NEIBA puts out ’24 Dick Crumback Player of the Year Watch List

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

IHSAA baseball practice is here and the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association has announced its Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year watch list for 2024.

An email was sent out to the baseball coaches from Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Noble, Huntington, Wells and Whitley counties. These are the counties that the NEIBA covers when choosing their Hall of Fame members. Each coach was asked to nominate any player(s) that he feels could be in the running for such an honor. 

The watch list features 36 players. The list will be narrowed down in early May and finalists will be announced.

The Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year will be honored May 20 to coincide with the start of the IHSAA state tournament.

The Player of the Year will be honored at a June 4 Fort Wayne TinCaps game and at the June 9 Hall of Fame banquet.

Past winners of the award include Grant Besser (South Adams) in 2019, Carter Mathison (Homestead) in 2021, Dalton Wasson (Heritage) in 2022 and Parker Smith (DeKalb) in 2023.

The organization has honored local baseball players, personnel and ambassadors since 1961.

For more information, contact Matt Brumbaugh at kbrum6920@aol.com, Steve Devine at sdevo24@aol.com or Brett Windmiller at brett.windmiller@nacs.k.in.us. 

DICK CRUMBACK/NEIBA 

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

2024

Adams Central (Coach Josh Foster)

Sr. Trevor Currie

Sr. Keegan Bluhm

Sr. Dakota Perry

Sr. Ryan Tester

Sr. Jack Hamilton

Bishop Dwenger (Coach Jason Garrett)

Sr. Brayton Thomas

Sr. Michael Maddy

Sr. Owen Zimmerman

Bishop Luers (Coach Jeff Stanski)

Sr. Isaac Zay 

Carroll (Coach Dave Ginder)

Sr. Brady Long

Sr. Conner Barkel

Churubusco (Coach Jordan Turner)

Sr. Brennan Gaff

Sr. Keaton Blessing

So. Warner Ott

Columbia City (Coach Justin Dailey)

Sr. Brady Schroeder

Sr. James Getts

DeKalb (Coach Collin Bice)

Sr. Aaden Lytle

Eastside (Coach Cade Willard)

Sr. Ryder Reed

Sr. Loden Johnson

Fort Wayne South Side (Coach Matt Hille)

Sr. Evan Harl

Garrett (Coach Jason Richards)

Sr. Luke Holcomb

Sr. Aiden Orth

Heritage (Coach Dean Lehrman)

Sr. Noah Redmon

Sr. Andrew Mirelez

Homestead (Coach Nick Byall)

Sr. Mason Weaver

Sr. Alex Graber

Sr. Brady Minnick

Sr. Caleb Bradford

Lakewood Park Christian (Coach Scott Boles)

Sr. Corbin White

Sr. Kayden Kirtley

Sr. Gabe Dager

Leo (Coach Gary Rogers)

Sr. Kylar Decker

Sr. Riley Stewart

Sr. Keaton Poley 

New Haven (Coach Dave Bischoff)

Sr. Mason Knoch

West Noble (Coach Waylon Richardson)

Sr. Tyler Shisler 

Brimbury looks to fill ‘tool box’ of Huntington North players

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Nolan Brimbury is helping young people get ready for life while also teaching them some baseball.

Brimbury, 27, teaches Business Management at Huntington (Ind.) North High School, guides interns at Parkview Huntington Hospital and is in his first year as Vikings head coach in 2023-24 after a year as an assistant.

“We’re big at making sure we take care of things outside of baseball first,” says Brimbury. “We take care of the classroom and talk about representing the school and your family out in public.

“We’re teaching them some life things along the way. A lot of them aren’t going to play college baseball or professionally. At some point you’re going to put the cleats and bat up. We’re trying to make the four years of high school as memorable as we can for those kids.

“How can we develop these guys as young men?”

Last season, the team had “Tool Box Tuesday” where they learned things like how shake someone’s hand or charge a car or truck battery.

Though he was a 2015 3A honorable mention all-state shortstop at Peru (Ind.) High School, Brimbury carried the water to the field everyday. 

“When you have a player-driven group and they’re willing to do things that others wouldn’t that’s when you see a lot of teams have success,” says Brimbury. “They get it. Accountability amongst the kids is huge.”

The 2015 Peru graduate was a redshirt at Indiana State University (2016) then played three seasons for the Sycamores (2017-19) while also earning a Sport Management degree.

A lefty-swinging third baseman and second baseman, Brimbury appeared in nine games at ISU.

After college, he worked for Custom Net Backstops and served as a baseball assistant to father Chuck Brimbury at Peru.

Huntington North reached out to Nolan, the oldest of long-time educators Chuck and Michelle Brimbury’s three children (Nathan and Madison are the others) got his transition to teaching certification and became an HNHS teacher and was a football assistant to Bob Prescott and baseball assistant to Jarod Hammel in 2022-23. 

Michelle Brimbury is a Special Education teacher at Peru. Chuck Brimbury was an assistant to Huntington North head coach and IHSBCA Hall of Famer Don Sherman and won more than 300 games in two stints as Peru head coach. He has held several positions prior to becoming Director of Secondary Education for Huntington County Community School Corporation.

“He’s kind of seen it all,” says Nolan. “I never thought I’d go into education, but I’ve absolutely loved it since I’ve gotten to be around the kids interacting with them and helping them out.”

Huntington North (enrollment around 1,420) is a member of the Northeast Eight Conference (with Bellmont, Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, Leo, New Haven and Norwell).

NE8 schools play each other one time.

The Vikings are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Columbia City, Fort Wayne South Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead and New Haven. Huntington North has won 20 sectional championships — the last in 2017.

Viking Field — located on-campus — is recently-renovated.

Michael Caley (who played at Indiana Wesleyan University) is Brimbury’s pitching coach. Former Huntington University assistant Scott Craft is also on the Vikings staff as is former Manchester University baseball and football player Nick Miller (who leads the Huntington North junior varsity). 

Wife of 2 1/2 years — Ana —  bringing son Brooks into the world in August 2024, causing Nolan to give up football coaching duties in the fall. The couple, which lives in Huntington, began dating in high school.

Nolan Brimbury. (Steve Krah Photo)

Huntington North High School.

Alum Dailey assumes lead for Columbia City baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

New Columbia City (Ind.) High School baseball head coach Justin Dailey has been coach at his alma mater for the past nine seasons.

The 2015 graduate began coaching while in college and was later junior varsity head coach on Eagles head coach Rob Bell’s staff for five years then served as associate head coach in 2023.

“Coach Bell gave me the keys to the car to transition to head coach,” says Dailey, who went through an interview process and was officially hired at a Nov. 20 Whitley County Consolidated Schools board meeting. “He let me coach third base and he still handled administrative stuff.”

Now that Dailey, 27, is in charge he has some points of emphasis.

Among those is knowledge of the game.

“We want savvy players with high Baseball I.Q. Another point of emphasis is knowing our signs and systems. We do a lot with that,” says Dailey. “We want to make sure our guys play the game the right way, play hard and respect the game with hustle and effort.

“We want to play fast.”

Even before the transition, Dailey and other coaches conducted IHSAA Limited Contact Period practices in the fall and winter sessions are now happening two times a week for two hours.

“I’ve got a good support staff,” says Dailey. “Our boosters and our parents are great.”

Dailey’s assistants include pitching coach Trent Huffman, hitting/infield coach Matt Deckman, JV head coach Wyatt Warner and volunteer Chris McGehee plus veteran high school/travel coach Todd Armstrong and Brandon Marshall on a part-time basis.

Former Huntington University pitcher Huffman, former Ball State player and Monroe Central Junior/Senior High School head coach Deckman and Purdue Fort Wayne student Warner are returnees from 2023. McGehee, who is also head boys tennis coach at Columbia City and a CCHS teacher, was on Bell’s staff in 2018.

“(Armstrong) taught me everywhere I know about baseball,” says Dailey, who played for Armstrong and Mark DeLaGarza in the Summit City Sluggers travel organization then coached alongside Armstrong for the Sluggers in 2018 and 2019 and Fort Wayne TinCaps Travel Baseball from 2020-23. “I want to thank (athletic director) Khelli Leitch and (teacher/head football coach) Brett Fox, the interview committee, Coach Bell and Coach Armstrong for mentoring me.”

Lance Hershberger, who has coached in Fort Wayne for decades with much success at Bishop Dwenger High School, Indiana Tech and Ivy Tech Community College, is now in the TinCaps system and has long coached with Armstrong.

“Lance Hershberger has a big coaching tree,” says Dailey. “We run all his stuff.”

The CC Eagles won 19 games in 2023 and the goals are high.

“We expect to compete for conference and sectional championships,” says Dailey.

Columbia City (enrollment around 1,200) is a member of the Northeast Eight Conference (with Bellmont, DeKalb, East Noble, Huntington North, Leo, New Haven and Norwell).

The Eagles are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Fort Wayne South Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead, Huntington North and New Haven. Columbia City has won nine sectional crowns — the last in 2007.

Columbia City’s on-campus field was new in 2020. Located just off S.R. 9, things can get loud and busy at 5:30 p.m. on a weekday.

“We’re finally starting to settle in,” says Dailey. “We’re super-lucky to have such a nice field. We take great pride to make sure our field is up to standard or above standard.

“Our players are fixing the bullpen mounds, game mound and home plate area after every game.”

Recent alums to move on to college baseball include the Class of 2021’s Preston Henschen (Trine University), 2022’s Sam Gladd (Taylor University) and 2023’s Landyn Iden (Lake Michigan College) and Drew Vanderford (Trine University).

Among those attracting college interest are Brady Schroeder (Columbia City Class of 2024) and Grayson Bradberry (Columbia City Class of 2025).

Feeding the high school program are Columbia City Eagles travel teams plus Columbia City Parks and Recreation Baseball, which includes Morsches Park near S.R. 205 and U.S. 30. 

Dailey, who lives in town, earned a Physical Education degree at Indiana Tech and is now teaching sixth grade science at Indian Springs Middle School in Columbia City.

Justin Dailey.

Columbia City High School.

Hille, Fort Wayne South Side Archers take aim at ’24

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Matt Hille has been guiding teenagers in travel ball and will now get to lead them as the new head baseball coach at Fort Wayne (Ind.) South Side High School.

Hill has spent the past three years with the Summit City Sluggers and was supposed to help with the 14U program in 2023-24 before the opportunity to lead the Archers program arose.

Approved for the position last week, Hille’s priority right now is getting to know the players and school and individual and team goals while building a positive and confident outlook.

“I want to build the mindset that if you believe you can win and anything’s possible,” says Hille. “It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past.”

South Side (enrollment around 1,500) is a member of the Summit Athletic Conference (with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne Carroll, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider and Fort Wayne Wayne and Homestead).

The Archers are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Columbia City, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead, Huntington North and New Haven. South Side has won three sectional titles — 2012, 2018 and 2019.

An IHSAA Limited Contact Period (two days a week for two hours a day) started Dec. 4. Hille was planning to have an introduction meeting today (Dec. 12) and start practice this week while working around winter sports schedules.

Hille reached out to the previous coaching staff and got commitments from South Side alums Scott Florek and Evan VanSumeren and is seeking other assistants.

It’s likely that the Archers will field two teams in the spring — varsity and junior varsity.

South Side and practice about six miles off-campus at Derbyshire Field (formerly Elmhurst). The facility recently got new  batting cages. Plans call for half walls in front of the dugouts.

Feeders for South Side baseball include Elmhurst Little League and Foster Park Little League. Hille plans to contact those leagues and youth camps are possible.

Growing up, Hille played at Times Corners/Don Ayres Little League.

As a 2005 Homestead High School graduate, Hille’s head coach was Keith Potter. Hille credits former Spartans freshman coach John Kroterfield for his impact.

“We became very close,” says Hille. “We really clicked. He took me under his wing. He’s one of the reasons I wanted to become a coach.

Hille appreciated the relationships Kroterfield built with his athletes and that approach rubbed off on him.

“It really seemed like he card,” says Hille of Kroterfield, who died in 2021. “That’s the emphasis that I’ve had. It’s being interested not just in baseball but in their lives.”

Hille, who also coaches middle school basketball, recently attended a New Haven wrestling meet featuring two players he coached with the Sluggers.

The 2024 season will be the senior year for one of the first groups he coached with the Sluggers and many of those will appear on South Side’s schedule.

“It’s going to be kind of bittersweet,” says Hille.

After high school, Hille played three seasons as a designated hitter and catcher at NCAA Division III Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. Matt Palm was then the Student Prince’s head coach.

“He was really passionate about baseball,” says Hille of Palm. “It was a small school with a small atmosphere and he had an open-door philosophy and an old-school brand of coaching.”

Hille and family reside on the south side of Fort Wayne not more than 10 minutes from the school.

Matt, who runs the plumbing division or New Haven-based Eagle Contracting, and wife Julie, a teacher at Arlington Elementary on the northeast side of Fort Wayne, have two children — son Matt Jr. (4) and daughter Elle (2).

Matt Hille. (Fort Wayne South Side High School Photo)

Derbyshire Field in Fort Wayne, Ind.

‘Win 7’ battle cry of team-first Huntington North Vikings

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

Toughness.
Resiliency.
Character.
Concentration.
Effort.
Attention to Detail.
Professionalism.
These are the seven winning values — the battle cry — of the baseball program at Huntington (Ind.) North High School.
“Win 7” is emblazoned on social media and apparel.
“We fully believe in the team and we try to remove the individuals and that’s coaches and players,” says Jarod Hammel, who in the second year of a second stint as Vikings head coach (he was an assistant beginning in 2010 and then head coach from 2017-19). “Everything that we do is about the team with the exception of the ‘Win 7’ (year-end award).
“It’s the player who embodied our seven values. It’s not the MVP. We make that clear to the guys and they vote on it.”
It’s those values that can be controlled every game regardless of how the scoreboard reads.
“We may not win all seven innings of every game, but we want to compete that way,” says Hammel. “If we get back on the bus and we feel we won those seven it’s going to be a good bus ride home.”
The “seven” theme does not end there.
“We have seven class periods in a day where we tell our kids you go in and you compete in the classroom as well and you win all seven of your periods,” says Hammel. “There are seven innings in each game. There are eight teams in (the Northeast Eight Conference) so we have to beat seven conference opponents. That’s our mindset. We may or may not, but we want to compete like we will.
“There’s seven games on a typical road to the (IHSAA) State Finals for us out of our bracket.”
Huntington North (enrollment around 1,500) counts Bellmont, Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, Leo, New Haven and Norwell as NE8 foes.
The Vikings are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2023 with Columbia City (host), Fort Wayne South Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead and New Haven. Huntington North has won 20 sectional titles — the last in 2017.
The program has also produced three regional crowns (1982, 1987 and 1993), one semistate championship (1993) and one state runner-up finish (1993).
A celebration of the ’93 team featuring Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association/Huntington North Athletics Hall of Famer Don Sherman during the 2023 season is now in the planning stages.
Hammel logged four baseball seasons (one coached by Chad Daughterty and three by Russ Degitz) and four at Huntington University (coached by Hall of Famer Mike Frame), picking up diplomas in 2006 and 2010.
“I was fortunate to have been a part of Viking baseball my whole life and be a small piece of it,” says Hammel. “I remember most the groups that I played on that served each other and was pulling for each other.
“So we’ve tried to create that and we’ve been fairly successful using the program to impact young men in the community.
To expose youth to Viking baseball and its players one method of outreach is a “home run derby” held on home football nights.
“We just let kids have fun,” says Hammel. “We don’t care if it’s the prettiest swing. We let them use wiffle ball bats and set up a snow fence.”
The recent IHSAA Limited Contact Period saw about 40 players participate with many others occupied with a fall sport.
“I think it’s going to be a competitive year to throw your name in the mix and be part of the program,” says Hammel. “I want to keep as many kids as I can and impact them through the program. We won’t turn any guys away who demonstrate commitment and desire to be involved and make good decisions. With that said, we’re probably going to land around 30 to 35 (players for varsity and junior varsity squads).
“We have a lot of multi-sport guys which I love. At minimum I’m wanting to catch a football practice a week so I can see our guys competing in a Viking jersey.”
Hammel says about 80 percent of those participating in the “Viking Velocity Builder Program” using a timed duration increased their arm strength and speed at the end of about six weeks training.
“We set realistic expectations of we can accomplish baseball-wise,” says Hammel. “Our primary focus was building relationships, especially with our new faces.”
Renovations took Huntington North from two baseball diamonds to one and three teams to two.
Viking Field, which is located on-campus, has new fencing, backstop netting and a brick kick wall as well as new batting cages and bullpens.
A hill in right field has been smoothed out and a tall wall has been installed. It’s 310 feet down the right field line, 345 in the right-center gap, 405 to center, 375 to left-center and 340 down the left field line.
“We’re so excited in some of the things the community has trusted us with,” says Hammel. “A significant amount of money has been donated to our baseball program.
“We have a new football field which is turf and we can work out on as well.
“It’s an exciting time for our guys to be involved. I think that they want to be good stewards of it.”
A former Mathematics teacher at Huntington North, Hammel is now an assistant principal. He has a masters degree from Ball State University and is married with four small children.

The 2022 Huntington (Ind.) North Vikings baseball team.

The 2022 Huntington (Ind.) North Vikings baseball team huddles.

The 2022 Huntington (Ind.) North Vikings baseball team bonds with bowling.

The 2022 Huntington (Ind.) North Vikings baseball team helps with the renovation of Viking Field.

Werling now showing the way for Fort Wayne North Side baseball

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

Mike Werling sees a diamond in the rough.
The new head baseball coach at Fort Wayne (Ind.) North Side High School knows there’s been tough times for the Legends and plenty of challenges lie ahead, but his is hopeful he can turn around a struggling program.
“It’s going to take time,” says Werling. “We’re going to take our licks (in 2023). I’m looking for commitment and improvement from day to day.
“We have the talent to compete. We might sneak up on people that overlook North Side this year. It could be a fun ride.”
The fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period is in full swing and the Legends work out Mondays and Wednesdays at Carington Field, which is about four miles southeast of the school.
There are senior captain-led stretches, throwing projections with Tom Emanski drills, full infield/outfield cut-off work, drop-step drills for outfields and Pitchers Fielding Practice to name a few.
“We want to make sure kids know what they’re doing now so it’s not an issue in the spring,” says Werling, who is helped by assistant coaches Reggie Williams and Dezmond McNeilly.
Fort Wayne North Side (enrollment around 1,520) is a member of the Summit Athletic Conference (with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider, Fort Wayne South Side and Fort Wayne Wayne).
SAC games are played in home-and-home series and some Saturday doubleheaders.
“It’s a very big, very tough conference for baseball,” says Werling.
The Legends were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2022 with Columbia City, Fort Wayne South Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead and Huntington North. North Side is seeking its first sectional title.
Hamilton Park Little League feeds the Legends program.
“There is a negative stigma for North Side baseball. It’s a matter of changing the culture and making the kids excited about wanting to come out there.”
Werling says having Williams as Hamilton Park Little League president will help spread the word and lift up Legends baseball in a positive light.
Two players from the Class of 2023 — righty-swinging shortstop/third baseman Gabriel Oliva and left-handed pitcher Christian Cox — have been getting looks for bigger colleges.
Welling, who took his new post at the end of August, was pitching coach at North Side 2019 to 2021 and was junior varsity coach at his alma mater — Heritage Junior/Senior High School in Monroeville, Ind., in 2022.
Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Hall of Famer Dean Lehrman has been a head baseball coach for 43 seasons — nine at Woodlan and the past 34 at Heritage.
“Coach Dean is a special guy,” says Werling, who was a left-handed pitcher for Lehrman and graduated from Heritage in 2008 then at Ohio Northern University for one season and the Portland Rockets before a labrum injury caused him to stop. “There are mannerisms and ways about him he had then and nothing’s changed. They are the same drills and same workouts. He’s big on the little things and fundamentals. And there’s commitment.”
“My Dean Lehrman comes out all the time in practice. He’s built a very successful program in his time there. What he does works.”
Prior to coaching at North Side, Werling works 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays at Sauder Manufacturing in New Haven, Ind., where he drives a forklift.

Mike Werling.

Mike Werling and daughter Raegan.

The Werlings: Mike, Shelby and daughter Raegan.

New Snider head coach Clinkenbeard sees diamond as a place to learn about more than baseball

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

Josh Clinkenbeard knows the life lessons that can be learned through athetics.
He absorbed them as a baseball and football player at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Snider High School and continues to make it a focus as he has moved up from Panthers assistant to baseball head coach at his alma mater in 2022.
“One of the biggest messages we are trying to share with our guys is about being a good community member,” says Snider Class of 1999’s Clinkenbeard, a former outfielder, first baseman and pitcher for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Andy Owen (Marc Skelton and Bruce Meyer were assistants; Skelton became head coach after Owen and both Skelton and Meyer retired from baseball coaching after 2021) and tight end for Indiana Football Hall of Famer Russ Isaacs. “As individuals, we will always be a part of some collective group.
“We remind ourselves to be good teammates. We also try to relate our sport to real life like dealing with adversity and working with others, for example.”
Clinkenbeard recalls lessons learned from Owen and company.
“One of the biggest things I remember that still rings true with me is how to handle physical mistakes versus mental mistakes as a coach,” says Clinkenbeard. “Dealing with the mental side of sports can be taught and modeled in practice.”
Snider (enrollment around 1,900) is a member of the Summit Athletic Conference (with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne South Side and Fort Wayne Wayne).
SAC teams play home-and-series in the same week against conference opponents.
The Panthers are in an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Carroll, DeKalb (host), East Noble and Northrop. Snider has won 11 sectional titles — the last in 2017. Clinkenbeard was part of that coaching staff.
With 31 players in 2022 for varsity and junior varsity squads, Clinkenbeard is assisted by Payton Bieker, Brandon Phelps, Chase Phelps, Tim McCrady and Jimmy Cunningham.
All but Cunningham are Snider graduates. Bieker (Class of 2008) played at Purdue University, Brandon Phelps (Class of 2013) and Chase Phelps (Class of 2016) at what is now Purdue Fort Wayne. McCrady (Class of 1983) is the JV head coach. Cunningham is a first-year coach.
The Panthers play on Hawley Field (a diamond four miles east of Snider named for former athletic director Michael Hawley who helped plan and build the complex). The facility has been upgraded with irrigation and improved drainage.
“The long-term goal is to have lock rooms on-site with indoor batting cages,” says Clinkenbeard. Snider baseball once played at Carrington Field. When the original was torn down to make room for Memorial Stadium (home of the Fort Wayne Wizards), a new Carrington Field was establish across Coliseum Boulevard. When Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (now PFW) purchsed the land, Snider went looking for a new home field.
“The unique part is that we are not on-site which creates many challenges, but because we are nestled among some housing additions it gives us a feeling of being part of a community.”
A 2003 graduate of Butler University with a degree in Biology with a teaching certificate, Clinkenbeard is in his 18th year as a middle school teacher.
Before a rotator cuff injury ended his career, the first baseman was a walk-on at Butler for head coach Steve Farley.
“Great coach who really showed me the details of the game,” says Clinkenbeard of Farley. “There are many drills we did in college that we incorporate in our team today.”
Jakob Byler (University of Saint Francis) and Trevor Newman (Franklin College) are college commits. Mac Hippenhammer (Class of 2017) went to Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) to play baseball and football.
Josh and wife Krisanne Clinkenbeard have three children — Olivia, Jase and Hayes.

Fort Wayne Snider High School coaches gather around the 2017 IHSAA Class 4A DeKalb Sectional championship trophy. They are (from left): First row — Payton Bieker, Marc Skelton and Tim McCrady; Second row — Rob Hale, Bruce Meyer, Josh Clinkenbeard and Bruce Dohrn.

NEIBA releases ’22 Dick Crumback Player of the Year Watch List

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

With the beginning of IHSAA baseball practice, the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association has put out its Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year Watch List for 2022.
An email was sent to baseball coaches in Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Noble, Huntington, Wells and Whitley counties. These are the counties that the NEIBA covers when choosing their Hall of Famers. Each coach was asked to nominated any player(s) that he feels could be in the running for such an honor.
The list of 72 will be narrowed down in finalists in early May and the Dick Crumback/NEIBA Player of the Year will be announced May 25 to coincide with the beginning of the IHSAA baseball tournament series.
The player of the year will be honored at a Fort Wayne TinCaps game in early June and at the NEIBA Hall of Fame banquet June 12.
Homestead’s Carter Mathison was the 2021 honoree.
The organization has honored local baseball players, personnel and ambassadors since 1961.
For more information, contact Gary Rogers at grogers@eacs.k.in.us or Brett Windmiller at brett.windmiller@nacs.k.in.us. 

DICK CRUMBACK/NEIBA
HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
WATCH LIST
2022
Adams Central (Coach Dave Neuenschwander)
Sr. Alex Currie
Jr. Ryan Black
Sr. Jaron Hildebrand
Sr. Blake Heyerly
Bishop Dwenger (Coach Jason Garrett)
So. Brayton Thomas
Sr. Xavier Aguirre
Sr. Jack Tippmann
Bishop Luers (Coach Jeff Stanski)
Jr. Cam Martinez
Sr. Paul Birkmeier
Carroll (Coach Dave Ginder)
Sr. Alex Smith
Sr. Jaydan Duba
Sr. Jordan Malott
Jr. Will Worrel
Jr. Thomas Tratnyek
Jr. Andrew Sinish
Jr. Daniel Kirk
So. Conner Barkel
Central Noble (Coach Tyler Graybeal)
Sr. Will Hoover
Churubusco (Coach Jordan Turner)
Sr. Keenan Hendricks
Sr. Cal Ostrowski
Columbia City (Coach Rob Bell)
Sr. Sam Gladd
Sr. Adin Miller
Sr. Julian Osselaer
DeKalb (Coach Collin Bice)
Sr. Bryce Dobson
Sr. Logan Jordan
Jr. Eli Ehmke
Jr. Tegan Irk
Jr. Ethan Jordan
Jr. Alex Leslie
Jr. Logan Montoya
Jr. Parker Smith
Jr. Donnie Wiley
East Noble (Coach Aaron Desmonds)
Sr. Brayden Risedorph
Eastside (Coach Aaron Willard)
Sr. Jack Buchanan
Sr. Nick Snyder
Sr. Owen Willard
Garrett (Coach Jason Richards)
Sr. Graham Kelham
Sr. Trey Richards
Sr. Kail Baughman
Jr. Luke Byers
So. Luke Holcomb
Heritage (Coach Dean Lehrman)
Sr. Dalton D. Wasson
Homestead (Coach Nick Byall)
Sr. Brennen Weigert
Sr. Nick Hockemeyer
Sr. Caden Tarango
Jr. Jake Goode
Jr. Bryce Yoder
Sr. Braydon Quintana
Sr. Carter Dixon
Sr. Jackson Todor
Huntington North (Coach Jarod Hammel)
Sr. Austin Oswalt
Leo (Coach Gary Rogers)
Sr. Cohden Brubaker
Sr. Donavin Massing
Jr. Jevon Walker
So. Kylar Decker
New Haven (Coach Dave Bischoff)
Sr. Connor Cannon
Northrop (Coach Matt Brumbaugh)
Sr. Luke Siren
So. Pernell Whitsett
North Side (Coach Austin Mannan)
Jr. Gabriel Oliva
Snider (Coach Josh Clinkenbeard)
Sr. Trevor Newman
Sr. Cade Hinton
Fr. Landen Fry
Fr. Brandon Logan
Sr. Aaron Fenn
Sr. Domanic Moon
Sr. Jakob Byler
South Adams (Coach Brad Buckingham)
Sr. A.J. Dull
South Side (Coach Will Coursen-Carr)
Sr. Perry Stow
So. Evan Harl
Southern Wells (Coach Blade Rheinhart)
Sr. Branson Rheinhart
Sr. Evan Reynolds
Sr. Owen Vickrey

Urban, Fort Wayne Concordia Cadets preparing for 2022

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

Unseasonably-mild weather in December means that the first winter baseball workouts at Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School this week were outdoors on the Zollner Stadium football turf.
During the fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period, Concordia head coach Matt Urban led twice-weekly workouts on Jack Massucci Field, which has been renovated and re-leveled. There were 14 regulars.
“We promote multi-sport athletes,” says Urban, who led the program during the 2013 season and since the 2017 slate. “We had 11 football players and four or five in soccer.
“We’ve got 38 trying out now.”
While several players were lost to graduation in 2021, the Cadets are expected to return three seniors and plenty of quality in other classes.
“Last year we had the grittiest bunch of kids,” says Urban, who saw some into the work force with 2021 graduates Tyler Grossman (University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne) Cooper Harris (Siena Heights University in Michigan) going to play college football. “I’ve got a lot of good (returning) talent.”
Urban expects to have around three dozen players populating varsity and junior varsity rosters.
Other alum moving on to college include Trevyn Moss (Class of 2018) to Northern Kentucky University for baseball, Jaden Parnin (Class of 2020) to Ivy Tech Northeast in Fort Wayne for baseball and Jeren Kindig (Class of 2020) to Saint Francis for football.
Concordia (enrollment around 630) is a member of the Summit Athletic Conference (with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider, Fort Wayne South Side and Fort Wayne Wayne).
SAC teams play home-and-series on Tuesdays and Thursdays against conference opponents with an Saturday occasional doubleheader.
In 2021, the Cadets were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Angola, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Garrett, Leo and New Haven. Concordia has won eight sectional crowns — the last in 2018.
Coming out of spring break, the Cadets face what Urban calls a “defining week of baseball” April 11-16 — Monday vs. Heritage, Tuesday vs. Dwenger, Wednesday vs. DeKalb, Thursday vs. Dwenger, Friday vs. Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian and Saturday in a doubleheader vs. South Side.
Urban’s coaching staff includes pitching coach Randy Jackemeyer, hitting coach Alex McKinistry and Nolan Brooks at the varsity level with former Concordia players Christian Dick, Drew Bordner and Matt Miller working with the JV.
Urban, who instructs classes in Geometry, Algebra II and Pre-Calculus at Concordia Lutheran, once taught and coached at Columbia City. He was a baseball assistant to Todd Armstrong prior to his first stint with the Concordia Cadets.
A 1993 graduate of tiny South Central High School in Farina, Ill., Urban played fall baseball, basketball and spring baseball for the same head coach — Gary Shirley.
“He’s one of the best coaches I ever had,” says Urban of Shirley, who was also an English teacher. “He taught me a lot about the game and was like a father figure.
“He coached our summer stuff. I was around him 345 days a year.”
Conference baseball games were played in the fall with about 52 contests during the school year. In 2021, South Central won an Illinois state title for Class 1A.
After a year of study at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill. Urban went to what is now Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Ill., and was a three-year baseball starter for former Chicago Cubs assistant athletic trainer Mike Palmer.
Upon graduation with an education degree in 1998, Urban went right into teaching and coaching middle school basketball in Chicago before moving to the Columbia City/Fort Wayne area.
Matt is married to Hallie and has six children — Tyson Urban (19), Hayley Urban (18), Landon Urban (16), Will Sappenfield (8), Stella Urban (2) and Selma Urban (1).
Tyson Urban is on the baseball team at Indiana Tech. Hayley Urban plays softball at Ball State University.

Matt and Hallie Urban.

Matt Urban (Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School Photo)

Alum Coursen-Carr takes reins for South Side Archers

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

Will Coursen-Carr was recently named head baseball coach at his alma mater — Fort Wayne (Ind.) South Side High School — and the 2012 Indiana Mr. Baseball Award winner and three-time program MVP is working to put the pieces together for the 2022 Archers.
“I know most of the guys,” says Coursen-Carr, who has helped out with the school the past couple of years. “We have some gamers. They’re ready to go. We do have a good core group of kids who really love the game.
“We’ll have our first open gym Dec. 8 and a call-out before that.”
Evan VanSumeren, a South Side alum and former Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne outfielder, has joined Coursen-Carr’s coaching staff and others will be added.
South Side (enrollment around 1,450) is a member of the Summit Athletic Conference (with Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider and Fort Wayne Wayne).
SAC teams play home-and-series in same week against conference opponents. There also tends to be a non-conference game at Fort Wayne’s Parkview Field.
In 2021, the Archers were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Columbia City, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Wayne, Homestead and Huntington North. South Side has won three sectional titles — 2012, 2018 and 2019.
Senior right-handed pitcher Perry Stow has singed to play at the University of Saint Francis, an NAIA school in Fort Wayne.
Foster Park and Elmhurst are Little Leagues on Fort Wayne’s south side that feed South Side High.
Coursen-Carr is familiarizing himself with things like the IHSAA pitch count rule (1 to 35 pitches requires 0 days rest; 36 to 60 requires 1 day; 61 to 80 requires 2 days; 81 to 100 requires 3 days; and 101 to 120 requires 4 days).
“Is it perfect? No,” says Coursen-Carr. “But it makes sense. It protects student-athletes.”
Coursen-Carr, 28, is involved with a new program on the southeast side called Youth Baseball Revival. Though not affiliated with the school system, it does focus on the basic skills of the game.
“We want to get South Side kids involved at a younger age,” says Coursen-Carr.
South Side plays its home games on Derbyshire Field on the old Elmhurst High School campus. There has been much reconstruction in recent years and new batting cages have been installed.
“We take a lot of pride in the field,” says Coursen-Carr.
An alum of Foster Park, the ASHE Centre and the Summit City Sluggers travel organization (with Dustin Sebastian as head coach and Mark Flueckiger as pitching coach), Coursen-Carr also participated in the Wildcat Baseball League until age 15 and worked the summer instructional program between his senior year at South Side and entering Indiana University.
“It’s such a fantastic program they have,” says Coursen-Carr of Wildcat ball.
As a left-handed pitcher, Coursen-Carr competed three seasons at Indiana (2013-15) and went 8-3 in 41 games (19 as a starter). He holds an International Studies degree from IU.
He spent his final collegiate season at NAIA Huntington (Ind.) University in 2017 (where Flueckiger was Foresters hitting coach) and was 1-1 on the mound and hit .318 with five home runs as a lefty hitter. He also began progress toward an Organizational Leadership degree.
Besides being named Indiana Mr. Baseball at South Side, Coursen-Carr was the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year in 2012, a season which he went 10-1 with a 0.40 earned run average, 134 strikeouts and 21 walks in 70 innings while hitting .488 with four homers, 12 doubles and 36 runs batted in. He was chosen for the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series.
He was also an all-SAC punter in football and lettered in basketball.
Coursen-Carr is currently a long-term substitute History and Geography teacher at Wayne and is working toward his teaching license through online courses at Taylor University.
Will is the son of Trine University professor Stephen Carr and General Motors line worker Amy Coursen. Older brother Theo Coursen-Carr is in the U.S. Army.

Will-Coursen-Carr.