When it comes down to crunch time, that’s when Gavin Knust wants the baseball. The left-handed pitcher likes to be called on in the latter innings to get out of a jam or nail down a victory. He’s done it for the past two seasons at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany. “I enjoy being the guy the team relies on,” says Knust, 20. “I want to help the team in any way possible to win a ball game.” In 2022, he made 22 relief appearances (16 of them scoreless) and went 4-0 with two saves, a 3.60 earned run average, 35 strikeouts and nine walks in 30 innings. The Grenadiers finished the season 40-15 overall and 20-4 in the River States Conference. The campaign ended in the NAIA Opening Round. As a true freshman in 2021, Knust came out of the bullpen 20 times and went 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 12 walks in 36 innings. IUS (50-16, 26-1) earned its first trip to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2021 and Knust appeared in three of four games. Knust was 18 and pitching on one of college baseball’s biggest stages. And this after missing his senior season at Forest Park Junior/Senior High School in Ferdinand, Ind., because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 6 1/3 innings in Idaho, he yielded four hits and two runs while striking out nine and walking two. Older guys like Daunte DeCello, Hunter Kloke, Marco Romero, Derek Wagner (a Tri-West Hendricks High School alum) and Clay Woeste (Lawrenceburg) pushed Knust to be his best. “They were huge role models,” says Knust. “They took me under their wing and took care of me.” All the while, the Grenadiers fed off the words of head coach Ben Reel. “Coach Reel is a huge believer in ‘control the controllables’ — that’s all you can worry about. He tells us to play ‘our’ baseball. Don’t try to be anybody else.” After a 5-10 start, that 2021 team went into the postseason at 40-13. “We were the hottest team in the nation,” says Knust. “That’s all baseball is about — riding the hot streak.” Brandon Mattingly was the pitching coach at IU Southeast in 2022. “He’s a big believer in the mental aspect of baseball and breathing correctly,” says Knust of Mattingly. “He want you doing the same thing every pitch. Baseball is a game of repetition. “It’s a game where you don’t want to make it more complicated that it really is.” As a bullpen arm throwing between three-quarter and over-the-top, Knust relies mostly on a four-seam fastball, two-seamer and curveball. His four-seamer got up to 88 mph in the spring. “(The two-seamer) runs away from the barrel,” says Knust. “The curveball is more like a slurve.” After spending the summer of 2021 with the Ohio Valley League’s Madisonville (Ky.) Miners, Knust is now relieving for the 2022 Northwoods League’s Battle Creek (Mich.) Battle Jacks. Through games of July 20, the southpaw had made 15 appearances (10 scoreless) and was 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA, 15 strikeouts and eight walks in 17 1/3 innings. “It’s more about hitting my pitches, working on my spots and just becoming a better pitcher this summer,” says Knust of his in-game goals. Caleb Lang, an assistant at Concordia University Nebraska is Battle Creek’s manager. IU Southeast faced Concordia in Lewiston in 2021. Away from the diamond, there is also bonding and fun on a BC squad made up largely of NAIA players — including Concordia’s Joey Grabanski and Jacob Lycan and Indiana University-Kokomo’s Patrick Mills — with a few D-1’s sprinkled in. “We’re almost getting to the point where we’re a big family now,” says Knust. A few times, host families have allowed some of the Battle Jacks to use their boat to chill on the lake followed by cornhole and a cookout at their house. Knust was born in Jasper, Ind., and grew up in nearby Saint Anthony. He played T-ball at Pine Ridge Elementary in Birdseye. His only summer of travel ball came during high school with the Louisville-based Ironmen Prime. At Forest Park, Knust played football for head coach Ross Fuhs and baseball for Jarred Howard. “(Fuhs) was more of an understanding coach,” says Knust. “You could talk to him about anything in life. He’d always be there for you. “(Howard) got the most out of every player and he tried to make you a better person.” Knust, who has two years of playing eligibility left, is a Marketing major with a Professional Sales minor. “An IU degree in marketing is one of the best you can get,” says Knust. “I enjoy talking and getting to know people.” Gavin is the youngest of Steve and Melissa Knust’s three sons. Ethan Knust (27) works for a concrete company. Eli Knust (25), who played baseball at Huntington (Ind.) University and against Gavin in 2021, works at Memorial Hospital in Jasper and assists Ethan with a concrete side business. Steve Knust is a plumber. Melissa Knust is an oncology nurse at Memorial Hospital.
Notre Dame — the last college baseball team from Indiana left standing in 2022 — found out today (May 30) that the Irish will be in the Statesboro Regional for the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament. The No. 2-seeded Irish (35-14) play No. 3 Texas Tech (37-20) at 2 p.m. Friday, June 3. Site host and top-seeded Georgia Southern (40-18) plays No. UNC Greensboro (34-28) at 7 p.m. Friday. Notre Dame made it to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Regionals continue through June 6 with super regionals June 10-13 and the College World Series June 17-27. Ball State made it to the “if necessary” Mid-American Conference tournament championship game against Central Michigan and lost 11-7 to wind up the season at 40-19 overall and 32-7 as MAC regular-season champions. Central Michigan earned an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Evansville (32-24, 14-6), Indiana State (26-22-1, 10-10-1) and Valparaiso (16-32, 5-15) bowed out in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Seasons came to a close for Purdue (29-21, 9-12) and Indiana (27-32, 10-14) at the Big Ten tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne (18-36, 13-15) finished up in the Horizon League tournament. In the past few weeks, conferences have handed out postseason awards at the NCAA D-I, D-II and D-III, NAIA and junior college levels and there is a list of those below.
Junior College Michigan Community College: MARIAN’S ANCILLA — if Rylan Huntley (first team), if Josh Ledgard (honorable mention). Mid-West: Vincennes — ss Peyton Lane (second team), ut Colton Evans (second team).
Week of May 23-29 NCAA D-I Tuesday, May 24 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 12, Georgia Tech 6 North Carolina State 11, Wake Forest 8 North Carolina 9, Clemson 2
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Missouri State 9, Illinois State 4
Wednesday, May 25 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Pittsburgh 6, Louisville 5 Florida State 13, Virginia 3 North Carolina State 9, Miami 6
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 6, Purdue Fort Wayne 0 Northern Kentucky 3, Illinois-Chicago 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 11, Toledo 10
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Indiana State 8, Valparaiso 0 Missouri State 5, Southern Illinois 1 Evansville 9, Indiana State 1
Thursday, May 26 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Georgia Tech 9, Louisville 4 Notre Dame 5, Florida State 3 Virginia Tech 18, Clemson 6
Big Ten Conference Tournament Penn State 5, Iowa 2 Rutgers 10, Purdue 3 Maryland 6, Indiana 5 Michigan 7, Illinois 5
Horizon League Tournament Wright State 18, Northern Kentucky 4 Oakland 2, Youngstown State 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Ball State 6, Ohio 4
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Dallas Baptist 4, Bradley 3
Friday, May 27 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Notre Dame 3, Virginia 0 Wake Forest 16, Miami 3 North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 0
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 5, Purdue 4 Rutgers 5, Penn State 4 Indiana 8, Illinois 1 Michigan 15, Maryland 8
Horizon League Tournament Youngstown State 11, Northern Kentucky 7 Wright State 14, Oakland 3 Oakland 4, Youngstown State 2
Mid-American Conference Tournament Toledo 13, Ohio 5 Ball State 9, Central Michigan 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 8, Indiana State 2 Missouri State 19, Bradley 3 Evansville 21, Dallas Baptist 2
Saturday, May 28 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament North Carolina 7, Notre Dame 2 North Carolina State 8, Pittsburgh 3
Big Ten Conference Tournament Iowa 11, Penn State 3 Indiana 6, Maryland 4 (11 inn.) Iowa 7, Michigan 3 Rutgers 14, Indiana 2
Horizon League Championship Wright State 24, Oakland 0
Mid-American Conference Tournament Central Michigan 10, Toledo 7 Central Michigan 12, Ball State 3
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 7, Dallas Baptist 5 Missouri State 7, Evansville 6 Southern Illinois 8, Evansville 5
Sunday, May 29 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship North Carolina 9, North Carolina State 5
Big Ten Conference Tournament Michigan 13, Iowa 1 Championship Michigan 10, Rutgers 4
Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Central Michigan 11, Ball State 7
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Southern Illinois 9, Missouri State 6 Championship Missouri State 13, Southern Illinois 3
Jared Heard’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Indiana University-Kokomo (22-16, 10-8) to a walk-off 2-1 baseball victory against Brescia Saturday, April 17 at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
It was the Cougars’ seventh straight victory — the longest current streak among Indiana’s 38 collegiate programs.
By beating Brescia 8-1 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, IUK gave head coach Matt Howard his 100th career victory.
Indiana Wesleyan (36-11, 25-3) built a three-game lead in the Crossroads League standings with a four-game sweep of Huntington. The Wildcats have won six in a row.
Frank Plesac pitched a seven-inning complete game with 14 strikeouts as Bethel (13-30, 10-18) completed a four-game sweep of visiting Crossroads League foe Goshen and ran the Pilots’ win streak to five.
Indiana State (20-8, 7-1) finally played games at Bob Warn Field after opening the season with 24 on the road. The Sycamores swept a four-game Missouri Valley Conference series against Valparaiso.
Ellis Hanna II drove in four runs in a 12-1 win in the series finale. ISU has won five straight.
Clay Woeste collected nine hits, scored nine runs and drove in seven as Indiana University Southeast (32-13, 20-1) racked up 41 runs in a three-game River States Conference series sweep at West Virginia Tech.
IUS also got eight hits, four runs and eight RBIs from Marco Romero, five hits, three runs and six RBIs from Derek Wagner, seven hits, four runs and five RBIs from Matt Monahan and five hits, seven runs and five RBIs from Brody Tanksley.
The Grenadiers have won four in a row.
Purdue (9-15, 9-15) ran its win streak to four by beating Michigan State twice and Illinois once during a three-team Big Ten Conference pod in Champaign, Ill.
Joe Moran smashed three homer runs as Taylor (33-12, 22-6) wrapped a four-game Crossroads League sweep of visiting Spring Arbor. Moran pushed his season homer total to 12.
The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association membership has voted for its 2018 all-state teams.
Players were selected for first team and honorable mention in four classes.
Players selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft — Nick Schnell (Roncalli), Jack Perkins (Kokomo), Bradley Brehmer (Decatur Central), Jared Poland (Indianapolis Cathedral) and Timmy Borden (Providence) — are automatically all-state.
The honorees are listed below:
2018 IHSBCA ALL-STATE
Class 4A
First Team
Pitchers
Garrett Burhenn (Lawrence Central)
Luke Albright (Fishers)
Grant Richardson (Fishers) xxx
Avery Short (Southport)
Braydon Tucker (Northview)
Catcher
Hayden Jones (Fort Wayne Carroll) x
First Baseman
Ethan English (Jeffersonville)
Second Baseman
Cam Dennie (Plymouth)
Third Baseman
Matt Wolff (Fishers)
Shortstop
Craig Yoho (Fishers)
Outfielders
Ryan Robison (New Albany) xx
Ian McCutcheon (Huntington North)
Damon Lux (Shelbyville)
Honorable Mention
Riley Perlich (Fort Wayne Carroll)
Austin Peterson (Chesterton)
Zach Messinger (Castle)
Derek Haslett (Indianapolis CrCathedral)
Ryan Bolda (Crown Point)
Chandler Banic (LaPorte)
Zyon Avery (Ben Davis)
Alec Brunson (DeKalb)
Kollyn All (McCutcheon)
Kiel Brenczewski (Fishers)
Chase Hug (Pike)
Jacob Daftari (Hamilton Southeastern)
Brock Cooper (Hobart)
Justin Graves (Lake Central)
Jared Miller (Elkhart Central)
Brigham Booe (Northview)
Riley Hershberger (Logansport)
Riley Bertram (Zionsville)
Tucker Platt (Logansport)
Alan Perry (Seymour)
Benji Nixon (Plymouth)
Matthew Meyer (Westfield)
Tyler Finke (Columbus North)
JJ Woolwine (Fishers)
Drew Taylor (Jeffersonville)
Evan Allen (McCutcheon)
Ryan Bolda (Crown Point)
Payton Kerr (Penn)
Tyler Owens (Noblesville)
Drew Hasson (Columbus East)
Class 3A
First Team
Pitchers
Michael Doolin (Andrean)
Ashton Guyer (Western)
Trevor Ankney (Indian Creek)
Catchers
Derek Wagner (Tri-West)
Angel DiFederico (New Haven)
First Baseman
Pat Mills (Western)
Second Baseman
Nolan Isaacs (Lakeland)
Third Baseman
Sam Beier (Wheeler)
Shortstop
Sammy Steimel (Sullivan)
Outfielders
Eli Helton (Lawrenceburg)
Clay Thompson (Andrean)
Caleb Meeks (Evansville Memorial)
Cade McCoin (Mississinewa)
Honorable Mention
Sullivan Swingley (Yorktown)
Tyler Wheeler (Silver Creek)
Ethan Larason (Maconaquah)
Robbie Berger (John Glenn)
Dillon Olejnik (Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter)
Brady Gumpf (South Bend St. Joseph)
Sammy Barnett (Silver Creek)
Jake Andriole (Guerin Catholic)
Bryson McNay (Silver Creek)
Dawson Read (Indian Creek)
Max Moser (Jay County)
Cole Stigleman (Jay County)
Michael Machnic (John Glenn)
Eric Doyle (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)
Dylan Whitt (Silver Creek)
Chase Springmeyer (Greensburg)
Hayden Schott (Culver Military Academies)
Eddie Morris (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)
Tanner Clark (Columbia City)
Class 2A
First Team
Pitchers
Grant Besser (South Adams)
Ty Bothwell (Boone Grove)
Catcher
Luke Stock (Henryville)
First Baseman
Joe Butz (Heritage Christian)
Second Baseman
Joel Mounts (Heritage Christian)
Third Baseman
Kipp Fougerousse (Linton Stockton)
Shortstops
Drew Buhr (Austin)
Logan Ryan (Hebron)
Outfielders
Zander Kottka (Union County)
Spencer Ballinger (Oak Hill)
Sam Schoonveld (Clinton Prairie)
Honorable Mention
Landon Weins (Frankton)
Jake Marin (Lafayette Central Catholic)
Shane Harris (North Posey)
Joey Weller (Union County)
Cameron Holycross (Lapel)
Matt Panagouleas (South Vermillion)
Logan Seger (Southridge)
Ben Berenda (Lafayette Central Catholic)
Wes Transier (Oak Hill)
KJ Roudebush (Tipton)
Easton Good (Lewis Cass)
Mason Miller (Union County)
Trever Zink (Forest Park)
Tyler Burton (Knightstown)
Tucker Schank (Southridge)
Garett Stanley (Wapahani)
Carson Dolezal (Tipton)
Class 1A
First Team
Pitchers
Lucas McNew (Borden)
Blake Harner (Northfield)
Catcher
Duncan Gerkin (Orleans)
First Baseman
Jay Hammel (South Newton) xx
Second Baseman
Trey Waddups (Pioneer)
Third Baseman
Nate Johnson (Pioneer)
Shortstop
Aaron Beard (Tecumseh)
Outfielders
Ryan Hale (Daleville)
Cory Gutshall (Pioneer)
Carson Husmann (South Central of Union Mills) x
Honorable Mention
Nick Babcock (South Newton)
Evan Etchison (Daleville)
Sam Meek (Hauser)
Garrett Lawson (Riverton Parke)
Shom Berry (North Daviess)
Trey Johnson (Hauser)
Peyton Smith (Daleville)
Parker Eickbush (Hauser)
Case Eisenhut (Northeast Dubois)
Kyle Schmack (South Central of Union Mills)
Josh Price (Daleville)
Brogan Sanders (Riverton Parke)
Gabe Wilson (Edinburgh)
x — Repeat all-state performer.
xx — Repeat all-state performer in same class, but different position.
xxx — Repeat all-state performer in a different class and different position.
Moving players around during the 2018 season, sixth-year Tri-West Hendricks High School baseball coach Ryan Oppy found the combination that has helped the Bruins win 20 games and a second straight IHSAA Class 3A sectional title.
“We’ve been plugging guys in and out trying to find the right comfort level,” says Oppy. “They’ve handled some change well.”
North Montgomery plays West Vigo in the morning game followed by Indian Creek against Tri-West. Because Indian Creek’s graduation is Saturday morning, the first game is set for 11 a.m., followed the second around 2:30 p.m. The championship is slated for 7.
Tri-West, based in Lizton, Ind., will be aiming at its first regional crown.
The power-hitting Bruins were averaging more than 10 runs per game heading into the postseason.
“We get on base and score a lot,” says Oppy.
Tri-West is currently among the top home run producers in Indiana with 24 (11 belonging to catcher Derek Wagner). According to MaxPreps, only Center Grove (34), Monrovia (34) and Pike (27) have more.
The veteran-laden Bruins have six other seniors — right-handed pitcher/first baseman/right fielder Mason Cox, second baseman Tanner Freije, third baseman Levi Jackson, left fielder/left-hander Jarrett Roseboom, right fielder Ryan Vershave and first baseman/right-hander Zach Waters. Cox is the ace of the pitching staff.
“We’ve had a lot of experience the last couple years has helped our program,” says Oppy.
Also in the mound mix are junior left-hander Jacob Hayden and sophomore righty Dawson Wolfe.
Junior Blake Bear sees most of the time in right field. Sophomore Quinten Cooper also plays in the outfield.
Oppy graduated in 2004 from Danville Community High School, where he played for and gained knowledge from veteran Warriors head coach Rick Foster that helps him to this day.
“It was the way he communicated with his players and how he handled different aspects of running a baseball program,” says Oppy of Foster. “As for the on the field stuff, he knew a lot. I would ask the question of why we would do this instead of that.
“I also saw the way he treated people.”
Head coach Tim Bunton taught Oppy more about the game during his two seasons at Danville (Ill.) Area Community College. He finished his elementary education degree at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis.
While Bunton was very personable, he was also very demanding of his athletes.
“He would push people,” says Oppy. “He expected more out of you than you would out of yourself.
“You hold yourself and other people accountable.”
Bunton was also a stickler for time management.
“If practice time was 3:30, the rule is you had to be there 15 minutes before that,” says Oppy. “If you weren’t, you were in trouble.”
Oppy teaches fourth grade at Pittsboro Elementary. The current junior class were fourth graders when he started.
Ryan and Nicole Oppy have two daughters — Lydia (4) and Margaret (1).
Tri-West Hendricks made it two IHSAA Class 3A sectional baseball titles in a row in 2018 under Bruins head coach Ryan Oppy. Tri-West plays in the Crawfordsville Regional Saturday, June 2.
The Tri-West Bruins hoist the trophy at the 2018 IHSAA Class 3A Danville Sectional baseball tournament.
www.IndianaRBI.com 