Simmons has many duties as Indiana U. assistant

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

Derek Simmons has spent more than a third of his life as an assistant college baseball coach.
Simmons, who turns 37 on May 31, is in his fourth season on the staff at Indiana University.
He wears multiple hats for the Hoosiers. He is the program’s recruiting coordinator and helps with hitters and infielders. On game days, he coaches third base.
As recruiting coordinator, Simmons travels to high school games in the spring.
“I try to get out and see our commits,” says Simmons of a group that ranges from the current senior class (2023) to freshmen (2026). He missed one IU game while traveling to watch a commit in California. “Then I see our top-priority guys who are uncommitted or we are trying to recruit.”
Indiana hitters have an approach that centers on velocity.
“You’ve always got to stay on fastball timing,” says Simmons. “For us it’s the fastball and then we try to adjust to anything else.”
Each day in practice, the Hoosiers are seeing 92 to 95 mph off pitching machines.
Simmons, who played mostly shortstop and second base in college and pro ball, preaches the fundamentals with his infielders.
“But I give our guys a lot of freedom with one hand and outside of the funnel because 80 percent of the balls aren’t going to be hit right at you,” says Simmons. “They’re going to be hit either to your left or your right. It forces our guys to use their forward and their backhand.”
Indiana plays many games on turf, where the ball tends to move faster.
To get acclimated to a dirt infield, infielders will sometimes will go to IU’s softball diamond — Andy Mohr Field. It’s located next to Bart Kaufman Field.
As third base coach, Simmons has a routine.
“Before each and every game I always watch the other teams take infield-outfield,” says Simmons. “I get to know how the outfielders’ and infielders’ arms are and how they move in space.
“I like to be very aggressive. I like going first to third and and first to home.”
Simmons considers several factors when deciding to send a runner or hold them up at third base.
There’s the number of outs, the strength of the outfielders’ arms and who’s the on-deck hitter.
“Is it a guy who’s swinging the bat really well to where I can hold the (runner) up at third or is it a guy hitting lower in our lineup and I’m going to gamble and send this (runner),” says Simmons.
Jeff Mercer is head coach of a Hoosiers staff that also features pitching coach Dustin Glant and volunteer Zach Weatherford plus director of player development Scott Rolen and director of baseball operations Denton Sagerman.
Simmons describes Mercer as “very passionate.”
“He’s a very humble guy,” says Simmons. “He is very workman-like in everything that he does. You always know what you’re gonna get. He’s very even-keel and doesn’t get too high and doesn’t get too low.
“I’ve known him for over 12 or 13 years now. I love coming to work for guy like him. He is incredible.”
Before landing in Bloomington, Simmons served two seasons at Kent (Ohio) State (2018-19), one at Alabama (2017), four at Kennesaw (Ga.) State (2013-16) and two at Central Michigan (2011-12) after the 2004 graduate of Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, Ga. (near Duluth) played two seasons as an infielder at NCAA Division II University of Montevallo (Ala.), including a D-II World Series appearance in 2006, and two at Georgia State plus a stint with the independent professional Gateway Grizzlies (Sauget, Ill.).
Simmons was an assistant to Jeff Duncan at Kent State, Greg Goff at Alabama, Mike Sansing at Kennesaw State and Steve Jaska at Central Michigan and played for Goff at Montevallo and Greg Frady at Georgia State. Duncan is a former Purdue assistant. Goff is now Purdue’s head coach.
In his career, Simmons has coached or recruited 53 all-conference honorees, a pair of conference “of the year” award winners, nine All-Americans and four Freshmen All-Americans. He was also named to Baseball America’s Coaches to Watch list in 2018 and 2019.
He is also a part of the USA Baseball program, which includes stints with the 18U National Team and the 14U National Training Development Program.
“Once I got done playing, you know, I just enjoyed the college game so much that I wanted to get into college coaching,” says Simmons. “I never wanted to leave college.
“I’ve just been really fortunate enough to have a great support group. My wife (Erin, the mother of daughter Bella and son Braxton) has been incredible and I just love the college game. Absolutely love it.”
Simmons and the Hoosiers (23-10, 7-2) go to Illinois April 14-16 for a three-game Big Ten series. IU sits atop the conference standings, just ahead Michigan State (20-10, 6-3) and Michigan (18-14, 6-3).

Derek Simmons. (Indiana University Photo)

Advertisement

Yoho makes way through injuries, excels in Indiana bullpen

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

Injuries have caused Craig Yoho to persevere since he stepped on a college baseball diamond and he thanks the woman he married for getting him through the tough times.
Yoho, a 2018 graduate of Fishers (Ind.) High School, went to the University of Houston and appeared in eight games as an infielder with three starts for the Cougars before getting hurt in 2019. He got into one game in 2020 and did not play in 2021 and 2022 and went through two Tommy John reconstructive arm surgeries and a procedure to fix a dislocated knee cap.
Now at Indiana University, the 23-year-old right-handed pitcher has made 10 mound appearances (all in relief) so far in 2023 and is 4-0 with a 1.40 earned run average. In 19 1/3 innings, the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder has 34 strikeouts and nine walks.
He joins sophomore left-hander Ryan Kraft as one of the arms that head coach Jeff Mercer and pitching coach Dustin Glant can call upon at the back end of the Indiana bullpen.
Indiana is 23-10 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten Conference heading into a three-game conference series Friday through Sunday at Illinois.
While at Houston, Yoho met soccer athlete Sydni Dusek.
“Before I had my journey with injuries she had her stint with injuries and that’s where I got my mindset,” says Yoho. “You never quit. You just keep coming back. You get up from adversity.
“Just being around her and I saw how she handled all the adversity. She’s been a huge helping keep my spirits up through all the years of not playing baseball and still supports me to this day.
“She’s definitely been a huge impact.”
Craig and Sydni were married in July 2022 in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Yoho had a pretty clean bill of health in high school.
Then his first Tommy John surgery coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, making for a difficult rehabilitation.
“Then I had poor ramp-ups for pitching while also (playing a position),” says Yoho.
At Fishers, Yoho won four baseball letters while becoming the Tigers’ career leader in home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and walks and the single-game leader in homers, games played, plate appearances, runs scored, walks and defensive innings played.
He started at shortstop and helped a Matthew Cherry-coached team win the 2018 IHSAA Class 4A state championship.
Yoho played a part in winning two HC conference titles and was twice named to the all-Indianapolis Star Super Team and all-Marion County. He was also a first-team Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association all-stater and selected for the 2018 IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series. He also lettered in basketball.
Throwing from a low three-quarter arm slot (close to the path he used as an infielder), Yoho throws a four-seam fastball that tends to be 92 to 94 mph “in the zone.”
Yoho, who also employs a slider, curveball and change-up, says IU coaches don’t count pitches that are outside the strike zone.
Growing up in Fishers, Yoho got started in the Hamilton Southeastern youth league and was with the Indiana Bulls travel organization from 11U through high school. His coaches included Jeremy Honaker, Sean Laird and Dan Held.
“Those guys are really the foundation of where I learned to play baseball,” says Yoho. “(Honaker) was a great coach. I started getting recruited while playing for him.
“He helped me a lot through my recruiting process.”
Yoho also gives a lot to credit to Cherry.
“He was huge in instilling the work ethic by just being around him for four years,” says Yoho. “He was big on building a culture and being a close-knit team.
“That carries over when you get to other places and want to build the same thing with your new team.”
Craig is the son of Lance and Connie Yoho. Older brother Brandon Yoho (Fishers Class of 2015) was an infielder at Purdue Fort Wayne.
A Sport Marketing and Management major with a Business minor, Yoho is on target to graduate this spring.
Because of his medical redshirt etc., he has more years of eligibility. It’s too early to tell if he’ll come back to college after 2023.
“I want to play professional baseball,” says Yoho. “If I get that chance I’d love to do that.
“I plan on playing baseball as a long as a I can.”

Craig Yoho. (Indiana University Photo)

Craig Yoho. (Indiana University Photo)

With increased strength, Sharp develops as a pitcher

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

Reese Sharp has thrown a baseball 97 mph.
The right-handed hurler regularly tops 92.
It was with added muscle that he increased his velocity and raised his profile in the game.
“Strength has always been one of main qualities,” says Sharp, who plays for Indiana University and is with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. “Being strong and explosive has helped me develop as a pitcher.”
Born and raised in Hamilton County, Ind., Sharp began school in the Hamilton Heights system before moving to Noblesville early in his elementary years.
He played baseball for three seasons at Noblesville High School and finished up his prep career at University High in nearby Carmel, Ind., where he helped the Chris Estep-coached Trailblazers to the 2019 IHSAA Class 1A state championship with 17 strikeouts in the title game against Washington Township.
A rec ball player when his family lived in Cicero, Sharp began taking lessons from Estep at RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield at 9 and played for the travel organization led by Estep — the Indiana Mustangs — from 9U through the end of high school.
It was at Noblesville that Sharp was introduced to serious strength and conditioning training by former Butler University pitcher Brian Clarke.
Sharp credits Clarke not only for teaching him about weightlifting but the mental side, too.
The Millers head S&C coordinator taught his athletes about E + R = O (Event plus Response equals Outcome).
“Outcome doesn’t determine how you perform,” says Sharp. “It’s something I have taken with me throughout my career. It’s really helped.
“The process is what’s most important. You can’t control the outcome.”
Sharp has learned to pitch with a short memory and keep his composure even in the tightest jams. He doesn’t let it bother him when opponents and fans are chirping and he’s given up a big hit or multiple runs.
“There’s nothing you can do about it now,” says Sharp. “You’ve got to go and execute the next pitch.”
Sharp, a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder, redshirted as an IU freshman in 2020. In his two seasons with the Jeff Mercer-coached Hoosiers, he is 3-8 with a 5.86 earned run average in 34 appearances (33 as a reliever). In 66 innings, he has 90 strikeouts and 34 walks. All four of his saves came in 2022.
Throwing from a high three-quarter arm angle, Sharp uses a four-seam fastball, “spike” curveball, slider and “circle” change-up.
“My four-seamer — on a good day — is sitting about 92 to 94 and touching 95,” says Sharp. “I got it up to 97.
“My curveball is 12-to-6. My slider has horizontal movement and is completely different than my curveball. It breaks away from righties and and into lefties. My change-up has a little big of tail, drop and depth to it.
“Developing four-pitch mix, the goal in my mind is to be a starter. But whatever the team needs me to do to win I’m going to do that.”
While in Bloomington, Sharp has worked with two pitching coaches — Justin Parker and Dustin Glant.
“(Parker) is a really good mental coach,” says Sharp of the coach now at the University of South Carolina. “He’s very good at getting you prepared to compete and teaches pitchers how to be explosive off the mound. He’s one of the reasons I got a velocity jump in college (coming throwing 89 to 92 mph and touching 93 in the first couple bullpens).
“(Current Indiana pitching coach Glant) is kind of like a pitching guru. He knows his stuff and is a really smart guy. He was with the Yankees and learned a lot of analytical stuff. He has brought that to IU. He helped me develop my slider. It’s become on of my main swing-and-miss pitches.”
The CCBL season is in his second week. Sharp has pitched four innings.
“There’s a really cool atmosphere here,” says Sharp. “We have one ‘off’ day a week. We use those to relax. Baseball can take a toll on your body.”
While there has been no youth camps yet, Sharp says he enjoys sharing his baseball knowledge with youngsters and sees coaching in his future.
Sharp did not play baseball in the summer of 2019. He went to IU, took summer classes and became familiar with the campus and the weight room there.
He played with and competed against friends in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield in 2020.
Last summer, Sharp was with the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Winnipesaukee Muskrats.
A Sports Marketing and Management major, Sharp has two more semesters to complete his degree.
Adam and Sophia Sharp have two children — Meme (25) and Reese (21). Adam Sharp is a long-time firefighter in Carmel. Sophia Sharp is a nurse. Meme Sharp-Machado is a Noblesville graduate who was a diver at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reese Sharp (Indiana University)

Reese Sharp (Indiana University)

Reese Sharp (Indiana University)

Reese Sharp (Indiana University)

Southpaw Schweitzer gains strength, confidence with Ball State Cardinals

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

When Tyler Schweitzer stepped onto the Ball State University campus in Muncie, Ind., in the fall of 2019, he joined the baseball team at about 6-foot and 155 pounds.
Flash forward to the spring of 2022 and 21-year-old Schweitzer is 6-1 and 185 and at the front of the Cardinals’ starting rotation. He was to get the ball today (Thursday, May 19) at Miami (Ohio) to begin a four-game series to end the regular season.
Ball State (34-17, 28-7) trails Central Michigan (36-15, 28-6) for first place in the Mid-American Conference. Starting Friday, CMU plays three against visiting Toledo. The top four finishers in the MAC race make the conference tournament with the regular-season champion as host.
Schweitzer, a left-handed pitcher, dedicated himself to strength training.
“Most of it was from the weight room and eating a lot,” says Schweitzer, who credits Ball State baseball strength and conditioning coach Bill Zenisek for helping him with squats, lunges and dead lifts for his legs and rows and dumb bell presses for his upper body. “I’ve felt healthier in this weight range. I feel stronger. It makes me more confident in myself. I’ve gained a lot of the velo.”
Throwing from a three-quarter arm angle, Schweitzer delivers his four-seam fastball at 90 to 93 mph, topping out at 94.
“I try to throw it straight but it usually tails and sometimes it might cut,” says Schweitzer of the four-seamer. “My curve is 11-to-5. I throw a sweeping slider (with more vertical drop than horizontal movement). I have a circle change-up (that sinks).
“I’ve been messing with grips for a couple years now. I’ve found one that I’m comfortable with.”
Schweitzer, who is 9-2 in 13 mound appearances (all starts) with a 2.48 earned run average, 94 strikeouts and 26 walks in 76 1/3 innings, has become comfortable as the No. 1 weekend starter after being used in relief his first two seasons at Ball State.
“The relief role I liked a lot,” says Schweitzer. “Coach (Rich Maloney) would put me in stressful situations. I would have to calm the fire.
“Being a starter, I have a longer leash. I’m capable of getting in a rhythm and doing my thing.”
At the beginning of the season, a pitch count maximum of 70 to 90 was observed. Now it’s about what’s happing in the game.
“You’re on your own until Coach comes out there and takes you out,” says Schweitzer, who has two complete games. “It might be crunch time and the closer can come in and give us the win.
“It becomes very situational at the end.”
Schweitzer is OK turning the ball over to closer Sam Klein.
“When I know he’s coming in, the door is shut for the other team,” says Schweitzer of Klein. “For him to come into the game, I know we’re in a good spot.
Sophomore right-hander Klein (Bloomington North Class of 2020) is 3-2 with nine saves and a 3.51 ERA.
Schweitzer, who has been the MAC Pitcher of the Week three times, enjoys playing for head coach Maloney and pitching coach Larry Scully.
“(Maloney) is a successful coach and winning is fun,” says Schweitzer, who has helped Ball State post win streaks of 10 and 11 this spring. “When we lose we all take it very seriously and try not to do it again.
“(Scully) keeps it very light with all the pitchers. He brings a change of pace when needed.”
Schweitzer is a 2019 graduate of Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind. He helped the Royals win an IHSAA Class 4A state championship as a senior. His head coach for the first three years was Scott Henson with Jeremy Sassanella leading HSE in Schweitzer’s final prep season.
“He was the one who got my work ethic the way it is today,” says Schweitzer of Henson. “Coach Sassanella gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities.”
Schweitzer credits Sassanella for building a brotherhood culture that led to the 2019 state crown. The lefty pitcher three key relief innings during that 3-2 win against Columbus East.
Born in Indianapolis, Schweitzer grew up in Fishers.
He played travel for the Indiana Prospects, an unaffiliated team, The Cats (a merger of HSE and Fishers players), USAthletic and then back to the Indiana Prospects leading into his senior high school season.
At the request of then-Ball State pitching coach Dustin Glant (now at Indiana University), Schweitzer took off the summer of 2019 to rest his arm.
The southpaw played for the Matt Kennedy-coached Snapping Turtles of the College Summer League at Grand Park in 2020 and the Northwoods League’s Lakeshore Chinooks (Mequon, Wis.) in 2021. What he does this summer will depend on how many innings he gets with Ball State.
Schweitzer, who is pursuing a double major in Accounting and Economics, is a junior academically and has two years of eligibility remaining because of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season of 2020.
Joe Schweitzer, Tyler’s father, is an independent contractor who instills signs. His mother, Susan Binford, owns a furniture company that sells to schools and colleges. Stepmother Lisa Schweitzer is a sale representative for a graphics company. Tyler’s sister Lindsey Schweitzer (22) studies Chemistry at Purdue University.

Tyler Schweitzer (Ball State University Photo)

Tyler Schweitzer (Ball State University Photo)

Tyler Schweitzer (Ball State University Photo)

Former pitcher Floyd seeing things from coaching side with IU-Kokomo

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

Nick Floyd played baseball at Ball State University for four years.
The 2015 graduate of Jimtown High School in Elkhart, Ind., pitched for the Cardinals from 2016-19 then experienced independent professional ball with the American Association’s Gary (Ind.) SouthShore RailCats, The Battle of the Bourbon Trail’s Florence (Ky.) Y’alls (part of a COVID-19 pop-up circuit) and Pioneer League’s Idaho Falls Chukars.
Now he’s seeing the college game from a coach’s perspective.
Floyd, 24, leads pitchers for Indiana University-Kokomo. The Cougars are in the River States Conference (NAIA). He earned his Finance degree at Ball State in 2019, but was offered the opportunity to play pro ball then to coach when Drew Brantley was building his IUK staff and says it suits his temperament.
“All the philosophies are still the same,” says Floyd, comparing his time as a college player and coach. “But now I better understand the little things that my college coaches tried to convey to us.”
Floyd says he now appreciates those team rules set in place by Ball State head coach Rich Maloney.
“Now I step back and look at the program as a whole and value the little things — like going about things the right way, being early to practice and everyone wearing the same thing on the road,” says Floyd. “Every player is supposed to get water only. Pop is not good for them. Everyone wearing the same color (at practice) is important for team unity. We want to be one cohesive unit instead of a bunch of individuals.
“Not everyone’s the same. A little bit of individuality is totally fine. But it also needs to be structured and adding value to the group as a whole.”
Maloney believes in building team culture.
“That’s something he stresses a ton,” says Floyd. “He showed through his actions how I wanted to be as a coach.”
As IUK pitching coach, Floyd reflects the two men who were his pitching coaches at BSU — Chris Fetter (now Detroit Tigers pitching coach) and Dustin Glant (now Indiana University pitching coach). Glant was head coach at Anderson (Ind.) University when Brantley was an assistant.
“The No. 1 thing is attack,” says Floyd, who made 34 mound appearances (14 starts) for the Cardinals. “We want to pitch with the mentality of being the aggressor. I’m going to beat you on this pitch. It starts from the mental side of things. You have to have confidence in your own ability.”
Floyd wants his pitchers to get ahead in ball-strike counts. He would rather they give up a bomb pounding the zone then walking the bases loaded and giving up a squib hit to score multiple runs.
“We always go down in attack mode,” says Floyd. “Coach Glant taught me that.”
Drey Jameson fanned a Ball State and Mid-American Conference-record 146 batters — 14.66 per nine innings — and was named MAC Pitcher of the Year before being selected in first round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Drey definitely attacked,” says Floyd. “He knew he was better than you and he was going to go out and show it.
“That kind of mentality filtered through everyone (on the Ball State pitching staff).”
As IUK prepares for a non-conference doubleaheader against Shawnee State today (March 1) and a three-game RSC series against Ohio Christian, Floyd and graduate assistant Justin Reed (a former IUK player who is also Cougars catchers coach) are working with about 20 pitchers including a few two-way players.
“Right now we’ve built up about four starters,” says Floyd. “Other guys in longer relief could potentially starts.
“One mid-week starter could come out of the pen on the weekend.”
Jeremy Honaker (a Connersville High School graduate who has coached at Zionsville and Martinsville high schools, the University of Indianapolis and in the Indiana Bulls and Canes travel baseball organizations) and student assistant Nate James (a Castle High alum who played at Kankakee Community College before transferring to IUK) are the team’s other coaches.
The Cougars play home games at Kokomo Municipal Stadium — a downtown park it shares with the summer collegiate Kokomo Jackrabbits and Kokomo High School.
“Not many NAIA teams have access to a facility like that,” says Floyd. “We try to get outside any time it is remotely close to being good weather.
“Last week we were shoveling snow for two hours just to get outside.”
When getting outside is not possible, the team can use Cougar Gym, located downtown. The weight room is at the on-campus Student Activities and Events Center.
Floyd accepted the job last summer while he was pitching for Idaho Falls and learning from Chukars field staff of manager Billy Gardner Jr. (a pro manager since 1995), pitching coach Bob Milacki (who pitched in the big leagues) and hitting coach Billy Butler (who was also a major leaguer). A few days after the season, he was in Kokomo.
A former NCAA Division I player, Floyd compares that level to NAIA.
“There isn’t a huge difference,” says Floyd. “The top-end guys on each are pretty comparable.
“Most D-I lineups and pitching staffs are deeper talent-wise.”

Nick Floyd (Indiana University-Kokomo Photo)

At 24, Taylor U. grad Waddups coaching pitchers for Mount Vernon Nazarene

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

Tucker Waddups got his first taste of coaching right out of high school. A half decade later, it’s his career.
Waddups, who is now pitching coach at Mount Vernon (Ohio) Nazarene University at the age of 24, graduated from Pioneer Junior/Senior High School in Royal Center, Ind., in 2016 and began giving pitching lessons to youngsters around Cass County.
“I really started to fall in love with it,” says Waddups of sharing his baseball knowledge. “I got work with guys one-on-one, see what made guys tick and do trial-and-error things. I’d what worked and didn’t work.”
A native of Logansport, Ind., Waddups grew up near Cicott Lake, played youth baseball at Rea Park next to Pioneer Elementary from age 4 to 12 followed by Babe Ruth League Baseball in Rochester, Ind., at 13U, the Jay Hundley-coached Indiana Outlaws from 14U to 16U, the Ken Niles-coached Indiana Mustangs at 17U and the Mike Hitt-coached Indiana Blue Jays at 18U. He was with the Mike Farrell-coached Brewers Fall Scout Team at 16U and Kevin Christman-coach Giants Fall Scout Team at 17U. He went to Farrell for pitching lessons from age 12 until the end of the high school career.
A right-handed pitcher-only in travel ball and college, Waddups was also a shortstop and first baseman at Pioneer while playing four years for Panthers head coach Rick Farrer.
“We still stay in-touch,” says Waddups of Farrer. “He’s a great man.”
Wads was a four-team all-Loganland, all-Hoosier North Athletic Conference and team captain at Pioneer, where he set career records for earned run average, strikeouts, wins, home runs and runs batted in. As a senior, he was Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State, an IHSBCA North All-Star and Loganland and HNAC Player of the Year.
With a few exceptions, father Murl Waddups coached Tucker on most of his teams growing up. He got to have his father on his staff with the Nitro.
Waddups spent the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 with the Anderson (Ind.) University baseball team. Dustin Glant (now pitching coach at Indiana University) was Ravens head coach until the end of the fall semester then Drew Brantley (now head coach at Indiana University Kokomo) took over.
A transfer to Taylor University in Upland, Ind., gave Waddups the opportunity to play for head coach Kyle Gould and pitching coach Justin Barber. With an extra COVID-19 season, he suited up for the Trojans for four seasons (2018-21).
“It was definitely a good experience playing for Coach Gould,” says Waddups. “He knows the game well. He’s won a lot of baseball games.
With Gould and Barber, it’s all about player development and getting guys better every year. They did a really good job of taking care of us and making sure we had everything we needed to be successful. It was four of the best years of my life.”
Waddups majored in Sport Management and minored in Coaching at Taylor.
In the summer of 2019, Joel Mishler gave Waddups the chance to coach at 13U team for the Indiana Chargers travel organization founded and directed by Mishler.
“I absolutely loved it,” says Waddups. “It was a blast.”
One of Waddups’ Chargers players was Kai Aoki, son of then-Notre Dame head coach Mik Aoki (now head coach at Morehead State University).
“I got to know Mik real well,” says Waddups. “I still talk with him.”
Chad Newhard had been a Taylor assistant and was affiliated with the Indiana Nitro and that relationship led to Waddups coaching at 15U Nitro team in the summer of 2020.
After wrapping his playing career in the spring of 2021, Waddups served as pitching coach for the college wood bat Northwoods League’s Hayden Carter-managed Kokomo Jackrabbits. Waddups pitched for Kokomo in 2017 and 2018 when Gary McClure was Jackrabbits manager.
“He knows how to win really well,” says Waddups of McClure. “He won a lot of games at Austin Peay (University).”
Waddups is slated to head back to the Northwoods League in the summer of 2022 as the pitching coach for the Travese City (Mich.) Pit Spitters. He got to know Traverse City manager Josh Rebandt through frequent meetings between Kokomo and the Spitters in 2021.
The coaching position at Mount Vernon Nazarene came about when Cougars head coach Keith Veale let friend and fellow Crossroads League head coach Gould know about a need for an assistant to guide pitchers and help with recruiting.
Veale and Waddups spoke during the Crossroads League tournament and Waddups saw an MVNU practice before the NAIA Opening Round and decided to take the job.
“I work every single day with pitchers and do their programming,” says Waddups, who also recruits and runs camps. “It’s definitely something I want to do the rest of my life.”
Home Designs by Waddups (formerly Waddups Improvements) is Murl’s business.
Kim Waddups runs a daycare out of her home.
“She taught me a lot about life,” says Tucker. “We’ve gotten really, really close since I went to college.”
Trey Waddups (Pioneer Class of 2018) is Tucker’s younger brother. He played baseball and basketball in high school and is the Panthers’ all-time scoring leader in basketball. He played one season of baseball and is in his third in basketball at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Tucker Waddups (Kokomo Jackrabbits Photo)

Tucker Waddups (Kokomo Jackrabbits Photo)

Wapahani, Ball State graduate Wilburn takes over Delta baseball program

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

The way Devin Wilburn sees it, life is about timing.
Just when he and his wife were looking to move closer to home and family for the arrival of their first child, a job opportunity opened up.
Teacher Devin and nurse Maddie Wilburn were living in Florida when the chance to come to come back to the Muncie, Ind., area came as daughter Tatum was on the way.
Tatum is now 2 months old and Devin (who turned 30 on Sept. 18) is the head baseball coach and a physical education teacher at Delta High School.
Delta (enrollment around 800) is a member of the Hoosier Heritage Conference (with Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon of Fortville, New Castle, New Palestine, Pendleton Heights, Shelbyville and Yorktown).
In 2021, the Eagles were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Guerin Catholic, Hamilton Heights, Jay County, New Castle and Yorktown. Delta has won 13 sectional crowns — the last in 2016.
The Wilburns reside in Selma, about 10 minutes from both sets of grandparents and in the same town where they graduated from Wapahani High School.
Devin went 24-9 and struck out 309 batters while while walking 79 in 203 1/3 innings while playing for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Brian Dudley and graduating in 2010.
“A lot of stuff fell in place,” says Devin Wilburn, who comes to the Eagles after spending the 2021 season as an assistant to head coach Kyle Gould at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., after one spring season (2020) as head coach at Countryside High School in Clearwater Fla.
Wilburn, who holds a Sport Administration degree (2014) and Masters in Sport Administration (2016) from Ball State University, was an assistant to head coach Rich Maloney at BSU in Muncie in 2019 after spending the fall of 2018 on Matt Bair’s staff at Anderson (Ind.) University. He was the pitching coach at Taylor 2015-18.
A left-handed pitcher, Wilburn played three seasons for head coaches Alex Marconi (2011 and 2012) and Maloney (2015).
At 20, Wilburn had a colon procedure and spent the better part of two years recuperating then returned to the diamond with the Cardinals.
“It was a cool ending to my career,” says Wilburn. “I working out with my best friend, Jon Keesling (who played at Wapahani then Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion).
“My ball was moving pretty good. Maybe I’ll give (a comeback) a shot.”
Wilburn made the team and in 27 mound appearances (26 in relief) went 4-2 for a 33-25 squad that played in the Mid-American Conference championship game in 2015.
“That last year I got to play changed my life in so many ways,” says Wilburn. It was through Ball State volunteer assistant Rhett Goodmiller that he was connected with Taylor.
The summer before joining the Trojans, Wilburn was the head coach of the Indiana Prospects 17U national travel team. The talented club featured future Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft first-round pick J.J. Bleday plus two others now in the minors — Gianluca Dalatri and Sean Mooney — with the help of father Bryan Wilburn.
Wilburn has formed his coaching philosophy through the men he played for and coached with — Dudley, Maloney and Gould — and more.
“Along the way you make it yours,” says Wilburn. “You learn from coaching conventions and podcasts and put your own spin on it.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be around some really good baseball teams and coaches.
“Coach Dudley and I have a real good relationship. He just does things the right way. He was my first mentor. I learned so much from him.
“He had such a high expectation for us. He let us shine with what we were good at.”
Devin, the only child of Bryan and Missie Wilburn, moved from Muncie to Selma in the fourth grade and his first teacher was Jason Dudley, Brian’s son and a longtime Wapahani baseball assistant.
“I was part of those good traditions that shape your life in so many ways,” says Wilburn, who counted three former Wapahani teammates in the wedding party when he married Maddie a little over three years ago. “I’m so grateful to go through that program.
“I look back fondly on my high school days.”
A youth baseball coach for several decades, Russell Wilburn had a field named in his honor in Muncie’s Chambers Park when Devin was a young boy.
Bryan Wilburn and brother Dan both played baseball at Muncie Central High School and Bryan went on to the diamond life at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and Dan to Valparaiso University.
After being recruited by Greg Beals, playing for Marconi and then Maloney, the latter hired him as an assistant.
“I wore many hats,” says Wilburn. “I got to work with catchers and some with outfielders. My end goal was to find a head coaching job at small college or high school.
“I wanted to be a well-rounded coach.”
Wilburn is appreciative of Blake Beemer, who was a Cardinals teammate and then a coaching colleague.
“I’m grateful for his mentorship,” says Wilburn of Beemer. “I also coached with Dustin Glant. He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever heard talk about pitching.”
Gould gave Wilburn his first crack at college coaching.
“He is probably the best mentor in my life,” says Wilburn. “I’ve learned so much from him from the baseball and the life perspective
“He opened my eyes in so many different ways. I could not be more grateful for the time I spent over there learning from him. (Taylor) is a wonderful place.”
It was at Taylor that Wilburn also got to be on staff with IHSBCA Hall of Famer Rick Atkinson and Justin Barber.
“Coach A forgot more about baseball than what I knew,” says Wilburn. “Justin and I had a good relationship when we recruited his players when he was with the Indiana Chargers.”
At Delta, Wilburn has hired former Ball State teammate Scott Baker as his pitching coach with other assistant hires pending school board approval.
The Eagles play on Veteran’s Field.
“We’ve got a couple of projects,” says Wilburn, whose been assessing Delta’s baseball needs since taking the job. “We’ve got a nice facility and a real supportive booster club.”
Feeders for Wilburn’s program include Delta Little League in Royerton and East Central Indiana junior high league run by Jason Dudley.
Current senior left-hander Nick Crabtree has committed to Taylor.
And Wilburn continues his love affair with the game.
Says the coach, “Baseball is what keeps me sane in life and forget the daily stress.”

Devin Wilburn (Delta High School Image)

The Wilburns (from left): Maddie, Tatum and Devin.

Devin and Maddie Wilburn with daughter Tatum.

Devin Wilburn (red pullover) with Ball State University head coach Rich Maloney (2), assistant Blake Beemer (24) and the Cardinals in 2019.

Devin Wilburn (right) coaches at Taylor University.

Devin Wilburn and the Taylor University baseball team celebrate a victory.

Devin Wilburn (second from left) with mentor and Taylor University head baseball coach Kyle Gould.

Brantley promotes total student-athlete experience at Indiana University Kokomo

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

Just over a month after being named head baseball coach at Indiana University Kokomo, Drew Brantley is busy laying the foundation for the Cougars system.
Classes began Aug. 23. Brantley is overseeing two weeks of open field workouts before fall practice officially begins Labor Day (Sept. 6). There will be sessions six days a week for eight weeks culminating Oct. 30. Then the NAIA member Cougars move into the weight room and begin the build-up to the spring. There will be no games against outside competition this fall. There will be three scrimmages per week at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
“It’ll be heavy on individual development as a baseball player,” says Brantley. “We’ll compete in a game-like situations.”
As the Cougars ready themselves for the River States Conference race, they will open the 2022 season with trips to play Louisiana State University Shreveport and Truett McConnelll University (Cleveland, Ga.).
Brantley, who has been on staff the past three seasons including the last two as associate head coach, knows what he desires in an IU Kokomo player.
“I want to get good people into the program,” says Brantley, who turned 29 on Aug. 22. “We want them to have the total student-athlete experience — athletically, academically and socially.”
The idea is to achieve on the field and in the classroom and build friendships and contacts that will last long beyond the college years.
Brantley’s staff includes Jeremy Honaker, Nick Floyd and Justin Reed. Honaker, who was volunteer assistant at the University of Indianapolis in 2020-21, will serve as a positional coach and also help with hitting and baserunning. Former Ball State University and independent professional right-hander Floyd is the Cougars’ pitching coach. Former IU Kokomo player Reed is a graduate assistant and assistant pitching coach. He will work toward his Masters of Business Administration, help in athletic communications and with the baseball team.
Prior to coming to IUK to serve on head coach Matt Howard’s staff, Brantley was an assistant to head coach Rich Benjamin at Indiana Wesleyan University.
“I worked with infielders and baserunners and assisted with hitters,” says Brantley. “My time at Indiana Wesleyan was awesome. The integrity of the program is held very highly there. I learned how you hold people accountable and how things are supposed to be done.”
Brantley assisted at his alma mater Anderson (Ind.) University for five seasons with a stint as interim coach. Medical issues mean that he was only able to play his freshmen season for David Pressley before becoming a student assistant.
“He was an awesome guy and a great role model,” says Brantley of Pressley, who followed American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Don Brandon as the man in charge at AU. “A large part of my coaching philosophy comes from (Anderson).”
Dustin Glant later took over a Anderson Ravens head coach and was helped by Brantley.
“I was able to learn a lot under Dustin,” says Brantley. “He showed me the ropes and what its like to conduct yourself professionally. It’s not just about baseball.
“A lot of the success I’ve had has been because of the things he’s showed me and the advice he’s given me.”
Glant is now pitching coach at Indiana University.
At 22, Brantley was named interim coach at Anderson, where he earned his Secondary Education and Teaching degree in 2015 and MBA in 2017.
Says Brantley, “Everyday I was doing the best I knew how.”
The same applies in his current position.
“It’s pretty neat being in this seat,” says Brantley, who guides a program in the town where he was born.
Brantley grew up in Russiaville, Ind., and played T-ball through age 12 at what is now Russiaville Youth Baseball League. After that came travel ball with the Central Indiana Kings then three summers with Don Andrews-managed Kokomo American Legion Post 6.
His coach at Western High School in Russiaville was Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Ty Calloway.
After becoming a coach himself, Brantley came to learn how Calloway “coached ‘em up the right way.”
“As a player, he held us to a really high standard,” says Brantley. “He was always on us in practice. Whatever we were doing that day we were going to give our best effort.”
Brantley played three seasons for the Panthers, sitting out his junior year to recuperate from cardiac arrest. In his senior year of 2011, he was an IHSBCA Class 3A first-team all-state second baseman.
“I have an incredible support system,” says Drew, who is the son of Chrysler employee Ron and dental receptionist Angie and younger brother of Alaina. Ron Brantley has been coaching baseball since he was 20 and will help out this fall at IU Kokomo.
Brantley’s first experience as a baseball coach came with a Howard County travel team called the Indiana Flyers. He was with that team from the fall of 2012 through the summer of 2015.
There was also a stint working for Chris Estep as a hitting and defensive instructor at RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield, Ind.
“He gave me an opportunity to work with younger kids and allowed me to fail a lot,” says Brantley. “Being at RoundTripper was awesome.”

Drew Brantley (Indiana University Kokomo Photo)

Glant, Dykes Triple-A coaches for New York Yankees

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

A pair of coaches at the beginning of their professional baseball coaching careers with Indiana ties are together in the New York Yankees organization.
Former Ball State University assistant Dustin Glant is the pitching coach and one-time Indiana University assistant Casey Dykes the hitting coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pa.) Railriders of Triple-A East (formerly the International League).
Both were hired by the Yankees in the summer of 2019. After getting their bearings in the system, they went to instructional league that fall and their first big league spring training in 2020.
Glant and Dykes both reside in the Tampa, Fla., area near the organization’s training headquarters during the offseason — Glant with wife Ashley, daughter Evelyn (4) and son David (who turns 2 in December); Dykes with wife Chaney (a former Western Kentucky University basketball player), sons Jett (4) and Kash (2) and daughter Lainey (going on 3 months).
At Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Glant and Dykes serve on a staff that features manager Doug Davis, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, infield coach Caonabo Cosme, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke.
With their busy daily schedules, Glant and Dykes don’t spend much time together during the day. They say hello in the morning and then wind down together after games.
Glant, 39 (he turns 40 July 20), guided pitchers at BSU from 2017-19 for Cardinals head coach Rich Maloney.
As a player, Glant pitched for Generals head coach Dave Fireoved at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne High School and Boilermakers head coach Doug Schreiber at Purdue University and had pro stints in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and independent ball.
Glant coached at Marathon (Fla.) and Mount Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) high schools, was a volunteer at Ball State then head coach at Lapel (Ind.) High School and Anderson (Ind.) University before returning to BSU late in 2016 as pitching coach.
Dykes, 31, was the hitting coach at Indiana under head coach Jeff Mercer. Dykes played at Western Kentucky for Hilltoppers head coach Chris Finwood and was a graduate assistant to head coach Matt Myers when Mercer was a WKU volunteer.
A 2008 Franklin (Tenn.) High School graduate, who played for Admirals head coach Brent Alumbaugh, Dykes spent four seasons at Western Kentucky (2009-12) and served two seasons as an assistant, becoming volunteer when Mercer left for Wright State University.
Before Indiana, Dykes was hitting coach and recruiting coordinator on Keydets head coach Jonathan Hadra’s staff at Virginia Military Institute (2015-18).
Glant says his gameday at the pro level is similar to what it was in college.
“I try to get as much one-on-one and small-group time as possible,” says Glant. “If I don’t I feel I miss things.”
The difference is that in college, Glant spent a lot of time in front of a computer reviewing video on how to attack hitters. The process is more streamlined at the pro level.
“It’s more development focused here,” says Glant, who might focus on a pitcher’s need to improve at holding runners or locating his fastball in a certain count. “We want to win, but we work on the big picture (getting players ready for the big leagues).”
Dykes says there more a sense of urgency in pro ball, especially at the Triple-A level where players have more experience.
“You don’t have the background with them (like college players who have been recruited and are usually around for years to build a relationship and go through a fall development season),” says Dykes. “In the pros, you’re playing so many games and you don’t have an offseason with them.
“Things are changing constantly.”
Glant’s gameday starts with preparing for the day and looking at video of the previous night’s game. In the afternoon, he reviews that with pitchers and finds the positives.
Then he oversees staggered bullpen sessions for starters and — just before batting practice — relievers, who might go through a full bullpen or just “touch and feel” to stay sharp.
BP is also the time he sits down with that night’s starter, both catchers and analyst Shea Wingate to map out a attack plan.
Glant says Wingate’s insight is helpful.
“He may find that a pitcher needs to throw more sliders,” says Glant. “We look for places where there are good spots to throw more sliders.”
Once the game starts, Glant is right by Davis to make pitching-related decisions. Dykes watches his hitters and offers suggestions if necessary.
At Triple-A, there are a mix of veteran players with MLB service time and younger ones trying to earn their first big league call-up.
“It’s almost all like assistant coaches,” says Glant of having vets around. “They educate guys in the bullpen. It happens naturally. Guys get together and they start start talking.
“They’re kind of mentors to the young guys. It’s been great.”
Dykes, who starts his gameday with a workout and video study followed by plenty of batting cage time, sees his job as providing the last piece of the puzzle for players trying to return and debut at the big league level.
“I want to help these guys maximize who they are as a player,” says Dykes. “It’s good to work with guys who have experienced it.
“This is what they do for a living. They’re all-in.”
Like the rest of the world, Glant and Dykes learned a different way of doing things thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused cancellation of the 2020 minor league season and separated coaches and players from in-person interaction.
“It went from being the worst thing ever to — honestly — the best thing ever,” says Glant. “We learned how to train our guys remotely via Zoom and video-conferencing. We were good at it.
“We had a lot of people get better without being at the complex during that time.”
Led by director of pitching Sam Briend, manager of pitch development Desi Druschel and Director of Performance John Kremer (an Indianapolis native who pitched of the University of Evansville and in the Yankees system), the organization devised a plan and found a way to develop during COVID.
“It was mind-blowing,” says Glant. “We had pitchers buys in.”
When Glant got a call in the fall of 2020, he went back to training face-to-face with a few 40-man roster players in Tampa and that rolled into 2021 big league camp.
Being away from the clubhouse and the dugout, Dykes missed the relationships.
“It made me appreciate that even more,” says Dykes. “It also taught me that you didn’t have to be hands-on and in-person with a player to help them develop.
“It was a unique challenge, but made me a better coach. It got me after my comfort zone.”
Using technology and video tools became part of Dykes’ coaching world and that will continue.
“The world we knew has completely changed,” says Dykes. “It’s definitely more efficient. There’s no arguing that.”
Dykes expresses thanks to the men who helped him along his baseball, path including Alumbaugh, Finwood, Myers, Hadra and Mercer as well as former Western Kentucky assistant and current DePauw University head coach Blake Allen and current Indiana assistants Justin Parker and Dan Held.
“(Alumbaugh) had a ton of influence,” says Dykes.”He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He saw the potential in me. But he wasn’t going to tell me. He was going to make me work for it.
“He had high expectations for me. He really challenged me during some important times in my life.”
Dykes, who was a catcher that turned into a third baseman, played three summers during college for Alumbaugh for the Texas Collegiate League’s Brazos Valley Bombers (College Station, Texas).
“(Myers, Finwood and Allen) taught me a lot about the work and mentality it takes to be successful,” says Dykes. “They knew that as soon as my playing days were over I wanted to coach.”
Dykes learned from Hadra about the importance of being detailed and fine-tuning the process to be able to communicate the message to players.
“He’s incredible at that,” says Dykes of Hadra. “He was still a fairly young head coach at that time, but you would never know it. He clings to that process.”
With Mercer, Parker and Held at Indiana, Dykes was part of a Hoosiers team that went 37-23 and won the Big Ten title in 2019. IU lost to Texas in the final round of the NCAA Austin Regional.

The 2021 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders field staff (from left): manager Doug Davis, pitching coach Dustin Glant, hitting coach Casey Dykes, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke. Caonabo Cosme is the infield coach. (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Photo)

Ball State grad Riedel appreciates his diamond education

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball taught Jeff Riedel lessons about mental toughness and personal relationships.

Riedel played at Cookeville (Tenn.) High School, Jackson (Mich.) College and Ball State University and coached briefly at the collegiate level and gave lessons before going into construction to support his young family.

Born in Macomb, Mich., Riedel moved to Tennessee around 10 and played at Cookeville for Butch Chaffin.

“He was very much a mental coach,” says Riedel of Chaffin, who mentored the Cavaliers to a 36-2-1 record and a Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association AAA regional title in Riedel’s senior year of 2013. “You need to be mentally tough or you won’t be physically tough.”

Cookesville was put out of the tournament by future major league left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield and his Tullahoma team.

Chaffin had his players read a book that Riedel would return to as his diamond career progressed — “Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge (by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl and Casey Tetertiller).”

Riedel (rhymes with needle) appreciated the testimonials from big leaguers that related to specific aspects of mental toughness.

After taking a year away from the diamond, Riedel began his two-year junior college experience at Jackson College. Rick Smith was — and still is — the Jets head coach.

“He knew the game better than anyone I had been around to that point,” says Riedel of Smith. “For a lot of the guys he was hard to understand. I got it right away. We had a really good connection. He expectations for me and I had expectations for myself.

“I probably went above those and that’s what he and I were hoping for.”

As a Jackson sophomore in 2016, Riedel was a National Junior College Athletic Association Division II first-team All-America selection and the Michigan Community Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year. The righty-swinging outfield paced a 37-14 team in batting average (.489), on-base percentage (.571), slugging percentage (.883), runs scored (69), hits (67), doubles (21), triples (12), runs batted in (61) and stolen bases (school-record 48).

“At the junior college level, it was different,” says Riedel. “Our coaches really expected us to better ourselves.”

Players had essentially unlimited access to practice facilities to get in work on their own time.

“It was very much do-it-yourself,” says Riedel. “That helped me going to the Division I level.”

In the fall of 2016, Riedel signed to play at Oakland (Mich.) University, but a coaching change led him to forego that opportunity.

Chris Fetter, then a Ball State assistant (and now pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers), brought Riedel to Muncie, Ind., for a visit and he soon signed with the Cardinals and went on to enjoy his time around head coach Rich Maloney and assistants Scott French and Dustin Glant.

“Having that connection calms you down and lets you relax,” says Riedel. “Coach Maloney was very passionate about the game. He was very intense. 

“What really struck me with him on my visit was that he was very personable. He was very genuine. He told me what he expected out of me. He was very upfront.”

It also got Riedel’s attention that Alex Call was selected in the third round of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

“I knew Alex signed (at Ball State) for a reason,” says Riedel. “I wanted to see what that was all about.”

In two seasons at BSU, Riedel started 104 times in right field. The first year Alex Maloney, son of the coach and now a volunteer assistant coach at Tennessee Tech University in — of all places — Cookeville, was a roommate.

In 2018, Riedel was named to the all-Mid-American Conference second team and hit .380 in 22 MAC games.

But was a non-league game that really turned heads. In the second game of a March 9 doubleheader at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., Riedel went 5-of-6 with a NCAA-record five doubles.

“I will never forget that day,” says Riedel, who batted in the No. 3 hole in the 20-8 Ball State victory. “I always knew how it was going to go based on my first at-bat. If I was seeing the ball well, I knew it was going to be a good day.”

After sharply grounding out to the shortstop in the first inning, Riedel socked two-baggers to left center in the third, center in the fourth, right center in the fifth, down the third base line in the sixth and to left center in the seventh and final frame.

Riedel earned his Interpersonal Communication degree from Ball State in 2018 and began his coaching career at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Valley Community College that fall. He also taught lessons at the Hardball Fans Academy in Kalamazoo, and coached briefly with the Kalamazoo Growlers during the 2019 Northwoods League summer collegiate wood bat season before opting to take a construction job.

“The thing I enjoyed about coaching was the connection you made with the players,” says Riedel, now 26. “They came to play for you. They had respect for you and you had respect for them.

“The best coaches I played for, I had respect for them as a coach and had a personal connection with them. It relaxed me more.”

While COVID-19 restrictions have interrupted work, Riedel and wife Kayla got to spend extra time with daughter Nora shortly after her birth in Nora in March. The couple that calls Battle Creek, Mich., home welcomed son Wyatt in February 2018.

Jeff Riedel, a 2018 Ball State University graduate, went 5-for-6 with five doubles in a 2018 baseball game against Western Carolina. In two seasons at BSU, he started 104 times in right field. (David Wegiel Jr./Ball State University Photo)

Jeff Riedel locks in a a pitch while playing baseball for Ball State University in 2018. Riedel was born in Michigan, played high school baseball in Tennessee and then junior college ball in Michigan before his two seasons at BSU — 2017 and 2018. He was on the all-Mid-American Conference second team as a senior. (Tim Cowie/Ball State University Photo)

Jeff Riedel was the regular right fielder for the Ball State University baseball program in 2017 and 2018. He went on to briefly coach at the collegiate level and give lessons before taking a construction job. Jeff and Kayla Riedel reside in Battle Creek, Mich., and have two children. (Ball State University Photo)