Holycross sets standards high for Covington Trojans baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Covington (Ind.) Community High School has enjoyed some special moments on the baseball field in recent years.

The past three seasons, the Trojans have been ranked among the top IHSAA Class 1A teams in the state by the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association.

In 2023, Covington went 14-11-1 and 10-4 in the Wabash River Conference. The Trojans came within a win of at least sharing the WRC crown, bowing to champion South Vermillion in the nightcap of a doubleheader after taking the first contest.

In the Lafayette Central Catholic Sectional championship game, Covington led eventual state champion LCC 2-1 in the middle of the fifth inning before the Knights took control.

Covington and Lafayette Central Catholic also met in the 2022 sectional final.

Among those earning Class 2A all-state honorable mention in 2001 were Trojans Terry Badger, John Paddock, Steve Pierce and Ryan Sowers. 

Scott Holycross, a 2001 Covington graduate who played on the 2000 team that spent the season ranked No. 1 before getting upset by North Montgomery in the 2A Covington Sectional championship game, is heading into his fourth year as Trojans head coach in 2024.

Eight players from 2023 were lost to graduation, but Holycross is upbeat about this spring.

“We’ll be young this year, but I’m optimistic,” says Holycross. “We’ve got some good ballplayers.”

Lifelong resident Holycross coached for a decade in Covington Youth Baseball League (T-ball through age 16) and was president of the organization established in 1952 for eight years. When he started there were 97 players. In 2024, there are 264.

Holycross also started junior high club baseball for seventh and eighth graders. A 14-game schedule has been put together for a team of 15 players.

At the high school, Covington is expecting to have at least 21 when the season opens April 2 at Southmont.

Covington (enrollment around 270) is in the WRC with Attica, Fountain Central, North Vermillion, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke, Seeger and South Vermillion.

The Trojans are part of a Class 1A sectional grouping in 2024 with Attica, Fountain Central, Lafayette Central Catholic, North Vermillion and Riverton Parke. Covington has won 12 sectional titles — the last in 2018.

Other Indiana teams on the schedule include Benton Central, Clinton Prairie, Danville Community, North Montgomery, North Putnam, Terre Haute North Vigo, Terre Haute South Vigo and West Lafayette.

Illinois opponents are Bismarck-Henning, Danville, Milford Area and Oakwood.

Covington is less than 10 miles from the Indiana-Illinois State Line.

Holycross played for Coach Rusty Goodwin, respects the “old school” and expects the same from his players.

Goodwin ran a program based on discipline and so does Holycross. There are school rules, but also team rules.

“Parents had to understand we abide by the team rules,” says Holycross. “If we got a detention at school, we knew we owed Coach 10 foul poles.

“If there was an in-school suspension, it was an automatic one-game suspension and 30 foul poles.”

If player could not maintain a C average during the season, they were suspended until they brought that grade up.

“These are the rules we abide by,” says Holycross. “(Players are a) direct representation of our school name and our coach. I won’t have that dark cloud hanging over my head. We don’t tolerate profanity.”

Covington baseball is also built on giving back. With high school players leading the way, a youth clinic on the last two Saturdays in February and first two in March drew 110 participants.

Covington does not have any recent graduates currently playing college baseball. There has been interest shown in Cian Moore (Class of 2025) and Kyven Hill (Class of 2026).

Holycross counts four other Covington alums as assistant coaches — Matt Gerling with the varsity, Bradley Slider as junior varsity head coach and Ethan Engle and Jordan Inman as JV assistants. Gerling has been a coach in the program for the better part of a decade.

“We’re all homegrown,” says Holycross.

Located less than a mile north of the school, Covington Trojan Complex is home to baseball, softball, tennis, track, football, cross country and soccer.

With no trees right next to it, there is a fair amount of wind at the baseball field.

“Keep the ball low when you’re pitching,” says Holycross. “If you get it up in the air it’s going to carry.”

Home runs to left field land in a cornfield.

There are no lights for baseball, meaning Covington has not hosted sectional in years. This year, the Trojans are getting a new scoreboard.

The facility also gets TLC from the players.

“We take care of our field before, during and after games,” says Holycross, who divides them into groups to take care of raking, tamping, tarping etc. “We’re finally getting it up to where it needed to be when I played.”

There is a Covington Trojan Baseball Facebook page. Plans call for home games to be streamed on GameChanger.

Holycross is general manager at Glasscock Equipment & Sales in Veedersburg Ind., which specializes in farm implements.

Scott and Rebecca Holycross have been married for 16 years and have two children — Emma (18) and Raylon (11).

Rebecca Holycross attended Covington until her junior year then graduated from Schlarman Academy in Danville, Ill., in 2003. She was in dance, basketball, softball and tennis during her school years.

Emma Holycross is a Covington senior who plays soccer, basketball and softball.

Fifth grader Raylon Holycross is in football, basketball and baseball and is already a veteran varsity batboy.

Scott Holycross.

Scott Holycross (left) and Cian Moore.

Scott Holycross (left) and Cian Moore.

Scott Holycross (left) and Dane Gerling.

Scott Holycross (left) and Conor Winn.

Covington Trojan Complex.

New head coach Holland knows you can’t spell Seeger Patriots without ‘grit’

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Gritty is what the baseball team from Seeger Memorial Junior-Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind., will be showing in 2024 if new Patriots head coach Mike Holland gets his way.

“My main goal is to have a little bit grittier of a group,” says Holland, who coached many of the current players from T-ball through junior high and was head coach at Covington (Ind.) Community High School for five years in the early 2000’s and joined the Shawn Turner-led Seeger coaching staff as an assistant in 2023. “I think we underachieved a little bit last year. Some toughness and grit on the diamond is going to go a long way to having a more successful year.”

The 2023 Patriots went 18-9 overall and 10-4 in the Wabash River Conference. The season ended with a 4-3, 10-inning loss to Carroll (Flora) in the Delphi Sectional. The squad featured a pair of four-year starters in seniors Caleb Edwards and Jace Ware.

Seeger set a single-season school record for victories in back-to-back seasons, going 21-5 in 2021 and 23-5 in 2022. The corresponding WRC marks were 13-1 and 11-3.

Many returnees for 2024 were regulars on the last three teams.

“Those guys are a little older now and more experienced,” says Holland.

Mike’s wife — Maribeth Holland — teacher upper level high school Science at Seeger. The couple has two sons — Drew and Christian. Drew Holland (Class of 2022) played tennis, basketball and baseball at Seeger and is now a Purdue University sophomore. Christian Holland (Class of 2024) plays the same three sports as his brother.

Seeger (enrollment around 400) is in the WRC with Attica, Covington, Fountain Central, North Vermillion, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke and South Vermillion.

Conference teams meet twice during the same week — either two weekdays or Saturday doubleheader.

The Patriots are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2024 with Benton Central, Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Delphi Community and Lewis Cass. Seeger has won five sectional titles — the last in 2015.

A 1998 Seeger graduate, Holland was a four-year player in high school — three for head coach Brent Rademacher with Mike Dowell leading the program his senior season.

With undergraduate and masters degrees from Indiana State University, Holland is in his 11th year as principal at Warren Central Elementary School which occupies the same building as junior high and high school.

An IHSAA Limited Contact Period began Dec. 4. Holland says players will begin long toss, hitting and fielding after the Christmas break.

“The guys in multiple sports will be coming in to get their arms ready more than anything else,” says Holland. “The teams that are successful are the ones that can figure out how to get six or seven good (pitching) arms out there. Everyone hopes to have an ace or top two guys, but you also have to have that depth to be successful and win a bunch of games, too.”

Assistants for Holland so far include Landon Maroska, Matt Pruitt, Avery Acton and Roger Dickison.

All but Fountain Central Junior-Senior High School graduate Dickison are Seeger alums. Holland hopes to add a few more assistants to his staff. 

Recent Seeger graduates now in college baseball include Class of 2021’s Khal Stephen (Mississippi State University) and 2022’s Nick Turner (Earlham College). Both were Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series participants.

Seeger’s on-campus field has received or soon will get many upgrades including new lights, bleachers, press box, batting cage, dugouts and a backstop with a knee wall and netting.

“There’s a brand new face on the softball and baseball fields,” says Holland. “I’m pretty excited.”

Williamsport Summer Ball, which serves ages 5-12, draws players from around Warren County and often does well in Town & Country Baseball.

There is also a Pony League. Some youngsters also play travel ball.

Seeger’s junior high baseball team typically features 25 to 30 seventh and eighth graders and shares the field with the high school. The program is led by Aaron Vredenburgh.

Mike Holland (right) and youngest son Christian Holland. 

Seeger Memorial Junior-Senior High School.

Hendrickson steers Winchester to first sectional title since 1986

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

Winchester (Ind.) Community High School won its first IHSAA sectional baseball title in 37 years on Memorial Day at Lapel.
After besting Frankton 3-0 May 25, the Golden Falcons topped Lapel 1-0 May 29 for the program’s second championship. The other came in 1986 with Bill Bush as head coach. He coached from 1971-2000 and had his No. 7 retired two weeks ago.
“It is a really big deal,” says Ken Hendrickson, a 1984 Winchester graduate who played for Bush and is in his fifth season as head coach and eighth on the Golden Falcons coaching staff. “Winchester had not won a sectional game (on the field) since 2008. We had a forfeit in the first round against Burris last year. I don’t count that because we didn’t earn that one.”
Winchester (14-11) is now preparing for a one-game Class 2A regional at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, June 3 against 23-7 Eastern (Greentown) on the turf at Logansport’s Jim Turner Field. It’s about a 2 1/2-hour bus ride from Winchester.
Hendrickson has coached three of Bush’s grandsons — Glenallen Anderson (Winchester Class of 2019), Will Anderson (Class of 2021) and McCormac Anderson (Class of 2026).
Glenallen Anderson, who pitched at Winchester, went on to play at Wilmington (Ohio) College. Former Golden Falcons center fielder Will Anderson played for the Muncie Post 19 Chiefs that won the 2022 Indiana American Legion state championship.
Aaron Anderson — father of Glenallen, Will and McCormac — is Hendrickson’s pitching coach. His other varsity assistants are Brian Cline and Bart Porfidio. Bradley Clark, Bryant Clark and Chandler Woodward guide the junior varsity as well as the seventh and eighth graders in the junior high program.
“That is imperative,” says Hendrickson of the feeder program that also gives varsity coaches a chance to meet future players and to instill their systems. “They get an idea of what they’re coming into and it really helps when they’re freshmen.”
There is also a local youth league that develops baseball talent.
Position players who have been in starting roles in 2023 include three seniors (first baseman Noah Heaton, right fielder Trey Pullins and second baseman-designated hitter Charlie Sauser), one junior (second baseman Brock Goforth), three sophomores (third baseman Justin Cox, catcher Cooper Hummel and left fielder Drayvin Whitehead) and two freshmen (shortstop Anderson and center fielder Aidan Weatherhead).
The pitching staff is led by three sophomore right-handers — Jace Allen (who tossed complete-game shutouts in the sectional against Frankton and Lapel), Whitehead and Cox and freshman lefty Landen Porfidio.
“Our pitching has been really good, but our strength has really been our defense,” says Hendrickson. “We’re peaking at the right time.”
The Golden Falcons have moved at tournament time in recent years. They have been part of the north (Sectional 40) since 2021. They were in the south (Sectional 41) 2016-19 after being in Sectional 40 in 2012-15 and Sectional 41 2008-21.
Winchester (enrollment around 400) is a member of the Tri-Eastern Conference (with Cambridge City Lincoln, Centerville, Hagerstown, Knightstown, Northeastern, Tri, Union City and Union County).
Besides Frankton and Lapel, Winchester’s sectional group includes Monroe Central, Muncie Burris and Wapahani.
“East central Indiana is big baseball country,” says Hendrickson.
Falcon Field — located in on-campus above the football field — is Winchester’s home diamond. It was built by Bush in the early 1970’s. The facility received a major upgrade a few years ago at the time the school got a new on-campus softball field.
“Our field is absolutely gorgeous,” says Hendrickson.
Coaches tend to maintenance.
“I enjoy working on our field,” says Hendrickson. “It’s very relaxing to me.
“Baseball coaches in general really take pride in their fields.”
Hendrickson has worked in the Randolph County Sheriff’s office for 36 years as is currently Chief Deputy after serving eight years as Sheriff.
Ken and Lisa Hendrickson will celebrate 27 years of marriage in September. Their son is 22-year-old Torin Hendrickson (Winchester Class of 2019), who played for his father.

Bill Bush (left) and Ken Hendrickson.

Winchester (Ind.) Community High School’s 2023 IHSAA Class 2A baseball champions.

Alum Saget guiding Traders Point Christian baseball

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

Brendon Saget played on Traders Point Christian Academy’s first baseball team in 2013 and graduated from the school in Whitestown, Ind., that same spring.
Darin Grice was the head coach of that inaugural team during the pre-IHSAA era.
Two decades later, Saget is in his first season as Knights head baseball coach. He had previously coached junior high basketball and baseball at the school and helped with varsity basketball, baseball and volleyball and in the athletic office.
He’s also coached travel baseball for the Indy Thrashers, Indy Titans and Primetime Baseball.
More recently, Saget coached eighth grade baseball at Zionsville (Ind.) Middle School and basketball at Zionsville West Middle School as well as serving as a junior varsity basketball assistant at Zionsville Community High School.
Traders Point Christian (enrollment around 100) is an athletic independent.
The Knights are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping in 2023 with Bethesda Christian, Indiana Deaf, Providence Cristo Rey and Tindley. Traders Point won the program’s first IHSAA Class 1A sectional championships in 2021 and 2022.
Saget looks to build on that success while establishing his own program.
“Accountability and hard work are what we try to prioritize,” says Saget. “And doing things the right way.”
Multi-sport athletes are the rule for the Knights.
“We feel like we have a gold mine here at Traders Point with a great Christian education and giving our athletes a chance to play multiple sports.
“It’s good for our football players to see a different perspective from a different coach.”
Saget, who is the third head baseball coach at Traders Point in four years, considers himself a “free” coach.
“I like to teach the game in practice and then go out in the games and let the kids play,” says Saget. “Let the kids understand, let them experiment and figure things out. That’s the way to learn the game.
“We fail and learn from it.”
Traders Point plays its home games 24 miles from campus at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. To be closer, Senior Night is scheduled for May 12 vs. Crispus Attucks at Zionsville West.
Saget’s assistants are Clayton Sayre, Drew Minnich and volunteers James Gilbert and Ben Wilson.
Sayre and Saget have coached together in some capacity for the past decade.
Pitching coach Minnich is a Traders Point teacher and a former pitcher at NorthWood High School in Nappanee, Ind., and Cedarville (Ohio) University.
“He’s implemented a lot of great things, trying to keep our guys healthy,” says Saget of Minnich.
Gilbert has helped for four years and has a son — senior Jameson Gilbert — on the team.
Wilson is a Traders Point alum and former player. He helps with pitchers and runs the strength and conditioning program.
The varsity-only roster of 15 also features seniors Max Harris and Eli Meals. Second baseman/right-handed pitcher Harris is committed to Manchester University (North Manchester, Ind.).
Meals aka “Meals on Wheels” is the Knights’ lead-off hitter, starting shortstop and pitching ace and is currently uncommitted for college.
“He is just lightning fast on the base paths,” says Saget of Meals, who is also a standout as a football wideout. “He can read like no other. He just has a knack for the game. He’s very quiet, but he shows so much passion and heart on the field.
“He gives his teammates of what an elite athlete looks like.”
Traders Point also has a K-8 school. While numbers are too low this spring for games, there is a junior high program led by alum and former Ivy Tech Northeast Community College player Camden Pavey.
Sage says clinics and other opportunities are planned for younger players this summer.
Little League Central Region Complex is in Whitestown — less than two miles away from Traders Point.
“We’re building a relationship with them and looking to serve at their field and have them partner with our youth programs,” says Saget.
Born and raised in Burbank, Calif., Saget moved up to the Bay Area — thus his allegiance to the Oakland Athletics — then to Indiana as a youngster. He started at Traders Point as a sophomore.
The middle and high school school director at Zionsville Presbyterian Church, Saget graduated from Grand Canyon University (online) with a degree in Christian Arts with an emphasis in Youth Ministry. He is working toward a Masters of Ministerial Leadership from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (online) and will then pursue a Masters of Divinity from the same school.
“I’m living my dream,” says Saget. “I’m a youth pastor as well as the varsity baseball coach at Traders Point.”

Brendon Saget.

Former player, assistant Ulery now guiding Peru baseball

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

Building team chemistry is among the priorities for Josh Ulery as he takes over as head baseball coach at his alma mater — Peru (Ind.) High School.
Hired in the fall to lead the Tigers program, the 1999 Peru graduate graduate has also been stressing fundamentals, conditioning and offensive approach while assessing his team’s strengths and weaknesses during IHSAA Limited Contact Period activities.
“We want to hit the fastball and be aggressive in the (batter’s) box,” says Ulery of his hitters. “We want to swing hard but have a controllable swing.”
This week, players were in the gym for Tuesday hitting. Fielding practice is slated for Saturday.
Ulery wants his team — which has most varsity players back from 2022 — to be “tip-top defensively.”
Thanks to moving to a new shift and role for the Peru Police Department (he went into police work at 25 and is now a detective) Ulrey is able to coach baseball in an expanded capacity. In the past he’s been a paid assistant and last year was a volunteer for Chuck Brimbury, who was his head coach when he was a standout right-handed pitcher/first baseman for the Tigers and offered a baseball scholarship to Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (which he did not pursue).
“A lot of my coaching comes through Chuck Brimbury,” says Ulrey.
A four-year varsity performer, Ulrey was with Dick Keller for the first two years and Brimbury the next two. Peru went 22-5 in 1999. With many of that team returning in 2000, the Tigers won their only IHSAA Class 3A regional title.
With an enrollment around 660, Peru is the largest school Three Rivers Conference (which also includes Maconaquah, Manchester, Northfield, North Miami, Rochester, Southwood, Tipppecanoe Valley, Wabash and Whitko).
TRC teams see each other once during conference play.
Peru is slated to begin the regular season April 7 against Bluffton in the Howard County Invitational. The slate also features at April 29 home doubleheader against South Bend Saint Joseph, a May 6 round robin at Western at May 13 Miami County Classic.
The Tigers are part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping in 2023 with Bellmont, Maconaquah, Mississinewa, Norwell and Oak Hill. Peru has won five sectional titles — the last in 2018.
Lief Astrup graduated in 2022. Returnees include several players who Ulery says have college baseball aspirations — Class of 2023’s Logan Gatliff and Fox Huppenthal, 2024’s Ian Potts, Matthew Roettger and Jackson Rogers and 2025’s Gavin Eldridge.
“We have an amazing freshman class,” says Ulery, who could see as many as 17 representing the Class of 2026. “Those guys are really competitive. I can image a few pushing for varsity positions.
“It should be an exciting and motivated year.”
There have been 36 players at various open fields and conditioning. Ulery says he expects to keep up to 28 in the spring.
His varsity assistants are Rob Hileman, Chris Beauchamp, Ron Potts, Adam Butt and Gary Loe with the varsity. Hillman works with hitters and fielders and coaches third base. Beauchamp is assistant hitting/outfielders coach. Potts is in charge of drill work. Butt and Loe do scorebook work for varsity and junior varsity.
Jacob Loftus is head JV/catching coach. Jody Beauchamp (brother of Chris) is program pitching/first baseman coach and JV assistant. Ron Whitney is a JV assistant and also works with outfielders.
Peru fields a junior high team of seventh and eighth graders that plays about a dozen contests in the spring. Jeff Dicken is the head coach. His assistant is Cody Hiles. Volunteers are Andre Ambrose and Joe Bockover.
Former head coach Mike Stewart is the public address announcer for Peru baseball. Bob DeWire coordinates field maintenance at Tiger Field.
Ulery says there is talk about a new field being put in — with turf and new lights — in 2024. But those details have not been set.
Josh and wife Becky (formerly Mannies) have been married for 17 years. The couple has three children (a girl and two boys) — junior Jordyn, eighth graders Lukas and kindergartener Blake. Jordyn Ulery is a varsity cheerleader. Her mother is Peru’s varsity cheer coach.

Josh Ulery.

Danner brings aggressive style as Monroe Central baseball coach

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

It’s an assertive brand of baseball that will be promoted by Tyler Danner, the new head coach at Monroe Central Junior/Senior High School in Parker City, Ind.
“I am very much an aggressive coach,” says Danner, who took over the Golden Bears program in mid-September and looks forward to a few IHSAA Limited Contact Period practices this month. “Our goal in 2023 is 100 stolen bases (at a success rate of 85 percent or higher). Anything that’s a 50-50 ball in the outfield, we’re going for it. Outfielders are expected to play aggressively and lay out for the baseball.”
Danner was the pitching coach at Indianapolis Lutheran the past three years and has coached travel ball for a decade — five years with the Delaware County-based Indiana Magic and the past five with Baseball Academics Midwest (BAM). He was with 12U through 16U teams with the Indiana Magic and 14U through 17U squads with BAM, including 15U this past summer.
The 2022 Lutheran Saints swiped 183 bases, won 22 games and advanced to a regional championship game.
As it was at his previous stop, “Attack the zone” will be Danner’s mantra with his MC pitchers. He insisted that his Lutheran hurlers were aggressive in the strike zone and this helped lower the team ERA and walk rate.
“Guys went deeper (into games) because the pitch count was not driven up by full counts,” says Danner. “You get to trust the gloves behind you.”
As for hitting approach, Danner will have each batter focus on their strengths and weaknesses. If they hit the inside pitch best, they may lay off the outside one before two strikes.
Danner wants his team to collect more free bases (errors, walks, overthrows etc.) than its gives up. The goal is to hold the opponent under 10 and to gather more than 12.
“You have a 75 percent win percentage when you do that,” says Danner.
Monroe Central (enrollment around 300) is a member of the Mid-Eastern Conference (with Blue River Valley, Cowan, Daleville, Eastern Hancock, Randolph Southern, Shenandoah, Union of Modoc, Wapahani and Wes-Del).
The Golden Bears were part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2022 with Alexandria Monroe, Elwood, Frankton, Lapel, Muncie Burris, Wapahani and Winchester. Monroe Central has won seven sectional titles — the last in 2014.
After meeting players during a call-out and at home football games, Danner came away impressed.
“They were respectful,” says Danner. “They were all eye contact, all engaged and asking questions.
“These are guys who have played at a high level and expect to play well.”
It was as a toddler that Tyler first learned to think and talk the game with his father. Chuck Danner devoured baseball knowledge from books and the Internet and coached youth teams and as a hitting coach for Ed Jones at Muncie Burris.
Chuck Danner died in 2015 at 69.
At Yorktown (Ind.) High School, where he graduated in 2009, Tyler Danner was a pitcher, catcher and outfielder for Tigers head coach Mike Larrabee.
“He showed us the way to stay even-keeled,” says Danner of Larrabee. “It’s very easy in the heat of the moment to get too high or too low. That was not Coach.
“You need a guy that steers into the storm and never seems to panic.”
Yorktown won sectional titles in 2007 and 2008 and a regional crown in 2008.
The approach at BAM is for players to work through the approaches to the game and breaking it down on the field and in the classroom.
“They understand why they’re doing it at such a high level,” says Danner.
His Monroe Central assistants include Daleville graduates Ethan Pittsford (Class of 2019) and Drew Watson (Class of 2021). Daleville won state titles in 2016 and 2018. Watson was a volunteer assistant at Daleville in 2022.
There were 16 players in the Monroe Central program last spring. A similar number would mean a varsity-only schedule in 2023. Danner’s goal in the future is to have enough numbers for varsity and junior varsity.
The Golden Bears play on-campus.
“We have beautiful dugouts and a nice press box,” says Danner. “The field is in good condition. It was maintained by the previous coaching staff very, very well.
“Monroe Central truly believes in its sports program and makes sure everything is taken care of really, really nice.”
Monroe Central Athletic League has baseball teams from T-ball through 12U. Junior high baseball is conducted in June on the high school diamond.
Danner plans to be active with both feeder systems, volunteering with the MCAL (and asking his high school players to do that same) and overseeing the junior high.
Aidyn Coffey (Monroe Central Class of 2022) committed to Coastal Carolina University after the Golden Bears’ 20-win season.
Among players expected back are Blake Bogue (Class of 2023), Cole Luedike (Class of 2024) and Lane Wilson (Class of 2025).
Outside of coaching Danner, who attended Purdue University for three years, is single and works as a major account representative for a lending company.

Tyler Danner.

New head coach Aguilar sets sights high for Hanover Central Wildcats

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

Sal Aguilar has been a part of baseball success as a player and an assistant coach.
He was the starting third baseman for the Hammond (Ind.) Chiefs that went to the Babe Ruth Baseball World Series.
The 1998 graduate of Griffith (Ind.) High School was on the coaching staff at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Ind., as the 59ers won IHSAA Class 3A state championships in 2018 and 2019 — two of eight state titles on Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Dave Pishkur’s watch.
Aguilar’s first year as an assistant at Hanover Central High School in Cedar Lake, Ind., was 2021 and the Wildcats finished as Class 3A state runners-up.
Ryan Bridges let his team know that the 2022 season would be his last as Hanover Central head coach since he was taking a job at the school as assistant athletic director to Kelly Bermes.
In June, Aguilar was hired to head the Wildcats baseball program.
“We have great kids and great community support,” says Aguilar. “We’re excited to embark on this new chapter of Hanover Central baseball. We have a very bright future
“We’re not going to shy away from the ultimate goal which is to win a state championship.”
Hanover Central (enrollment around 775) is a member of the Greater South Shore Conference (with Hammond Bishop Noll, Boone Grove, Calumet New Tech, Griffith, Illiana Christian, Lake Station Edison, River Forest, South Central of Union Mills, Wheeler and Whiting).
The Wildcats were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping in 2022 with Culver Military Academy, John Glenn, Kankakee Valley, Knox and River Forest. Hanover Central has won two sectional crowns — 2011 (2A) and 2021 (3A).
Players from the Class of 2021 included outfielder Jared Comia (now at the University of Illinois), 6-foot-9 right-handed pitcher Peyton Olejnik (who went to Triton College in River Grove, Ill., and is heading to the University of Oklahoma in 2022-23), left-hander/infielder Bret Matthys (Purdue Northwest) and infielder Blaze Cano (who is transferring from PNW to Calumet of St. Joseph in Whiting).
Three athletes in the Class of 2023 expected to play at the next level include shortstop/pitcher Zach Zykowski, pitcher Luka Zakman and two-sport standout Gannan Howes (who is getting attention in baseball and football).
Aguilar came to Hanover Central as a teacher in 2020-2 and is entering his 16th year in the classroom. He taught seven years in Texas, three in Illinois and this will be his sixth in Indiana.
He instructs HCHS freshmen in Integrated Chemistry and Physics (ICP).
Born in Munster, Ind., Aguilar spent his first nine years in East Chicago, Ind. After fourth grade, he moved to Griffith and attended St. Mary School then went to Griffith High School for four years.
He earned three baseball letters for the Todd Iwema-coached Panthers.
Aguilar played for the Hammond Seminoles in 1997 then for Dave Sutkowski’s Hammond Chiefs in 1998 and 1999.
“The kids call him Bush,” says Aguilar of Sutkowski. “I learned a lot from Dave as a young kid about building relationships with players.”
One way to do that at Hanover Central is through junior high baseball program.
Thirty players in grades 6-8 play and practice in the fall.
“That’s a huge asset for our program,” says Aguilar. “It’s all hands on deck here so varsity coaches are going to run that team. We’re going to be able install and implement our brands of offense and defense.
“We get to cultivate those lifelong relationships with those kids at a very young age.”
Aguilar’s coaching staff includes four Hanover Central graduates — Nic Sampognaro (Class of 2011) with the varsity, twins Sam Momcilovic (Class of 2019) and Evan Momcilovic (2019) with the junior varsity and Mike Biegel (Class of 2018) as freshman head coach.
Former Hammond Bishop Noll and Merrillville head coach Paul Wirtz lends his experience to the varsity staff. Jesse Forrester (Lowell Class of 2019) is a freshman assistant.
Aguilar finished his college degree at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2006. His teaching and coaching career began shortly after that.
He came back to Indiana and married Griffith alum Brittany Clark in 2016. Sal and Brittany Aguilar have two children — Luis (5) and Gianna (2).
“(Brittany) knows it’s not easy being a coach’s wife,” says Sal. “We’re lucky to have family around to help us out.”

Sal Aguilar

Sal and Brittany Aquilar with son with Luis and daughter Gianna.

Hilton promotes fundamentals with Crothersville Tigers

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

Eric Hilton is breaking baseball down to the basic elements as head coach at Crothersville (Ind.) Junior/Senior High School.
In his second year leading the Jackson County-based Tigers in 2021-22, Hilton wants his players throwing to the correct bases and knowing situations.
“It’s basics and fundamentals,” says Hilton. “We’ve been working on it in the off-season. We are making progress in that area.”
In 2020-21, Crothersville had just one athlete who had played any baseball in the last four years. To have enough players to field a team, there were 10 boys and four girls. There were too few girls for a softball squad.
Crothersville (enrollment around 125) is a member of the Southern Athletic Conference (with Borden, Henryville, Lanesville, New Washington and South Central (Elizabeth).
In 2021, the Tigers were part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping with New Washington (host), Shawe Memorial and West Washington. Crothersville has not yet won a sectional title.
At such a small school, participation numbers have always been an issue. Then came the pandemic.
“A lot of kids didn’t return to baseball after COVID (took away the 2020 season),” says Hilton. “They found other things to do.”
But things are looking up for the spring of 2022. Fourteen different boys have participated in off-season activities and 21 signed up recently with the intention of coming out for baseball.
“We have very decent numbers,” says Hilton, who counts Rita Fletcher as an assistant with another four or five possibles.
Three players — senior catcher/pitcher/third baseman Matthew Clouse, sophomore catcher/pitcher/second baseman Logen O’Sullivan and sophomore shortstop/center fielder Lucas Hilton (the coach’s oldest son) — have indicated their desire to play college baseball.
Junior high baseball, which is played in nearby communities like Austin, Brownstown, Seymour and Scottsburg, has not been present at Crothersville for a few years. Hilton hopes to bring that back in the next few years.
Right now the Crothersville Youth League (T-ball to age 14) serves as a feeder program.
Before taking the job at Crothersville, Hilton coached Lucas with travel ball teams, including the Southern Indiana Venom, Blazers and The Swings.
A 1995 graduate of Seymour High School, Hilton played baseball for the Owls as a freshman and sophomore. He was also in football as a ninth grader and then went to soccer.
He graduated at Indiana University Purdue University Columbus and graduated from Ashworth University in Peachtree Corners, Ga. He is in grocery merchandising with the Louisville division of the Kroger Co., working with 116 stores.
Eric and Jennifer Hilton have been married 17 years. Lucas Hilton is 16 and Tyler Hilton 12.

Eric Hilton.

Kutch, North Central Thunderbirds enjoy competition

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

Joe Kutch has long taken a leadership role in youth sports in and around Sullivan County, Ind.
Kutch (pronounced Kootch) is entering his eighth season as head baseball coach at North Central Junior/Senior High School in Farmersburg.
He was junior high coach for about five years before taking over the varsity Thunderbirds.
After years as an assistant, Kutch became North Central’s head football coach midway through the 2021 season. The Thunderbirds won their two sectional football titles with Kutch on the staff — 2018 as defensive coordinator and 2021 as head coach/offensive coordinator.
COVID-19 hit Kutch the first week of September and he was in the Intensive Care Unit for nine days and missed three football games. He is still on oxygen. But he still coaches, teaches Automotive classes at North Central (through a co-op with Ivy Tech in Terre Haute) and works for Sullivan Auto Group.
The Nashville (Tenn.) Auto-Diesel College graduate got his teacher’s license through Ball State University and began teaching eight years ago.
Kutch is an alum of Terre Haute North Vigo High School (Class of 1988). While still in high school he started organizing non-high school athletics.
As an adult, Kutch once ran the Northeast Youth League, Tri-Towers Softball League (which once had 500 players and was a pilot site for Major League Baseball’s Pitch, Hit & Run contest) and is still on the board of the Southwest Youth Football League (formerly Quad County).
Joe and Dianna Kutch have been married 28 years and have two sons — Austin Kutch (North Central Class of 2014) and Brayden Kutch (Class of 2017). Both played football and baseball for the Thunderbirds and graduated from college (Austin from Indiana State University and Brayden from Indiana University).
North Central (enrollment around 260) is a member of the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference (with Bloomfield, Clay City, Eastern Greene, Linton-Stockton, North Daviess, Shakamak and White River Valley) for baseball and basketball.
Eastern Greene and Linton-Stockton have been IHSAA Class 2A schools on the diamond. Shakamak was a 1A state runner-up in 2021.
“I like the competition,” says Kutch, 52. “We take our sports serious. We compete every year in every sport.”
In 2021, the Thunderbirds were part of a Class 1A sectional grouping with Bloomfield, Clay City, Eminence, Shakamak and White River Valley (the 2021 host). North Central has won eight sectional titles — the last in 2011.
During the IHSAA Limited Contact Period, North Central has 26 athletes who have indicated that they plan to play baseball in the spring.
“Most of my key players are playing basketball, like six of the starting nine,” says Kutch. “(Our numbers) will will drop when we get to mandatory practice (March 14).”
Kutch, pitching coach Andy Fuson and hitting coach Brian Raber make up the current Thunderbirds staff. A few volunteers when official preseason practice begins.
The Thunderbirds play home games on-campus. A ball over the right field fence could reach U.S. 41.
A few years ago, infield dirt was upgraded. The facility has a grass infield with brick dust running lanes. About a decade, a brick press box was installed.
The high school shares the field with the independent junior high program.
“You need junior high baseball,” says Kutch. “You need a feeder system to keep your program going.”
Connor Strain, a 2012 North Central graduate, pitched at the University of Evansville and in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system.

North Central Thunderbirds.

Head coach Joe Kutch (left) and the North Central Thunderbirds.

Joe and Dianna Kutch.

Joe Kutch (foreground) with wife Dianna and sons Austin and Brayden.

‘Small ball’ is winning baseball to Jennings County’s Sigler

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

B.J. Sigler has a long association with baseball, coaching for many years at the youth level and serving as president/executive director for Ohio Valley Sports Productions — a travel tournament organization that runs events from mid-March to late October — and as Kentucky USSSA Baseball State Director.
He started coaching for the Indiana Bulls in 2015 and is now with an 11U group.
Add to all that head baseball coach at Jennings County High School in North Vernon, Ind. He was hired to lead the Panthers in July and 2022 will be his first season.
Sigler played for Ben Hornung at Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville, Ind. (Class of 1994) and one season for Rick Parr at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Ind., before serving four years in the U.S. Air Force, graduating from the University of Houston and returning to Indiana in 2005.
He calls himself “pretty old school” when it comes to his diamond approach.
“It comes down to pitching and defense and we’ll be playing a little bit of ‘small ball.’’’ says Sigler. “That goes against the grain a little bit in this day and age, but it’s still winning baseball.”
Sigler, who lives in North Vernon, inherits a program that did not graduate a player in 2021. Among the returnees is Indiana University commit Jacob Vogel, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound right-handed pitcher in the Class of 2022 who is a three-sport athlete at Jennings County (tennis, basketball and baseball).
Another senior, Carson McNulty, is committed to Indiana Tech while a couple of others have not yet declared their college choice.
There were 26 players in the Jennings County program in 2021, but there could be well north of that number in 2022 and enough freshmen to play a C-team schedule.
“We’ll evaluate that in the spring,” says Sigler, did get to have high schoolers and middle schoolers in workouts during the recent IHSAA Limited Contact Period (Aug. 30-Oct. 16).
The Panthers have a home field with a turf infield and natural grass outfield.
“I absolutely love it,” says Sigler. “We may be able to come outside during the next Limited Contact Period and get some work in. It also helps with rain (in the spring).”
The junior high program is being jump-started in 2021-22. Other feeders include Panther Baseball Club teams and a local recreation league. High school players are part of several different travel organizations around Indiana.
Jennings County (enrollment around 1,200) is a member of the Hoosier Hills Conference (with Bedford North Lawrence, Columbus East, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, New Albany and Seymour).
Each HCC team meets once during the regular season. The champion of the seven-team circuit is determined during a tournament near the end of the season.
In 2021, the Panthers were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Bedford North Lawrence, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, New Albany and Seymour. Jennings County has won 11 sectional titles — the last in 2006.

Sigler’s Jennings County assistants are Jason Maddox and Tyler Vogel with the varsity and Pete Manowitz and Doug Mills with the junior varsity.
Madison Consolidated High School graduate Jason Maddox is the son of Columbus North alum Parker Maddox (now at Iowa Western Community College).
Tyler Vogel is a 2017 JC graduate who played two years at Marian University and is the older brother of Jacob Vogel.
Manowitz prepped at Columbus East and Mills at Jennings County.
Besides Tyler Vogel, recent JC grads who went on to college baseball include Caleb Eder (Indiana Wesleyan University) and Bret Sawyer (Franklin College).
B.J., who has also served eight years as an assistant football coach, is married to 1995 Jennings County graduate, current Panthers head girls basketball and former Indiana University women’s basketball player Kristi (Green) Sigler. She was part of the 2020 Indiana basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Silver Anniversary Team.
The Siglers have two baseball-playing sons — sophomore Cole (16) and fifth grader Brycen (11). Players is the Class of 2024 were 6 when B.J. began coaching them.
Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Larry Sigler (Induction Class of 1993) is B.J.’s uncle.

B.J. Sigler.