Foxworthy, Seeger Patriots value being a good teammate

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

In his capacity as head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind., Reed Foxworthy wants his players to know that they’re all in it together.

“One of our big things is always be a good teammate,” says Foxworthy, who heads into his fourth season of leading the Patriots in 2019. “That covers a lot of stuff like getting your schoolwork done and making sure you’re eligible, being prepared and giving it your best effort.”

Foxworthy, a 2008 Seeger graduate who spent three seasons as junior varsity coach before taking over the program, also emphasizes the importance of having a good attitude.

“Focus your energy on things you can control,” says Foxworthy. “Don’t worry about what you can’t control.

“Hopefully, that carries on to life and whatever they do after baseball.”

Foxworthy graduated from Purdue University in 2012 with a degree in social studies education. He now teaches math to seventh graders and psychology and sociology to high schoolers at Seeger, which is located in Warren County and 15 miles east of the Indiana-Illinois state line.

When he was a high school student, Foxworthy played baseball for head coaches Doug Allison and Brent Rademacher and basketball for head coach Brad Metzger.

Foxworthy credits Allison and Rademacher for running well-organized practices.

“We had something to do,” says Foxworthy. “There was never down time. I try to carry that over. That’s important to us.”

Those coaches also instilled characteristics that Foxworthy wants from his players.

“We were always doing things the right way, being on time and respectful toward officials,” says Foxworthy. “We tried to control what we could control.”

Foxworthy remembers Metzger as a stickler for details.

“The little things add up,” says Foxworthy.

Seeger (enrollment around 390) is a member of the Wabash River Conference (with Attica, Covington, Fountain Central, North Vermillion, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke and South Vermillion).

WRC teams play each other twice to determine a conference champion. These games are played either as a weekday home-and-home series or in a Saturday doubleheader.

Non-conference opponents for the Patriots include Benton Central, Bismarck-Henning (Bismarck, Ill.), Clinton Prairie, Faith Christian (Lafayette), Frontier, North Montgomery, Oakwood (Fithian, Ill.), Southmont, South Newton and Tri-County.

There has been talk about having Seeger play Cascade, where Cadets head coach Ty Foster is Foxworthy’s cousin. But the two schools are 85 miles apart.

The Patriots are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic and Western Boone. Seeger has won five sectional titles — the last two in 2012 and 2015.

Foxworthy’s assistants are Dale Carroll, Avery Acton and Andy Stover. There are usually around 20 players for varsity and junior varsity squads.

“We’d like to have a few more,” says Foxworthy, who has played with 11 varsity players and sent nine to a JV game on the same night.

Home games are played on-campus on a diamond that in recent years has gained a new batting cage and bleachers and had its infield, mound, home plate and base areas re-done.

During the IHSAA limited contact periods since the end of the football season, baseball players — many of whom are also basketball players or wrestlers — have met on Thursday mornings. As the season approaches, workouts have been on Tuesday nights.

Taking advantage of auxiliary gym space, the Patriots have been able to pull down two indoor batting tunnels and have enough room for long toss.

“Not every school around here has this,” says Foxworthy. “It’s pretty nice.”

A junior high club team of seventh and eighth graders played in the spring. In the summer, those same kids take part in the Wabash Valley Summer Baseball League.

Players also play with various travel baseball organizations, including those around Crawfordsville, Indianapolis and Danville, Ill.

Reed and wife Madison Foxworthy do not have children.

Reed Foxworthy is head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind. He is a 2008 Seeger graduate.

 

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Good sees growth for Rochester Zebras baseball

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Cory Good is working to grow baseball in the town where he learned the game.

A 2007 graduate of Rochester (Ind.) High School, Good is entering his fifth season as the Zebras head coach in 2019.

He expects to have more than two dozen players — varsity and junior varsity — wear the Old Gold and Black this spring. Numbers vary with the size of the freshmen class. Last year, there were more frosh than usual. This year, the number has dipped a little. Next year, it looks to pick up again.

Good counts Tony Stesiak, Dave Baillieul and Fred McGlothin as assistant coaches and is looking for more helpers.

Brady Perez, a shortstop, third baseman and pitcher, is back for his senior year after hitting .479 as a junior. He is committed to Trine University. Senior catcher/third baseman Zaine Young is considering college baseball offers.

Recent graduates who went on to the collegiate diamond are right-handed pitcher Andrew Feldman at Taylor University with catcher Tanner Hampton and left-hander Carter Hooks both at Manchester University.

The Zebras play home games at Bob Copeland Field. After receiving a new home bullpen last year, the on-campus facility is getting a new press box and a batting cage down the first base line this season.

“I’d like to see new fencing or netting behind home plate,” says Good of his wish list.

“Small ball” is a brand that Good embraces.

“We want to do the things that it takes to put the pressure on,” says Good. “By being aggressive, we will make (opposing defense) make the play.”

Rochester (enrollment around 500) is a member of the Three Rivers Conference (with Maconaquah, Manchester, Northfield, North Miami, Peru, Southwood, Tippecanoe Valley, Wabash and Whitko).

TRC teams tangle with each other one time to determine the champion. Games are Monday or Wednesday with Friday as the rain date.

Non-conference foes for the Zebras include Bremen, Carroll (Flora), Caston, Culver Academies, Delphi, John Glenn, LaVille, Lewis Cass, Logansport, Oregon-Davis, Pioneer, Plymouth and Winamac. The Twin Lake Invitational is May 18.

“We play a pretty decent schedule,” says Good.

The Zebras are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Lewis Cass, Manchester, Oak Hill, Wabash and Whitko. Rochester has won 11 sectional championships — the last in 2014.

Good spent the 2014 season as an assistant to Brian Hooker, his coach at RHS and one of his mentors.

“He impacted a lot of people,” says Good of former educator and multi-sport coach Hooker, who passed away Jan. 3, 2019 at 59. “He was able to connect with people.”

As sales manager for The Winning Edge, a sporting goods company owned Brad Good (his father), Cory had a working relationship with Hooker and sold equipment to him before and after joining his staff.

As Rochester assistant, Good came to appreciate all the behind-the-scenes things a head coach has to do for his program.

“It’s all the moving parts,” says Good. “There’s paperwork, grades, physicals, fundraising, transportation and gear.”

Hooker outfitted Rochester in many uniforms over the years. Good plans to have a basic home and road ensemble and possibly an alternate.

Good says he is also glad to see a junior high club program that will send players on to the high school.

In 2018, there was a combined seventh/eighth grade team.

“If numbers come, we’ll go with multiple teams,” says Good of a program that plays games in the spring and on weekdays. “Kids can walk the halls and talk about the game that night.

“It brings more excitement to the sport.”

Good says he expects that the Running Rivers Conference will someday adopt baseball and softball as school-affiliated sports. Rochester Middle School (Grades 6-8) belongs to the RRC.

Good studies sports management at Indiana University. He is the oldest of Brad and Kathy Good’s three children. His mother is a teacher. Casey Good is an Indiana University graduate and store manager at The Winning Edge. He was a football and track athlete at Rochester.

Maggie Good graduated from Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis, where she played softball. Libby Good is a senior at Purdue University. She played volleyball and softball at Rochester.

Cory and Shelby Good were married in July 2018 and are expecting their first child in August.

The Rochester Zebras celebrate a 2014 sectional baseball championship. The champions are (from left): First row — seniors Levi Brown, Tanner Hampton, Cyrus Holland, Carter Screeton, Brandt Eytcheson and Kyle Katschke; Second row — coaches Tony Stesiak, Brian Hooker and Cory Good.

Cory and Shelby Good were married in July 2018. Cory Good is head baseball coach at Rochester (Ind.) High School and sales manager at The Winning Edge.

Grid, mat lend toughness to diamond for Quasebarth’s North White Vikings

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball players at North White Middle/High School in Monon, Ind., know something about toughness.

Many of the young men who take to the diamond for the Vikings also participate in football, wrestling or both.

“Wrestling brings a work ethic,” says Kirk Quasebarth, who coaches baseball, wrestling and football at the IHSAA Class 1A school of about 250. “You’ve got to be out there ready to go and be mentally tough. You also see that on the football field.

“You’ll see baseball players take a ball off the chest — those little intangibles.”

Quasebarth participated in all three sports at North White, playing football and wrestling for head coach Jim Davis and baseball for head coach Bill McDonald. He then played three seasons for head coach Bill Reagan at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and got his education degree at Purdue University.

What did Quasebarth learn from Indiana Football Hall of Famer Davis?

“Patience, seeing the big picture and planning,” says Quasebarth. “He was good at keeping things simple for kids.”

Like Davis, Quasebarth plans his baseball practices to eliminate dead time.

“Kids always working on skills,” says Quasebarth. “The goal for every practice is to get something out of it.”

McDonald was known for his enthusiasm for the game.

“We had fun,” says Quasebarth. “That gets lost sometimes in high school athletics.

“It’s about kids growing up, taking responsibility and having fun.”

Since 1999, Quasebarth has been the school’s head baseball coach. Eight of the program’s eight sectional titles have come on his watch. The last one came in 2016. The Vikings advanced to the 2013 South Bend Semistate before bowing to eventual state champion Lafayette Central Catholic.

Quasebarth has led North White’s football program the past two seasons. He took over as interim head wrestling coach midway through the 2018-19 season. Six of the 10 grapplers on the squad qualified for the Logansport Regional, including baseball players Colton Jones and Parker Smith (alternate).

Quasebarth has held principal and vice principal jobs and is now back in the class room teaching social studies to seventh and eighth graders.

Youngest son Eli, a seventh grader, is also involved in football, wrestling and baseball.

While numbers have not been high for football and wrestling in recent years, Quasebarth usually sees between 20 and 25 baseball players yearly to fill varsity and junior varsity teams.

All three of his baseball assistants are North White graduates. Tony Rodgers and Brad Hahn played with Quasebarth and Travis Combs played for him.

“We’re a family,” says Quasebarth.

North White (enrollment around 250) is a member of the Midwest Conference (with Frontier, North Newton, South Newton, Tri-County and West Central). This spring, teams will play each other twice in a home-and-home series on Tuesdays and Thursdays and both games will count in the standings.

The Vikings are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping with Caston, North Miami, Northfield, South Newton, Southwood and West Central.

Quasebarth says he recalls the challenges his teams faced against teams coached by Ryan Wolfe at West Central, Ryan Long at Frontier, Blake Mollenkopf at Caston and Jeff LeBeau at Tri-County. Wolfe is now at Plymouth and Long at Delphi.

“You have to be up on your game to play those guys,” says Quasebarth. “They are very fundamentally sound. I have a lot of respect for those guys.

“Now we get to play (Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer) Jake Burton and his Twin Lakes teams.”

The North White Babe Ruth League in Monon prepares ages 13 to 15 to play for the high school. Tyler Hileman, who is married to Kirk and Sherie Quasebarth’s daughter Whitney (a North White Elementary first grade teacher) and given them grandson Emmett, heads up the league.

North White Babe Ruth coaches include Jakob Quasebarth (who also plays football at Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute) and former members of the 2013 North White regional champions — Colton Cooley, Luke Diener and twins Clint and Caleb Hendress. Caleb Hendress played baseball at Saint Joseph’s before the school closed at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

A number of North White players have gone on to college baseball in the past decade. Current senior Grant Buschman is committed to Grace College.

Around 2000, North White opened a complex for baseball and softball.

“We constantly try to do a few things,” says Quasebarth of the baseball field. “We want to raise money for a halo (around home plate).”

For the past several seasons, the Vikings wore camouflage-style uniforms in school colors — Royal Blue, White and Gold. This spring, the plan is to go with a Houston Astros-like “Rainbow” design.

North White has been rotating its winter workouts in the North White Elementary gym with pitchers on one day and hitters on another.

The Quasebarths at a Rose-Hulman football game (from left): Sherie, Jacob, Eli and Kirk.

Interim head coach Kirk Quasebarth poses with his North White Vikings wrestling team.

Head coach Kirk Quasebarth posed with his North White Vikings football team.

Head coach Kirk Quasebarth and his North White Vikings baseball team celebrate a sectional championship.

Kirk Quasebarth is head football coach at North White Middle/High School in Monon, Ind. His first season at the helm for the Vikings was 2017.

Kirk Quasebarth (left) has been the head baseball coach at North White Middle/High School in Monon, Ind., since 1999.

Vernon brings ‘culture change’ to Benton Central Bison baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball players are buying what Jon Vernon’s selling at Benton Central Junior-Senior High School in Oxford, Ind.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have some good athletes and good players,” says Vernon, who is heading into his fourth season as BC head coach in 2019. “They’ve bought into my system.”

The Bison have improved its record in each of Vernon’s first three seasons in charge, going 10-17 in 2016, 17-9 in 2017 and 19-6 in 2018.

Benton Central lost 9-2 to Western in the 2017 IHSAA Class 3A West Lafayette Sectional championship game.

BC bowed out of the state tournament series with a  3-2 loss to Maconaquah on a seventh-inning wild pitch in the first round of the 2018 3A Peru Sectional.

“We changed the culture a little bit,” says Vernon, whose current seniors have been varsity since freshmen year. That group includes three who have signed for college baseball —

Center fielder Payton Hall (University of Southern Indiana), right-handed pitcher/third baseman Alex Stout (Bethel College) and first baseman/left-hander Matt Taylor (Anderson University).

Right-hander Taylor Varnado, BC’s probable No. 1 starting pitcher in 2019 and a third baseman, is expected to sign soon. Junior shortstop Alex Thurston is verbally committed to Valparaiso University.

Vernon says he expects to have about 30 players for varsity and junior varsity teams in the spring. The JV went 11-6 in 2018.

Benton Central (enrollment of about 580) belongs to the Hoosier Athletic Conference (with Benton Central, Lafayette Central Catholic, Twin Lakes and Rensselaer Central in the West Division and Hamilton Heights, Lewis Cass, Northwestern, Tipton and Western in the East Division).

Teams play a home-and-home within their division then a crossover game with the corresponding regular-season placer in the other division.

BC is in an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Maconaquah, Northwestern, Peru, West Lafayette and Western. Benton Central has won 25 sectionals — the last in 2009.

The Bison roam on-campus at Darrell Snodgrass Field, a facility that recently received new fencing and upgraded dugouts and sound system. The worked on the diamond in the fall, doing things like edging.

A unique feature is the sounds of wind turbines. Benton County is home to wind farms.

With all that breeze, Vernon says it is best to be conservative field conditioner in the like in the autumn.

“You put too much stuff down in the fall, it won’t be there in the spring,” says Vernon.

Vernon’s 2019 assistants include Denny Musser and pitching coach Brad Goffinet with the varsity and Tyler Marsh with the junior varsity. Musser, the uncle of former Benton Central and professional left-hander Neal Musser, was a JV coach at BC on the staff of Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Gary DeHaven.

Neal Musser pitched 18 games for the 2007 and 2008 Kansas City Royals.

The southpaw was selected in the second round of the 1999 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the New York Mets.

Goffinet pitched at Indianapolis Marshall High School and Butler University in the 1970’s. Marsh is a former North Newton High School assistant.

Right-hander Jayson Best graduated from Benton Central in 1985 and played at Milligan College in Elizabethtown, Tenn., before signing with the Minnesota Twins in 1989. He reached the Double-A level in 1992 and 1993 and hurled for the independent Lafayette (Ind.) Leopards in 1996 and 1997. He was pitching at Goshen College 2000-04 (one season for Todd Bacon and four for Brent Hoober) and Maple Leafs head coach in 2005.

Benton Central baseball is largely fed by travel baseball organizations, including the Lafayette Lightning and Indiana Nitro. In the past, teams have played Pony League and Babe Ruth.

Vernon is a 1989 graduate of Logansport (Ind.) High School. He played for IHSBCA Hall of Famer Jim Turner Sr.

Turner’s Berries lost 6-2 to Evansville Memorial in the 1989 IHSAA state championship game. Vernon was his left fielder and lead-off hitter. It was the first of Logan’s three straight Final Four appearances. The Berries 7-3 in the state semifinals to eventual champion LaPorte in 1990 and beat Marion for the state title in 1991.

What was it like to play for Turner Sr.?

“It was a great experience,” says Vernon. “He knows more about baseball is his little pinky than I do in my whole body.”

Turner Sr., who was assisted for many years by Larry “Butch” Jones and Rich Wild, established a winning culture and a program.

“You didn’t want to let coach down,” says Vernon. “He trusted his players. A lot of people revere him.”

As a coach, Vernon learned from Turner Sr. that “you always have to play the best players” and it doesn’t matter what they’re family name is what grade they’re in.

“Sometimes that makes people happy and sometimes it doesn’t,” says Vernon. “If you want to win, that’s what you have to do. Sometimes you have to make those tough decisions.”

After a season of club baseball at the University of Kentucky, Vernon went on to get a bachelor’s degree from Huntington University and master’s degree from Ball State University. He was head baseball coach at Delphi (Ind.) High School from 1994-2000 and assisted Jim Turner Jr. at Logansport for one season in the mid-2000’s and ran Turner’s summer programs.

He picked up pointers on organization and running practice from Turner Jr. Vernon was also head volleyball coach for the Berries.

After a brief stint in Florida, he came back to Indiana. He teaches business and computer classes at Benton Central has been BC’s head volleyball coach for three seasons.

Jon and Diann Vernon have been married for 25 years. They have four children — Matthew, Luke, Kailey and Karlee. Matthew works in finance for Amazon and lives in South Carolina. Luke is a dental student at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis. Kailey is in physician assistant school at Butler University. Karlee is 20 and works in Zionsville, Ind.

Alex Thurston (right) bats for Benton Central High School. He is a junior in 2019 and a verbal commit to Valparaiso (Ind.) University.

Matt Taylor (left) catches a ball at first base for Benton Central High School. He has moved on to the baseball team at Anderson University.

Benton Central players Payton Hall, Taylor Varnado, Alex Thurston, Matt Taylor and Alex Stout represent Hoosier North in the 2017 Colt Harry Bradway Classic in Lafayette, Ind.

The Vernon family in Key West, Fla., with spouses and children (from left): Matthew, Emily, Mary Katherine, Mason, Kailey, Karlee, Diann, Aubriel, Jon and Luke.

Another Benton Central High School baseball signs to play in college (from left): First row — Father David Stout, Benton Central Alex Stout and mother Stephanie Stout. Back row — Bethel College assistant Kiel Boynton, Bethel College head coach Seth Zartman and Benton Central head coach Jon Vernon. (Benton Central Photo)

Scott wants Clinton Prairie Gophers to go, go, go on the bases

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Aggressiveness on the bases.

That’s what Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School baseball coach Matt Scott emphasizes with his Gophers.

“We put pressure on the defense,” says Scott, who enters his seventh season in charge at the Frankfort, Ind.-based school in 2019. “We do a lot of hit-and-run and bunt-and-run. We find ways to make the defense make the play.”

Led by seniors Kameron Peters (30) and Sam Schoonveld (10), the 2018 Gophers collected 83 stole bases while going 10-14. Clinton Prairie swiped 70 bases in 2017 (led by Peters’ 18) and 75 in 2016 (paced by Peters’ 14). Schoonveld went on to play football at the University of Indianapolis.

Scott is a 1998 Frankfort High School graduate. His baseball coach with the Hot Dogs was Torrey Rodkey. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations (2002) and master’s degree in political science (2003) and now teaches social studies to both junior high and high school students at Clinton Prairie.

It was while doing his practicum and student teaching at Frankfort that Scott was bitten by the baseball coaching bug. He spent a couple years on the staff of Andy Dudley.

After that, Scott was an assistant to Dan Hilgediek at Clinton Prairie for six years before taking over the Gophers program.

Scott says he learned things from each coach that helps him in his current position.

“(Dudley) is very detail-oriented,” says Scott. “He let’s the kids play the game, but there’s a sense of fundamentals,” says Scott. “He showed me organization and how to run a practice.”

Dudley was able to get his players to understand concepts like footwork and the intricacies of hitting.

Scott says Hilgidiek’s strength was as an in-game tactician.

“He knew when to go to the mound vs. letting the kids work through it,” says Scott. “He handled situations with umpires and with kids.

“He got the kids to understand that you play the way you practice.”

The IHSAA now allows a coaches to work with the team for two hours a day two days a week during certain windows rather than just two athletes at a time.

During the fall, Clinton Prairie (enrollment of about 330) had baseball players involved in football and other sports, but up to 10 participated in baseball workouts.

“We’re a small school. It’s difficult to have a lot of kids,” says Scott. “But we were able to get into individual groups, scrimmage and work on different things — like hitting the ball to the right side.”

Winter workouts are held early in the morning. One week there will be a defense/pitching session on one day and hitting the next. It flips the following week. This allows athletes in wrestling and basketball who show up once a week to get work in both areas.

In recent seasons, the Gophers have had about 25 players for varsity and junior varsity squads.

Varsity assistants Brian Hennen and Kip Skinner and JV coach Jonas Lenehan are on Scott’s 2019 coaching staff. Jerrad Blacker runs the junior high program (separate teams for seventh and eighth grade) with oversight by Scott.

Besides the junior high, the Gophers’ feeder system includes Frankfort Little League and Town & Country leagues at Colfax and Mulberry plus various travel organizations.

All Clinton Prairie teams play on the same on-campus diamond. With former McCutcheon baseball coach and current CP athletic director Brian Eaton leading the way, sponsorships have been formed with local businesses to fund projects like double bullpens on both the home and visitor sides. There are also plans to skin the infield and re-plant sod and re-do the backstop.

Scott says baseball, football and softball are combining forces to seek a rural water grant that would bring irrigation to all their playing fields.

Clinton Prairie is a member of the Hoosier Heartland Conference (with Carroll of Flora, Clinton Central, Delphi, Eastern of Greentown, Rossville, Sheridan, Taylor and Tri-Central). Each team plays once to determine the champion. Delphi becomes a full HHC member in team sports in 2019-20.

Among the Gophers’ non-conference opponents are Frankfort, Covington, Fountain Central, Hamilton Heights, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Covington and Southmont.

The Gophers are in an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Carroll of Flora, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic, Seeger and Western Boone. Clinton Prairie has won four sectionals — the last in 1993.

Matt and Megan Scott have two children — Cooper (5) and Lynnlee (14 months).

Matt and Megan Scott share a moment together. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.

Matt Scott goes for a winter stroll with son Cooper and daughter Lynnlee. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.

Three generations of Scott men attend a Chicago Cubs game (from left): Matt, Cooper and Richard. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.