Alum Frasure gets chance to guide North Judson-San Pierre on diamond

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

Nearly 40 years after graduating and more than 25 after first serving as an assistant coach, North Judson (Ind.)-San Pierre Junior/Senior High School alum Rabion Frasure has been selected to lead the baseball program at his alma mater.
“I’m looking at creating a baseball culture at North Judson the best we can,” says Frasure, a 1983 graduate. “We want to get the young kids interested in playing baseball like they do basketball and football.”
The school’s football team is 21-6 over the past two seasons which both ended at the IHSAA Class 1A semistate level. The boys basketball team went 21-6 and won a sectional crown in 2021-22.
In baseball, the Ron Benakovich-coached Bluejays were 15-8 overall and 11-4 in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference in 2022.
North Judson (enrollment around 350) is in the HNAC with Caston, Culver Community, Knox, LaVille, Pioneer, Triton and Winamac. Conference foes meet each other twice — either in a weekday home-and-home series or Saturday doubleheader.
The Bluejays are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2023 with Hebron, South Central (Union Mills), Wheeler and Winamac. North Judson has won eight sectional titles — the last in 2006.
Frasure played baseball and basketball for four years each at North Judson. Fred Perry (1980), Bud Childers (1981 and 1982) and Dave McCollough (1983) were his head coaches on the diamond and Perry (first two years) and Dave Carrington (last two years with McCollough as an assistant) led the way on the hardwood.
As a coach, Frasure first helped Ted White for about eight years beginning in 1996 (Rabion’s brother Paul was a senior player in ’96) and assisted off and on, including the past few years with Benakovich.
Last April, Frasure retired from 24 years at Urschel Laboratories in Chesterton, Ind., at 57. His last job with the company world-renown for food cutting technology was a a heat treat supervisor.
“I always wanted to be a head coach, but it wasn’t possible,” says Frasure. “Now I have the time.”
Paul Frasure is one of Rabion’s Bluejays assistant coaches along with Patrick Allen, Perry Thompson and Alvin Harper.
North Judson plays home games on-campus on a field that was upgraded five or so years ago with a new playing surface, dugouts and backstop.
Frasure was hired in time to oversee two weeks of IHSAA Limited Contact Period activity (two hours for two days a week) in the fall and looks forward to the next period (Dec. 5-Feb. 4).
There were as many as six athletes in the fall with many others in football or other fall sports. Some won’t be able to attend in the winter because of basketball.
“You need to play more than one sport,” says Frasure.
Rabion and Ruby Frasure were married in March 1990. Andrew Frasure — their oldest of four children — competed in football, basketball and baseball at North Judson.
As a senior in 2011, Andrew played on a team with his father as an assistant and was selected for the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series. He was also on the Ryan Bales-coached basketball team that went 20-2 and won a sectional title in 2010-11. Andrew is now dentist in Knox, Ind.
Jordann Frasure (North Judson Class of 2013), Liliann Frasure (Class of 2021) and Sophia Frasure (Class of 2023) all played volleyball, basketball and tennis for the Bluejays.
After scoring 989 points on the court a nursing degree from Valparaiso University came Jordann’s way.
Lillian — aka Lilli — was part of North Judson girls basketball teams that went 43-18 — making her the winningest player in program history. She scored 2,234 points and led the Bluejays to a Class 2A regional title in 2020-21 and was part of a Class 2A state volleyball championship in 2018-19. She is now a sophomore on the NAIA No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball team.
Sophia was averaging 18.8 points through North Judson’s first five girls basketball games of 2022-23.

Rabion Frasure.

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DePauw’s Callahan juggles baseball, studying for health care career

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Kyle Callahan’s future is pointed toward a career in health care.

His father (Mike Callahan) and uncle (Jim Callahan) are doctors. He has cousins who are doctors and dentists.

“That’s what I grew up with,” says Callahan, a Biochemistry major at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., where he has been on the Tiger Pride Honor Roll for his first four semesters and is a member of the Future Medical Professionals club with his sights set on medical, dental or optometry school.

But that’s not all.

Callahan is a baseball player.

During the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he hit .324 (11-of-34) with two home runs, 18 runs batted in and 10 runs scored in eight games. He started all eight as the Tigers’ designated hitter, batting in the No. 3 hole. After four losses to open the campaign, NCAA Division III DePauw ended with a four-game winning streak.

After sweeping Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders at Manchester University, players were told they could not shake hands with the opposition.

“We were told, ‘you’re not going to do this today.’ We had heard talks about the virus. We knew something was up.”

The team practiced for a few days and then found out the rest of the season was canceled.

“It was definitely a tough pill to swallow,” says Callahan. “Especially for the seniors. They played their last game as a DePauw Tiger.”

Callahan has played two years in the Black and Gold.

In his freshman campaign of 2019, he hit .296 (34-of-115) with four homers and 24 RBIs while scoring 41 runs and learning lessons from Tigers head coach Blake Allen.

“He came from Vanderbilt,” says Callahan of the DePauw graduate who served two stints on the Nashville-based NCAA Division I powerhouse (2004-08, 2015-16). “He definitely knows what he’s talking about.

“He teaches us how be a good player and how to behave off the field. He stresses how important that is after college to be a good person. We have meetings where we talk about that.”

The Tigers also talk about being a good teammate, competitive and displaying mental toughness.

“You’ve got to be mentally tough to play baseball,” says Callahan. “Seven out of 10 times you’re going to fail. You have to focus on your positives.

“You may have one tough day. But there’s always tomorrow. There always’s more AB’s.”

Callahan had a memorable at-bat Tuesday, June 23.

Making a transition from outfield to first base, he’s been playing that position this summer for the Mark Walther-coached Marksmen in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. 

In the first game of a doubleheader against the Woodchucks, righty-swinger Callahan faced DePauw teammate E.J. White and socked a homer that TrackMan Baseball data says traveled 416.96 feet (the CBL’s longest hit in Week 2). 

“It went right down the left field line,” says Callahan. “I pulled it. It kind of hooked around the pole.

“I was afraid the umpire was going to wave the ball foul.”

It’s not a long commute to Grand Park. Callahan is from Zionsvillle, Ind., in nearby Boone County. 

A 2018 graduate of Zionsville Community High School, Callahan was on junior varsity as a freshmen and a roster player when the Eagles were IHSAA Class 4A state runners-up in 2016. He started in the outfield in 2017 and 2018 for head coach Jered Moore.

“He was always a great coach,” says Callahan of Moore. “Coming in as a freshmen, I was intimidated by him. Our relationship evolved and he became a friend. He supported us on the field and taught us how to behave off the field.

“He was a great role model and mentor throughout high school.”

Callahan was born in Indianapolis. His father, who now works at St. Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, did a three-year fellowship in Boston and the family landed back in Zionsville when Kyle was 7.

Organized baseball began at Zionsville Little League. Kyle was on the first Zionsville Baseball Club travel teams at 12U and 13U. 

From 14U to 18U, Callahan played for the Indiana Bulls with head coaches Mike Wade, Jeremy Honaker, Dan Held, Troy Drosche and Matt Campbell.

These days, Wade’s son Kyle plays at Purdue University. Former Bulls executive director Held is on the Indiana University coaching staff. Honaker (Martinsville), Drosche (Avon) and Campbell (Lapel) are high school head coaches.

Honaker, Callahan’s 15U Bulls coach, went from Zionsville High assistant to the Artesians and has continued to work with Callahan on his hitting in the summer.

“He’s been an awesome part of my baseball career,” says Callahan.

Last summer when a chance to play for the Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints in the Prospect League fell through, Callahan worked out with long-time friend Nick Nelson. They’ve known each other since middle school and were high school teammates and share the field at DePauw. Nelson was the Tigers’ starting center fielder in 2020.

“He’s short stocky guy,” says Callahan of Nelson. “He’s pretty jacked. He wants to do something in the health field as well, maybe Kinesiology or Physical Therapy school.”

Callahan has to balance the diamond and academics in college.

“It’s tough,” says Callahan. “There’s some hard moments when you feel swamped.

“The important thing is to manage your time wisely. You should really try to stay on top of your work so it doesn’t snowball on you all at once.

“We have great resources at DePauw with teacher assistants and tutoring hours — usually nightly.”

The Tiger Honor Roll was established by director of athletics and recreational sports Stevie Baker-Watson to recognize the top student-athletes. To get on the list, they must have semester grade-point average of 3.40 or higher.

As a D-III program, the Tigers work with coaches in the fall and then — about the end of September — coaches are not allowed to instruct players.

“We have senior- or upperclassmen-led practices,” says Callahan. “It’s important. It weeds out the guys who aren’t fully committed to making baseball a priority.

“It’s definitely a bonding experience.”

When Callahan has rare free time he sometimes works in St. Vincent’s operating rooms as a Patient Care Technician (PCT). He cleans up after a case and gets it ready for the next.

“It’s immersed me into the hospital setting,” says Callahan. “I’ve only worked one day since COVID started and there were no cases when I was there.”

While keeping his baseball skills sharp, Callahan has been studying to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) on Aug. 7. 

He’s glad he lives near a testing site because the exam is slated for 6:30 a.m.

Mike and Mollie Callahan (a former Westfield Elementary teacher) have three children. Kyle (20) has a twin sister named Grace, who is studying Journalism at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Christian (10) is baseball and basketball player heading into fourth grade.

Kyle Callahan, a graduate of Zionsville (Ind.) High School, has played two baseball seasons at DePauw University where he is a Biochemistry major. This summer he is playing for the Marksmen in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind.