consistency and a desire for excellence.

“It’s what’s between your two ears,” says Gregor of mental skills. “As a pro, you play on a nightly basis. You have to survive the ups and downs of being a hitter in baseball.

“I have to get my body ready to play 140-plus games a year. You have to be a good teammate at all times — even when things aren’t going well for  you individually. Have a ‘team at-bat’ — no matter what that may be.”

Gregor, 27, grew up playing the Carmel Dads’ ClubCarmel Dads’ Club and for the Carmel Pups.

In middle school, he went with the Indiana Prospects. In high school, he joined the Midland Redskins and helped them to an American Amateur Baseball Congress Connie Mack World Series title in 2009. He played a couple of high school falls with the Kanas City Royals Scout Team.

Eric Lentz was Gregor’s head coach at Carmel High School. They have stayed in contact through the years.

“He’s got a great baseball mind,” says Gregor of Lentz. “I learned a lot from him. He’s about bringing it everyday, keeping the blinders on, doing the little things and playing team baseball to win games.”

“I’ve passed it on to the people I teach.”

During the baseball off-season, Gregor runs Anchor Down Sports Performance in downtown Carmel and many of his clients are junior high, high school and college ballplayers.

“I want to help people the best that I can,” says Gregor, who completed his finance and entrepreneurship degree during fall semesters after beginning his pro baseball career in 2013 and is certified in weightlifting and functional movement systems.

Anchor Down — a name that gives a nod to the Vanderbilt Commodores — has a presence on social media, including Facebook and YouTube.

Gregor was selected in the 40th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox, but opted to go to Vanderbilt. He played three seasons for the Commodores (2011-13), hitting .327 with nine homers, 45 doubles, 115 runs batted in, 117 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a .444 on-base percentage over 186 games.

“It was a great honor to be able to play and learn from one the best-regarded baseball coaches in the sport,” says Gregor of head coach Tim Corbin, who led Vandy to the College World Series championship in 2019 and is to be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January 2020. “He provided me with a lot of useful lessons.

“He helped me become not only a great baseball player, but a great person.”

Picked in the fourth round of the 2013 draft by the Houston Astros, Gregor signed that June then had an unforgettable family moment in 2014 in Davenport, Iowa.

Conrad slugged his first Midwest League home run and his father — Marty — caught the ball. Marty and Megan Gregor had made their way out to a restaurant near right field and Marty was there to collect the souvenir.

Gregor was in the Astros system into 2017 then played 69 games with New Jersey before being picked up with the Boston Red Sox organization at the end of 2017. He played 12 games in he Red Sox chain along with five for the independent Atlantic League’s Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers and 98 with the Can-Am League’s Rockland (N.Y.) Boulders in 2018.

The Can-Am League all-star hopes to help New Jersey to a league title in 2019 (the regular season ends Sept. 2 and the playoffs conclude Sept. 15) then come back to Carmel to re-charge and then head out again.

Gregor is currently shopping around for a chance to play winter ball in Mexico, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.

“I’m at the stage of my career where it’s ‘what have you done for me lately?’ It’s performance-based,” says Gregor. “I’m looking to continue playing.”

Always a righty thrower and lefty batter, Gregor sees advantages in swinging from that side of the plate.

“Being left-handed gives you a head start running to first base and you’re facing a lot of right-handed pitchers so the off-speed pitch is coming into your barrel.”

When teaching hitters, Gregor likes to point to the great left-handed swings — like the sweet one with the high finish used by Ken Griffey Jr. — and encourage his students to use what works best for them.

Conrad Gregor, a graduate of Carmel (Ind.) High School and Vanderbilt University, is playing professional baseball in 2019 with independent New Jersey Jackals. (New Jersey Jackals Photo)

Conrad Gregor, a graduate of Carmel (Ind.) High School and Vanderbilt University, is playing professional baseball in 2019 with independent New Jersey Jackals. Gregor has also played in the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox organizations and owns and operates Anchor Down Sports Performance in Carmel.  (New Jersey Jackals Photo)

Right-hander Dunshee dominant in final college, first pro seasons

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Parker Dunshee made a decision in the middle of 2016 and it led to a fruitful baseball season in 2017 — at the collegiate and professional levels.

The 2013 Zionsville Community High School graduate was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft after his junior season at Wake Forest.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-hander was the Demon Deacons’ Friday starter and went 10-5 with a 3.20 earned run average. He struck out 102 in 101 1/3 innings with three game of 10 or more strikeouts and seven games of eight K’s or better.

Dunshee pondered the possibility of going pro and heading back to college for his senior year and he chose to return to Winston-Salem, N.C.

The move allowed him to complete his finance degree and enjoy a special senior campaign on the diamond.

Team captain Dunshee went 9-1 with a 3.91 ERA as Wake’s Friday starter. He fanned 111 batters in 103 2/3 innings and helped the Deacs to the program’s first super regional appearance since 1999.

For his four-year career, Dunshee went 28-10 with a 3.20 and a school-record 330 strikeouts in 326 1/3 — a rate of 9.1 per nine innings. He also was a four-time honoree on the all-Atlantic Coast Conference academic team.

In an interview in the Fall 2017 Inside Pitch Magazine, Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter calls Dunshee a competitor and a bulldog.

“You didn’t want to let him down,” Walter told the American Baseball Coaches Association publication.

“He was an awesome coach to play for,” says Dunshee. “He knows how to get the best out of guys. He’s intense when he needs to be intense and light-hearted when he needs to be light-hearted. I’m glad to be part of his coaching legacy.”

Dunshee credits Deacons pitching coach Matt Hobbs for making important changes to his delivery when the coach arrived on campus for the 2015 season.

“He overhauled my style,” says Dunshee of Hobbs. “He helped me to get back to being athletic in my throwing and athletic on the mound. He does not try to box all pitchers into one style of pitching. He sees what you need personally to be the best you can be.”

Dunshee, who turns 23 on Feb. 12, keeps his motion simple with little hand or upper body movement. There is a momentum swing from left to right, a toe tap and he lifts and goes.

“The best deliveries you don’t have to think about,” says Dunshee. “It’s arm speed and intent.”

When the MLB Draft came back around, Dunshee was chosen in the seventh round by the Oakland Athletics. He signed and headed to Arizona for his physical and his first chance to toe the rubber as a pro.

His pro debut was a rough one. He gave up three runs and five hits, including a home run, in a two-inning stint with Arizona League Athletics.

He then went to the New York-Penn League were he was flat dominant, putting together a scoreless streak of 39 1/3 innings and representing the Vermont Lake Monsters in the league’s all-star game.

In a combined 40 1/3 innings in the AZL and NYPL, Dunshee continued to attack pro hitters like he did amateurs and fanned 48 and walked eight while posting a 1-0 record and a 0.67 earned run average. Opponents hit .146.

“I had a pretty good summer statistically speaking,” says Dunshee, who made 12 appearance with Vermont (nine as a starter).

What about the streak?

“You don’t think about throwing up a bunch of scoreless innings in a row,” says Dunshee. “The goal is to get a zero each inning no matter what. It’s about throwing strikes and being aggressive.

“There aren’t any secrets. I’m just trying to execute what I do to the best of my ability. The strikeouts are a product of being ahead in counts and first-pitch strikes.”

He takes pride in throwing strikes and keeping his walk count low.

Dunshee estimates that he used his fastball (usually a four-seamer) about 65 to 70 percent of the time and tossed a slider 15 to 20 percent and a change-up (a two-seamer) about 10 to 15 percent.

“I attack people with fastballs and try to locate it well,” says Dunshee. “The Athletics like you to develop a change-up and incorporate it more. So I’ll be working on that.”

Bryan Corey, a former big league pitcher and member of the World Series-winning 2007 Boston Red Sox, was the Lake Monsters pitching coach.

“He didn’t try to make everybody do the same thing,” says Dunshee of Corey. “He put in extra time to help you. He was an open book and always ready to talk. He communicated with the pitching staff.”

With Dunshee’s heavy college workload, the Athletics had him on an innings restriction. All together, he tossed 143 1/3 frames in 2017.

“That was definitely the most I’ve ever thrown in my life,” says Dunshee, who was shut down and came back to Zionsville rather than the original plan of going to the fall instructional league. “I felt strong throughout it, but I was definitely ready for a rest.”

Dunshee says there will be no such restriction in 2018.

Of late, he has been hitting the weights and will soon begin his off-season throwing program. He works out at The Yard — a facility in Carmel partially owned by Conrad Gregor (a minor league free agent).

At Zionsville, Dunshee was a two-time all-Hoosier Crossroads Conference selection in baseball and was all-HCC and academic all-state in his senior football season. As a quarterback, he set seven school passing records.

Busy with football and basketball in the summers, Dunshee did not play extensive travel baseball in his younger years. That changed thanks to the Moore brothers — Jered and Quinn.

“The Moores) know a lot about the game,” says Dunshee. “They taught me that when you play the right way, you get rewarded. huge in getting me into the Indiana Bulls. That organization gets you in front of the right people.”

Dunshee pitched for Bulls in the summers of 2011, 2012 and 2013. Jered Moore is now head coach at Zionsville.

While at Wake, Dunshee competed for the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the Northwoods League in 2014 and the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League in 2015. When he opted not to sign after the 2016 draft, he did not play that summer.

Parker Dunshee, a Zionsville Community High School and Wake Forest University graduate, was a New York-Penn League all-star in 2017 with the Vermont Lake Monsters in the Oakland Athletics organization. It was his first season in professional baseball. (Vermont Lake Monsters Photo)