Owner Craig Wallin and Northern League president Don Popravak have announced a new home venue for the Miracle in 2024 — the Elkhart (Ind.) High School Athletic Complex. The diamond is located next to softball and soccer fields and across the Elkhart River from the Elkhart Freshmen Academy and the Rice Field football stadium and the older baseball field.
Says Wallin, “I’m really looking forward to playing at our new team in Elkhart.”
Says Popravak, “I believe the new location is ideal for the franchise’s growth. Playing minutes from the central downtown area will attract an even larger fan base.”
The 2023 Miracle, which competed with the Griffith Generals, Indiana Panthers, Lake County Corn Dogs, Northwest Indiana Oilmen and Southland Vikings, featured Northern League MVP Dawson Willis plus Bryce Lesher and Conor Gausselin. Dawson hit .322 and was the league leader in stolen bases with 28. Lesher drove in a league-best 39 runs. Gausselin paced the circuit with 64 strikeouts and tied for most victories with six.
Dawson Willis is spending his summer a long way from home.
About 900 miles.
The Louisiana teenager came to Indiana to play baseball and he has been shining with the Elkhart County Miracle in that team’s first year in the wood-bat Northern League — a six-team loop blending amateurs and professionals.
Willis, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound shortstop who turned 19 in April and finished his freshmen season at National Junior College Athletic Association member Louisiana State University-Eunice in May, has been among the NL leaders in many categories in 2023.
With his batting eye and athleticism, the 2022 graduate of Ruston (La.) High School has drawn the interest of Major League Baseball scouts.
He earned the right to play in the league’s all-star game at Oil City in Whiting, Ind., on July 18 (joined by Elkhart County teammates Conor Gausselin, Bryce Lesher, Bryce Miller and Jaden Miller) and was announced as NL Player of the Week that same day.
Through 45 games, the righty-swinging Willis was hitting .324 (55-of-170) with one home run (July 16 at Indiana Panthers), six triples, 14 doubles, 27 runs batted in, 39 runs scored, a .926 OPS (.432 on-base percentage plus .494 slugging average) and 27 stolen bases (in 32 attempts).
Willis, who is usually in the No. 2 or No. 3 spot in the Miracle batting order, paces the circuit in hits, triples, runs, slugging percentage, stolen bases, total bases (83) and defensive assists (120) and is second in games, at-bats, doubles, plate appearances (206) and double plays (20). Elkhart County recently turned a 5-4-3 triple play with the bases loaded but Willis was not involved in that.
“You get to see a lot of at-bats at the top of the order,” says Willis. “I get to see the pitcher and let my teammates know what he’s like.
“I’m just looking for a barrel on the fastball and adjust to the off-speed and shoot the ball from gap to gap.”
Patrick Gelwicks, who was a standout first baseman/outfielder at Butler University in Indianapolis 2010-13 and now an LSU-Eunice assistant coach, helped connect Business major Willis with Evan Sharpley who coordinates talent for Miracle owner/50-year broadcaster Craig Wallin. The led to the youngster’s opportunity to play for Elkhart County manager/baseball lifer Wilson Valera.
“He’s taught me how to hunt for a fastball,” says Willis of Valera.
Why does Willis prefer to play shortstop?
“Most of the time you’re getting some action,” says Willis. “I like to beat the ball to the position and make a strong, accurate throw.”
“I like the way he plays the game,” says Willis of the Kansas City Royals shortstop/third baseman.
The top four teams make the Northern League playoffs. At present, the Lake County CornDogs (29-12), Northwest Indiana Oilmen (26-20), Southland Vikings (25-20) and Indiana Panthers (22-25) are in and the Elkhart County Miracle (19-29) and Griffith Generals (15-30) are on the outside looking in.
Elkhart County has three more away games scheduled before wrapping the regular season with three home contests Aug. 1-3 at NorthWood High School’s Field of Dreams Complex in Nappanee.
With no overnight stays, NL teams travel back and forth across the Eastern and Central time zones.
A typical gameday with the Miracle (the only Eastern team) sees Willis rise at the Elkhart home of host family Ron and Julia Sherck, go to the gym for a workout followed by batting practice at a local high school with a teammate.
He meets the team bus around 4 p.m., gets to the opposing field about 6, plays the game and gets back to Elkhart around 1 a.m.
As for his actual family, Dawson is the middle child of Chris and Mandy Willis. They have been working and unable to come to see their son play this summer though games have been available online. Christopher is Dawson’s older brother. Kennedy is his younger sister.
After his days with the Ruston Bearcats as a football and baseball player, Willis spent the summer of 2022 with the Dingoes of the Northern Louisiana Collegiate League in Shreveport, La., before heading going more than three hours to play for the Bengals of LSU-Eunice where Jeff Willis — no relation — is the head baseball coach and athletic director.
Ruston is the home of Louisiana Tech University.
Last August, Dawson showed off his speed when he was clocked in 6.6 seconds for the 60-yard dash.
In the spring of 2023, Willis played in 52 games (49 starts) and hit .341 (59-of-173) with six homers, one triple, 11 doubles, 42 RBIs, 65 runs, .985 OPS (.465/.520) and 29 steals (in 38 attempts).
Dawson Willis at the 2023 Northern League All-Star Game in Whiting, Ind. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)
Elkhart County Miracle players at the 2023 Northern League All-Star Game in Whiting, Ind., are (from left): Conor Gausselin, Dawson Willis, Bryce Lesher, Jaden Miller and Bryce Miller. (Northern League Photo)
East players in the 2023 Northern League All-Star Game in Whiting, Ind., including Elkhart County Miracles Conor Gausselin, Dawson Willis, Bryce Lesher, Jaden Miller and Bryce Miller in red. (Northern League Photo)
Ethan Lengfelder is scheduled to make his sixth appearance and fourth start for the Elkhart County County Miracle today (June 21 at 7:10 p.m. CDT) against the Northwest Indiana Oilmen at Oil City Stadium in Whiting, Ind.
The last time the 22-year-old right-hander pitched he threw a nine-inning no-hitter — the first in the Northern League since 2014, fifth in league history and only the third one that was not combined.
Lengfelder held the Lake County CornDogs hitless in a 6-1 win for a first-year franchise at the NorthWood High School Field of Dreams Complex in Nappanee, Ind. — the Elkhart County Miracle’s home diamond. He faced 31 batters, striking out three, walking three and hitting one. The last out was a strike out of clean-up hitter Ray Hilbrich, who socked three home runs in Week 1, after falling behind 3-0 in the count.
For the second time in the first three weeks of the season, Lengfelder was selected Pitcher of the Week — this time unanimously.
Self-described as “too quirky,” Lengfelder showed up late the day of his no-no after his daytime construction job with Doug Walls (Walls by Walls in Niles, Mich.) and was scolded by Elkhart County manager Wilson Valera.
Then Lengfelder took off his Crocs and began chasing fly balls barefoot on the NorthWood turf.
“Closer to game time I zone in a little bit,” says Lengfelder.
Once the game started — even though he had a no-hitter going — Lengfelter was on the steps of the dugout and yelling at everyone.
While others won’t talk to anyone on their start day, that’s not Lengfelder’s way.
“As Wilson says: I’m loco,” says Lengfelder. “I’m crazy.”
He also noticed how his Miracle teammates backed him up.
“My defense played behind me amazingly,” says Lengfelter, noting that shortstop Dawson Willis was especially good and catcher Javier Guevara called a fine game.
After almost surrendering an early home run, Lengfelder settled in. When he walked a couple batters in the fourth inning, he came back to the dugout, walked into a storage closet known as the “Rage Room,” got his frustration out and was fine again.
Lengfelder, who is 6-foot-1 1/2 and 204 pounds and pitched at Bethel University in Mishawaka, Ind., in the spring of 2023, began the season at the back of the Miracle’s bullpen. He used 20 pitches to record six outings in his first two outings of the summer and is now 2-1 with a 2.45 earned run average, 12 strikeouts and 11 walks in 22 innings.
Last summer, Lengfelder was with the Omaha, Neb.-based Corn Belt League’s Royal Blue Dogs. Eli MacDonald, an infielder going into his third year at Bethel, was a teammate.
By November, they were reunited with the Pilots when Lengfelder who had moved from Iowa Western to Williston (N.D.) State Community College.
Head coach Seth Zartman and pitching coach Kiel Boynton welcomed Lengfelder to Bethel and began helping with his development.
“Both of them have been very big in the process of getting me where I am today,” says Lengfelder. “When I got to Bethel I was very raw. I had no pitching coach for two years. I had a lot of potential. I was very robotic and not fluid.
“I can’t thank them enough.”
He pitched in nine games (eight in relief) for Bethel in the spring, going 0-1 with eight strikeouts and six walks in 11 2/3 innings.
This summer, Lengfelder is living with Bethel volunteer assistant Rob Bjorkland.
By reaching out to recruiting coordinator Evan Sharpley, Lengfelder found his way to the Miracle, where he gets to work with pitching coach Pedro Valera.
“He doesn’t know very much English, but he knows the game very well,” says Lengfelder.
So how do you do better after a no-hitter? Lengfelder says the goal is to throw a maximum of 12 pitches an inning.
Once a high-velocity hurler, the right-hander had to become a different kind of hurler after a shoulder injury.
“I dropped all the way down from 87 (mph) to 75,” says Lengfelder. “I recovered all the way back up to 84.
“Mentally, I changed how I pitch. I knew couldn’t blow it past people anymore.”
Instead, he pitches to contact as a command/ground ball pitcher — something that works well for big leaguer Kyle Hendricks.
“I make guys pound it into the ground or pop up,” says Lengfelder. “I’ve been told since I was 12 that I throw a very heavy ball.”
Throwing from a “2 o’clock” arm slot, Lengfelder mixes five pitches — a two-seamer, knuckle curve, splitter, ghost fork and Vulcan change-up.
He learned some of those grips on Twitter from the Pitching Ninja (Rob Friedman).
When not pitching, Lengfelder has also developed the habit of heading for the press box in the second inning to chat on-air with the Miracle play-by-play man — especially when it’s Preston Andrews (NorthWood Class of 2024). Team founder Craig Wallin is a veteran broadcaster.
“I love talking and I like bringing guys up,” says Lengfelder. “Our broadcast/booth team is amazing.”
When Lengfelder began college he wanted to be a sports writer.
“I figured out I hate writing,” says Lengfelder, who is now a Criminal Justice major with minors in Psychology and Forensic Science and has the goal of police chief or detective.
He has two years of remaining college eligibility and plans to use at least one to complete his undergraduate degree and may go a second year for a masters.
Born Omaha and raised in Missouri City, Iowa, Lengfelder played baseball and hockey — he was a goaltender and roots for the Boston Bruins — around the area.
He pitched in a few varsity games as an eighth grader in 2015 and then logged four full varsity seasons — two at Logan (Iowa)-Magnolia High School, one for Treynor (Iowa) High School (while attending Heartland Christian which did have a team) and the last one at Missouri Valley High School.
High school baseball is mostly a summer sport in Iowa with the regular season generally beginning around May 15.
Ethan’s mother — Jolene Weinrich Lengfelder — teaches special education in Omaha.
“I gained a lot of my caring personality from her,” says Ethan. “I try to help as many people as I can. The best way to help people is to just be there for them.
“It’s super hard for people to understand that, which is weird because it takes nothing to care. It takes nothing to smile and be nice.”
Lengfelder makes sure to great the little kids at the field and has even been stopped for autographs at the gas station.
“It’s awesome. The whole community has been good to us.”
Ethan Lengfelder. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)Ethan Lengfelder. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)Ethan Lengfelder. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)Ethan Lengfelder (left), Wilson Valera, Craig Wallin and Pedro Valera. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)Ethan Lengfelder’s two-seamer grip.Ethan Lengfelder’s knuckle curve grip.Ethan Lengfelder’s splitter grip.Ethan Lengfelder’s ghost fork grip.Ethan Lengfelder’s Vulcan change grip.Ethan Lengfelder. (Elkhart County Miracle Photo)
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