NEIBA announces ’23 Dick Crumback Player of the Year Watch List

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

IHSAA baseball practice has arrived and the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association has announced its Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year watch list for 2023.
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 70 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 24 to coincide with the start of the IHSAA state tournament.
The Player of the Year will be honored at a Fort Wayne TinCaps game and at the June 11 Hall of Fame banquet.
Past winners of the award include Grant Besser (South Adams) in 2019, Carter Mathison (Homestead) in 2021 and Dalton Wasson (Heritage) in 2022.
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
2023
Adams Central (Coach Josh Foster)
Sr. Logan Uhlman
Jr. Trevor Currie
Jr. Dakota Perry
Jr. Keegan Bluhm
Jr. Jack Hamilton
Sr. Ethan Poling
Jr. Keagen Combs
Sr. Ryan Black
Jr. Ryan Tester

Bishop Dwenger (Coach Jason Garrett)
Jr. Brayton Thomas
Sr. Keegan McMahon
Sr. Carter Bradley

Bishop Luers (Coach Jeff Stanski)
Sr. Nate Heflin
Sr. Qwenton Roach
Sr. Johnny Bloom
Sr. Brayden McInturf
Jr. Isaac Zay

Bluffton (Coach Jason Pierce)
Jr. Braxton Betancourt
Sr. Andrew Onuegbu
Sr. Andrew Pressler

Carroll (Coach Dave Ginder)
Sr. Will Worrel
Sr. Gabe Starks
Sr. Andrew Sinish
Sr. Cameron Saunders
Sr. Cooper Rudolph
Sr. Daniel Kirk
Sr. Camden Herschberger
Sr. Michael Dierckman
Jr. Conner Barkel

Churubusco (Coach Jordan Turner)
Sr. Croix Haberstock
Jr. Keaton Blessing
Sr. Wyatt Marks

Columbia City (Coach Rob Bell)
Jr. Brady Schroeder
Sr. Landyn Iden

DeKalb (Coach Collin Bice
Sr. Parker Smith
Sr. Ethan Jordan
Sr. Alex Leslie
Sr. Elijah Ehmke
Sr. Donnie Wiley
Sr. Tegan Irk
Jr. Aaden Lytle
Sr. Will Seigel

Eastside (Coach Cade Willard)
So. Jace Mayberry
Jr. Ryder Reed

Fort Wayne Northrop (Coach Austin Mannan)
Jr. Pernell Whitsett
Jr. Nathan Jessup
Jr. Jayden Sloniker

Garrett (Coach Jason Richards)
Sr. Peyton Simmons
Sr. Luke Byers
Jr. Luke Holcomb

Heritage (Coach Dean Lehrman)
Sr. Jackson Bearman
Sr. Morgan Andrews
Jr. Andrew Mirelez

Homestead (Coach Nick Byall)
Sr. Bryce Yoder
Sr. Jake Goode
Jr. Alex Graber
Sr. Griffin Tinkel
Jr. Mason Weaver

Lakewood Park Christian (Coach Scott Boles)
Jr. Corbin White
Jr. Gabe Dager

Leo (Coach Gary Rogers)
Sr. Jevon Walker
Sr. Gray Hoeppner
Sr. Christian Griewank
Jr. Kylar Decker

North Side (Coach Mike Werling)
Sr. Gabriel Oliva
So. Jamison Tindall

Norwell (Coach Dave Goodmiller)
Jr. Cade Shelton
So. Drew Graft

Snider (Coach Josh Clinkenbeard)
So. Landen Fry
So. Brandon Logan

Advertisement

Wiening celebrates hometown, sport with Old Fort Baseball Co.

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

Logan Wiening grew up in Fort Wayne, Ind., proud of his hometown.
Out of his pride and love for the diamond came Old Fort Baseball Co. The self-taught graphic designer started the business in the summer of 2021.
There are now more than 30 products and designs that appear on T-shirts, caps and stickers.
And the list keeps growing.
“I try to keep it fresh and keep ideas coming,” says Wiening. “When I started as a sports fan from Fort Wayne I never saw anything sports-related.
“People are drawn to an appealing design.”
Wiening saw a hole in the market and filled it with nods to former teams like the Fort Wayne Kekiongas (which played in the first professional league game in 1971), Fort Wayne Wizards (the team that played at The Castle and pre-dates the Fort Wayne TinCaps), General Electric Voltmen (a local semi-pro team), Fort Wayne Colored Giants (who played in the first half of the 20th Century), Fort Wayne Daisies (an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League club and a big seller), Elmhurst Little League (established in 1954) and more.
“I want to celebrate Fort Wayne’s baseball history and it’s past, present and future,” says Wiening. “I’m into retro-type logos. The old Wizards logo has a nostalgic meaning for me. But I can appreciate almost any logo for what it is.”
Wiening, 28, collected baseball cards as a boy and could recite stats at age 6. He played the sport until about 13 and was a basketball player in high school.
He graduated from Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger High School in 2013 and earned a Business and Marketing degree at Purdue Fort Wayne in 2017.
Including an internship, Wiening spent six years with the NBA G-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, doing sales, marketing and design.
He worked in the Purdue Fort Wayne athletic department for three years and is now a marketing strategist at Fort Wayne-based Franklin Electric.
Wiening also does free lance work. Clients include PFW, Fort Wayne FC soccer, local high schools and businesses and has designed logos for college athletes.
Brand ambassadors include Carroll High School graduate and professional catcher Hayden Jones (Cincinnati Reds organization) and pro pitcher Garrett Schoenle (Chicago White Sox system) plus East Noble High School graduate and Indiana University freshman Brayden Risedorph, Homestead alum and University of Dayton freshman Caden Tarango, Dwenger graduate and University of Saint Francis sophomore Sam Pesa and Dwenger alum and Indiana Tech freshman Kasen Oribello.
“I have a long list of long-term opportunities and ideas,” says Wiening, who sees Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons softball as a future design possibility. “I’m into really telling the story of what that team was.”
Wiening sponsors Jayce Riegling’s The JKR Podcast and has partnered on other Riegling projects.
Support Local Baseball is a line that has done well on a national basis with orders going out to nearly 20 states so far.
Winning won’t put any design or wording on just any product.
“There has to be a reason behind what we’re doing,” says Wiening. “We want to tie it to the community.”
Besides The JKR Podcast, Wiening has been a guest on several other podcasts including Ballpark Hunter, The Baseball Bucket List, Baseball By Design and Earned Fun Average.
Logan and wife Megan reside in Fort Wayne.

(Old Fort Baseball Co. Image)

Logan Wiening. (Old Fort Baseball Co. Image)

Gorman experiences many moving parts as tournament director

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

About 4,000 teams are expected to play in Bullpen Tournaments events across the spring, summer and fall seasons at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind., and other diamonds.
His part of that will keep Chris Gorman hopping.
As Bullpen’s Director of High School Tournaments, he handles registration, scheduling and operations and also helps with staffing of interns and hourly workers and assists with youth tournaments when needed.
Most of the 15U to 18U tourneys held in June and July and coordinated by Gorman are staged at Grand Park and Championship Park in Kokomo.
Other local, high-quality off-site fields like Kokomo Municipal Stadium are also used.
The majority of teams are from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan, but there are those from outside.
Gorman counts Director of Operations Cam Eveland and Vice President of Operations Michael Tucker as his direct supervisors.
Born in Fort Wayne and raised in Auburn in Indiana, Gorman is a graduate of DeKalb High School in Waterloo, Ind. (2015) — where he played basketball — and Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. (2019) — where he was Sport Administration major and Marketing minor.
Gorman has also served Bullpen Tournaments as an hourly Quad Manager, making sure games ran smoothly and on schedule.
“This role helped me understand the operations and the standard that was needed to be met for all our events,” says Gorman. 
From there he was promoted to Assistant Director of Operations at Creekside Baseball Park in Parkville, Mo., a Prep Baseball Report facility just outside of Kansas City. The job allowed him to implement to apply the same standards set by Bullpen at Grand Park.
“This role required me to have my hands in many different areas of our business and helped me understand the entire company as a whole rather than just from an operations standpoint,” says Gorman.
Why did he choose this as a profession?
“I knew I always wanted to have some sort of career in the sports world,” says Gorman. “I was always curious about how things worked behind the scenes, so when I started out as an hourly worker for Bullpen, I was able to get hands on experience of the behind-the-scenes work involved in running high quality events.
“I learned to love the jobs I was asked to do so pursuing a sport operations role was something that interested me very strongly.”
Gorman’s resume also includes Security Assistant for the Chicago Cubs, Tournament Director for PBR, Tournament Site Director for World Baseball Academy in Fort Wayne and Ticket Sales Representative for the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Chris Gorman. (Bullpen Tournaments Photo)

Being ‘Rock Solid’ aim of Boles, Lakewood Park Christian Panthers

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

“Rock Solid.”
It’s the motto adopted by Lakewood Park Christian School baseball for the way the Panthers want to be — on and off the diamond.
It’s a reference to Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
It’s about a firm foundation — a subject that comes up during gameday chapel sessions.
Lakewood Park Christian (a K-12 school with an enrollment around 170 in the top four grades) is an athletic independent.
The Panthers are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping with Bethany Christian, Elkhart Christian Academy, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Fort Wayne Canterbury, Fremont and Hamilton. Lakewood Park has not yet won a sectional title.
After coaching in area youth leagues, Scott Boles came to Lakewood Park Christian in Auburn, Ind., in 2017 as a volunteer.
“I started volunteering to serve God and do more with my life,” says Boles, who became Panthers head coach for the 2018 season.
In 2022, Lakewood Park Christian went 7-10, tying the single-season school record for victories.
That was accomplished with a roster of 10 aka “The Dirty Diez.”
Three of the players had not played baseball since age 12. One suffered a burst appendix during the season.
“It’s a small Christian school,” says Boles. “It’s all bout hard work and effort.
“We’re relentless. We don’t quit. We want to win. But we also want kids to have a good experience and bring guys up the right way to be men. That’s what we’re all about.”
For 2023, Boles expects to have as many as 18 players with seven at travel ball level.
“The next two years we should break every record that exists,” says Boles, who watched last spring as Corbin White (Class of 2024) set the batting average mark at .469 and pitcher Gabriel Dager (Class of 2024) established the earned run average mark at 1.94.
Also in the mix is Carson Boles (Class of 2024). The 17-year-old is the youngest of Scott and Rachel’s two children. The couple — married in 1999 — also has Makenna (19), a 2020 graduate of Carroll High School where she played tennis.
Boles had Carsten White (Corbin’s older brother and 2018 graduate) and Brian Johnson as assistant coaches in 2022 and hopes to have them both back in 2023.
Carsten White and Andrew Carpenter (Class of 2017) both played for Lance Hershberger at Ivy Tech Northeast Community College in Fort Wayne. Carpenter was killed by a drunk driver in 2019.
“The next three years we should have 3-5 kids play college baseball,” says Boles.
Lakewood Park Christian plays on an on-campus field players dubbed “The Lake.”
The field recently got a new mound thanks to the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers.
A warning track has also been installed that goes all around the field. New fencing in front of the dugouts is on the way.
“We’ve had a lot of upgrades the last six years,” says Boles. “We’ve had $15,000 to $18,000 in donations.”
Bill Jones, who coached at DeKalb High School and is an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, helped put the field in place decades ago.
Scott Boles is a 1995 graduate of Columbia City (Ind.) High School, where he played baseball for four years and earned three letters as a left-handed pitcher and first baseman.
The Eagles’ head coach was Tom Wood.
“He was just a good man,” says Boles of Wood. “He treated the kids right.”
Boles was at Huntington (Ind.) College (now Huntington University) for a year.
Working in a family business, he is now a distributor for Mission Foods Products.
He opened a 1,500-square foot training facility in Fort Wayne called the Upper Room Baseball Club and has his own travel ball organization.

The 2022 Lakewood Park Christian School baseball team. Head coach Scott Boles is in the middle in the second row. Assistants are Carsten White (far left) and Brian Johnson (far right)

With 10 players, the Lakewood Park Christian Panthers tied the single-season school record with seven victories.

Scott and Carson Boles.

Carson Boles.

Lakewood Park Christian mound meeting with Panthers head coach Scott Boles.

Carson, Rachel and Makenna Boles.

With the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers, Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., gets a new mound.

With the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers, Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., gets a new mound.

With the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers, Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., gets a new mound.

With the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers, Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., gets a new mound.

With the help of Fort Wayne TinCaps groundskeepers, Lakewood Park Christian School in Auburn, Ind., gets a new mound.

Heritage’s Wasson named 2022 Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year

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

Dalton Wasson has been chosen as the 2022 Dick Crumback/Northeast Indiana Baseball Association High School Player of the Year.
Playing for Dean Lehrman at Heritage Junior-Senior High School in Monroeville, senior Wasson goes into IHSAA sectional play hitting .566 with one home run, one triple, nine doubles, 24 runs batted in, 23 runs scored and six stolen bases. He has only struck out twice and has a 1.506 OPS (.676 on-base percentage plus .830 slugging average).
On the mound, Wasson is 6-0. In six starts, he has a 1.00 earned run average with 66 strikeouts and eight walks in 35 innings.
Wasson, a Belmont University commit who was chosen from a list of players nominated by area coaches, will be recognized prior to the Wednesday, June 8 Fort Wayne TinCaps game at Parkview Field and honored at the NEIBA Hall of Fame banquet slated for 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 12 at Classic Cafe in Fort Wayne. Lehrman is going into the Hall of Fame.
Tickets can be purchased at the door or via PayPal at fwneiba@gmail.com.
Previous Dick Crumback/NEIBA High School Player of the Year winners are Carter Mathison (Homestead) in 2021 and Grant Besser (South Adams) in 2019. With no season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no award was given.

Dalton Wasson (Belmont University Photo)

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

NABF salutes Fort Wayne’s Rachlow as Umpire of the Year

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

Fort Wayne’s Bob Rachlow was named 2021 Umpire of the Year by the National Amateur Baseball Federation at the 107th NABF Major/Unlimited Division World Series in Battle Creek, Mich.
Rachlow has made many calls from Little League to college to men’s wood bat league to professional over the years.
It was as a Little League coach that spark ignited his start as an umpire.
Guiding his son’s team in a district game, he did not see eye-to-eye with the men making the calls that day. He said as much to the tournament director.
“I’ll expect to see you at our classes next winter” was the reply.
“I went in not knowing anything,” says Rachlow. “How much I did not know was scary.”
Rachlow closely studied the rules, started at the youth level and soon got recruited for high school ball.
“You have to know the rules cold,” says Rachlow. “I thought I knew the rules as a coach.
“As umpires, we have to know all the rules — and not just fair/foul, ball/strike.”
There’s also game management.
“A lot of people can do 90 percent of it, but to move up you must have a feel for the game,” says Rachlow. “You can’t umpire by the book. You have to umpire with the book.
“Sometimes it’s the spirit of the rule.”
By 2009, he was working a college baseball schedule.
An owner for nearly 19 years with Luminary Wealth (formerly Capstone Advisors) — a financial investment firm in Fort Wayne — Rachlow has a partner that allows him the flexibility to work games in the NAIA-affiliated Crossroads League, NCAA Division III’s Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, occasional NCAA Division I or as a minor league fill-in for the the High-A Central League’s Fort Wayne TinCaps.
“It’s unbelievably a neat thing to do,” says Rachlow of the pro experience. “If I’m in front of 1,000 people that’s a big crowd for my usual games. There’s the sounds and the cheering (at Fort Wayne’s Parkview Field). You take that all in and it’s all directed at the field of play. As a fan you’re on the other side.
“I’m very grateful to be able to do that.”
Many of his assignments come through the College Baseball Umpires Association.
Each February, Rachlow escape the Indiana cold and goes to Port Charlotte, Fla., to umpire in the Snowbird Baseball Classic — a series of games involving NCAA D-I and D-III teams. The event is to include Indiana State University in 2022.
“I get some games under my belt before the Indiana season,” says Rachlow. “I also use it as a family vacation. My wife (Darlene) and dog come down. I get to umpire. She gets to go on the beach. It’s kind of a win-win.”
Bob and Darlene have two sons — Aaron (who turns 29 Sunday) and Nathan (26). Both played high school baseball.
Fort Wayne Black Christian School and Cedarville (Ohio) University graduate Aaron Rachlow began umpiring 10-year-old girls softball when he was 12 and is now a Cincinnati-based college umpire with a wife and a toddler.
Nathan Rachlow played in Fort Wayne’s Wildcat Baseball League and graduated from Lakewood Park Christian School and Indiana Tech.
Bob Rachlow hails from Itasca, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago. He played baseball at Lake Park High School, where he graduated in 1979. He earned an Actuarial Science degree from the University of Iowa and went from Louisville to southern California and wound up to Fort Wayne in 1990.
Rachlow keeps a spreadsheet tracking his umpire assignments. He worked 124 games in 2021 and 114 in 2019. There was a dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of his spring games are of the college variety. In the summer, Rachlow umpires in the Fort Wayne Baseball Federation as well as the Indiana Summer Collegiate Summer Baseball League and Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.
Rachlow recalls an unusual play in one of his collegiate games.
With a runner at first base, a batter hit a liner to shortstop, who guided the ball with his glove to the ground then picked it out of the dirt and threw to second second for a force and the second base relayed to first base for an apparent double play.
“I had read about this in the rule book but had never seen it happen in real life,” says Rachlow. “I was the base umpire, and when I turned to see the shortstop ‘drop the ball,’ I called time – called the batter-runner out and put the runner back on first base. Then I turned to the shortstop and said, ‘nice try!’ He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
“What I thought was interesting was when he got back to the dugout, the coach called him over and said, ‘that may work in Little League, but not here at the collegiate level. What you should have done instead was catch the ball and fire it over to first base to double off the runner as he was initially running when the ball was hit.’
“Good teaching moment!”

Bob Rachlow.

Darlene and Bob Rachlow, the 2021 National Baseball Federation Umpire of the Year at the 107th NABF Major/Unlimited Division World Series in Battle Creek, Mich.

Bob Rachlow, the 2021 National Baseball Federation Umpire of the Year, and umpire in chief Dan Eversole at the 107th NABF Major/Unlimited Division World Series in Battle Creek, Mich.

Hancock finally dons Indiana State University uniform — as a coach

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

A decade ago, Justin Hancock was planning to play baseball at Indiana State University.
When the 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher was selected in the ninth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the San Diego Padres out of Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill., Hancock decided instead to go pro rather than transfer to ISU after his two years of junior college, playing first for Statesman head coach Mitch Hannahs and then Kevin Bowers.
Pitching for pay took fireballing Hancock through parts of seven seasons in the Padres system — some of 2012 and 2013 was spent with the Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps — and three in the Chicago Cubs organization, including 10 games at the big league level in 2018. He went 0-0 with a 1.46 earned run average in 12 1/3 innings — all out of the bullpen.
Hancock was a starter until shoulder surgery in 2016 and then became a reliever.
Non-tendered in November 2018, Hancock signed on with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League for 2019 before retiring as a player.
“It was a good experience,” says Hancock. “My wife and daughter came (to Japan). Baseball over there is how baseball was in the ’80s and ‘90s here. There’s not too much power. They hit the ball in the gap and it’s fast-paced.
“It’s tough to strike out guys in Japan.”
Overall, Hancock saw action in 193 games during his professional career, including 96 starts on the mound. He finished with a 29-37 record, 450 strikeouts and a 4.07 ERA over 579 innings.
Hancock was reunited with Hannahs (who returned to his alma mater as ISU head coach in 2013) when he was hired in July 2021 as Indiana State’s pitching coach. The man who recruited Hancock — Brian Smiley — is associate head coach for the Sycamores.
“Mitch is just a very good influencer of the players,” says Hancock, 31. “He does a good job of getting the most out of the talent that comes here.
“He gets the guys to work hard and become better men. He’s just a really good person.”
While Hannahs, Hancock and Smiley share in rounding up players, much of it is coordinated by Smiley.
“Smiley does an awesome job,” says Hancock. “He’s a very good recruiter.”
While a few players have stayed on-campus, most have gone home and will not be back in Terre Haute until the second week of January. That’s when the Sycamores will really begin ramping up for the 2022 season opener Feb. 18 against Brigham Young in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Hancock helps his pitchers develop a daily routine and understand their place on the team.
“It comes down to knowing your role and doing that role very, very well,” says Hancock. “And it starts right now. We send these guys home for a winter break. You call them throughout the time they’re gone, but you don’t know what they did while they’re gone.
“You can see the guys who have bought in and those who haven’t (when they get back to campus). This time is very crucial.”
Being a first-time coach and new to the program, Hancock took the fall to evaluate his staff.
“I had not seen any of them throw live,” says Hancock. “I saw how they pitch and what some of their stuff does.
“At the D-I level, most of these guys have the stuff. We need to refine it.”
That means developing a secondary pitch that the pitcher can put int he strike zone.
“We want them to be able to throw a fastball down and away and to trust their stuff,” says Hancock. “You believe you can get ahead (in the count) with the stuff and get hitters out.
“With one or two good pitches, you can be a really good college pitcher.”
There are 22 pitchers on the roster now. He says that number will likely be 13 or 14 in the spring.
Hancock left Lincoln Trail with a fastball between 92 and 95 mph and increased his velocity over time with added strength.
“I was more of a late bloomer,” says Hancock. “I refined my craft and worked at it. It was about knowing my body and what it could do.”
A 2009 graduate of Defiance (Ohio) High School, Hancock learned about pitching fast from Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer and three-time state championship coach Tom Held.
“I touched 90 (mph in high school),” says Hancock. “Coach Held does an awesome job. Defiance has that reputation of always having ’90’ arms.
(Bulldogs pitchers) want to be that next ’90’ arm and prove people wrong just like I did.
Besides Hancock, graduates of the “Definance Way” to pitch in the majors include Jon Niese and Chad Billingsley.
Justin is married to a Terre Haute Vigo High School graduate (and former Lincoln Trail College and Marshall University basketball player) Tessa (Johnson) Hancock. The couple have a daughter — Ivy (who turns 3 in January). Tessa’s father — Howie Johnson — played basketball at ISU with Larry Bird and was also a softball teammate of the Hall of Famer.

Justin Hancock records first big league strikeout.

Justin Hancock 96.4 MPH slow motion mound mechanics.

Justin Hancock pitches for the Chicago Cubs in 2018 (Chicago Cubs Photo)

Justin Hancock (Chicago Cubs Photo)

Homestead’s Mathison Dick Crumback/NEIBA Player of the Year for 2021

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Carter Mathison, a Homestead High School senior, has been selected as the 2021 Dick Crumback/Northeast Indiana Baseball Association High School Player of the Year.

The Homestead High School baseball program will also receive a $1,000 donation from the Crumback family and the Fort Wayne Baseball Federation in honor of Dick Crumback. Mathison will be honored at a Fort Wayne TinCaps game in June.

An Indiana University commit and lefty-swinging/throwing outfielder/pitcher for Spartans coach Nick Byall, Mathison is the second winner of this award following South Adams’ Grant Besser in 2019. The award was not given due to the cancellation of the 2020 IHSAA baseball season.

In 29 regular-season games, Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association District D Player of the Year Mathieson hit .511 (47-of-92) with 16 home runs, five triples, 11 doubles, 51 runs batted in, 56 runs scored, 23 walks, and 15 stolen bases. He amassed a 1.864 OPS (.603 on-base percentage plus .1.261 slugging average). His average with runners in scoring position was. 618.

On the mound, he went 3-0 with a 1.43 earned run average, striking out 17 in 14 2/3 innings.

His fielding percentage was 1.000 with no errors, 24 putouts and two assists.

Parkview Field High School/College Series April 2-29

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

The High School and College Baseball Series at Parkview Field hosted by the Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps is to feature 46 different schools for a total of 29 games between April 2-29. The TinCaps begin their 120-game High Class-A season May 4.

Tickets ($6) for High School and College Series games go on sale March 24 at ParkviewField.com. 

The Parkview Field Ticket Office also will be open for ticket purchases beginning one hour prior to each day’s first pitch. 

All transactions must be completed by debit or credit card (no cash). The TinCaps plan to utilize a special seating chart to account for physical distancing between pods of fans. Ballpark concessions will be available as well (no outside food or drink is permitted.) 

HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE

BASEBALL SERIES

AT PARKVIEW FIELD

Friday, April 2

Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Northern Kentucky (DH), 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 3

Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Northern Kentucky, 1 p.m.

Wednesday, April 7

Eastside vs. DeKalb, 4:30 p.m.

Wabash vs. Mississinewa, 7 p.m.

Friday, April 9

Saint Francis vs. Marian U. (DH), 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 10

Homestead vs. Wapahani (DH), 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, April 13

Fort Wayne Northrop vs. Fort Wayne Wayne, 4:30 p.m.

Prairie Heights vs. Lakeland, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 14

Indiana Tech vs. Grace (DH), 4 p.m.

Thursday, April 15

South Adams  vs. New Haven, 4:30 p.m.

Northfield vs. Eastbrook, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 17

Concordia Lutheran vs. Fort Wayne South Side, 10:30 a.m.

West Noble vs. Garrett, 1 p.m.

Tuesday, April 20

Woodlan vs. Leo, 4:30 p.m.

Southern Wells vs. Southwood, 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 22

Fort Wayne Snider vs. Norwell, 4:30 p.m.

Carroll vs. East Noble, 7 p.m.

Friday, April 23

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers vs. Fort Wayne Canterbury, 4:30 p.m.

Warsaw vs. Plymouth, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 24

Churubusco vs. Manchester, 10:30 a.m.

Whitko vs. Angola, 1 p.m.

Tuesday, April 27

Blackhawk Christian vs. Lakewood Park Christian, 4:30 p.m.

Columbia City vs. Bellmont, 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 29

Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger vs. Fort Wayne North Side (DH), 4:30 p.m.

Parkview Field, Fort Wayne, Ind.