Kamm giving back to baseball as new Warren Central head coach

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Justin Kamm built a career in Information Technology.

At one point, Indiana University had Kamm running the internet for all its campuses across the state. That led to positions are software companies ExactTarget and Sales Force.

A former baseball coach at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis, Kamm opted to retire early from the IT industry.

“I decided to dedicate my time to teaching the game of baseball,” says Kamm, who took over the Indy Titans and became president of the travel organization which now fields 36 teams from 8U to 17U and founded Indiana Baseball Academy in Westfield, Ind. “I felt it led me to success in my life and I wanted to give that back to folks and the only way I knew how to do that was through coaching.”

Kamm is a 1992 graduate of North Central High School in Indianapolis, where Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Famer Tom Bradley was Panthers head coach his freshmen and sophomore years and Rick Shadiow his junior and senior seasons. Current Brownsburg (Ind.) High School head coach Dan Roman was a Shadiow assistant.

At Vincennes (Ind.) University, Kamm did not play baseball at the school he formed a relationship with the Trailblazers head coach Jerry Blemker, who went into the National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.

“There are lots of lessons learned from all those coaches,” says Kamm, who also went to Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis and Indiana Wesleyan University and earned a Business Management degree. “I learned to care about players as individuals and teach life lessons.”

At the end of January 2024, Kamm added head baseball coach at Warren Central High School on Indy’s east side to his diamond duties.

Warren Central (enrollment around 3,500) is a member of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (with Ben Davis, Indianapolis North Central, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North and Pike).

MIC games are home-and-home series on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The Warriors are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Arsenal Tech, Franklin Central, Perry Meridian, Roncalli and Southport. Warren Central has won nine sectional titles — the last in 1991.

Other teams on the schedule, which includes the May 11 Warrior Invitational as well as the first round of the Marion County Tournament, include Brebeuf Jesuit, Danville Community, Greenfield-Central, Greenwood Community, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard, Indianapolis Kings, Indianapolis Scecina Memorial, Indianapolis Shortridge, New Palestine, Shelbyville, Speedway and Whiteland Community.

Eli Shaw (Class of 2023) is a right-handed pitcher at Indiana University. The team took a field trip March 28 to see him hurl at Butler University.

College baseball commits in the Class of 2024 include Justin Concepcion to the University of Northwestern Ohio and Jackson Hobbs and Lucas Hobbs both to Marian University’s Ancilla College.

Kamm’s Warren Central coaching staff features three returnees and three newcomers. 

“I think it’s important to keep continuity,” says Kamm.

Jeff Cardenas, Todd Wellman and Josh Ott are back with the varsity. New to the program as coaches are varsity coach Jordan Hamsley and junior varsity coaches Zach Summeier and Aaron Betts.

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers High School graduate Cardenas played at the University of Northwestern Ohio and independent pro ball. 

Floyd Central High School graduate Hamsley played at Indiana Wesleyan and was a strength and conditioning coach in the Atlanta Braves organization. He runs Hamsley Performance out of Indiana Baseball Academy. 

Summeier is a 2017 Warren Central graduate. 

Betts played for the Indy Titans, North Central and at Kentucky State University.

The Warriors’ on-campus home diamond is Foreman Field. Kamm says he hopes a corporate partnership with LIFT Academy — a pilot and flight mechanic training company — will help with some upgrades to the facility.

Kamm says he had other coaching opportunities, but chose Warren Central because it aligns with his personal mission of developing baseball players.

“The landscape of east side baseball has changed drastically in the last decade,” says Kamm. “Part of my goal going forward is to bring back baseball in Warren and on the east side of Indianapolis because it seems to be dying right now.

“Less kids are playing than before.”

Warren Little League has closed. Some players from Irvington Sports Baseball & Softball make their way to Warren Central.

Metropolitation School District of Warren Township’s eighth grade and seventh grade baseball teams run through Raymond Park Intermediate and Middle School.

Recent discussions have focused on creating a Sunday showcase program for 9U to 12U that is currently being called Warrior Baseball.

Justin and wife Tara Kamm, an avid Chicago Cubs fan and daughter of retired sportswriter Hank Lowenkron, have two children — daughter Megan Kamm is an accountant at Deloitte in Chicago and son Zach Kamm is a senior at Brebeuf Jesuit and a former baseball player.

Justin Kamm. (Warren Central High School Image)

Warren Central High School.

As instructor, coach, Basham still endorses narrow offensive focus

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Ryan Basham did not have multiple hitting philosophies floating in his head when he stepped into the batter’s box as a Lowell (Ind.) High School Red Devil.

Lowell head coach Kent Hess let Basham do his thing and it paid dividends.

“He was a really positive guy,” says Basham of Hess. “He was hands-off. That made a big difference in terms of my development.

“I was keeping a narrow focus.”

That approach allowed lefty-swinging Basham to hit .539 in three varsity seasons (2001-03), one of the best plate careers in Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association annals.

As a senior lead-off hitter, Basham hit .583, clubbed 15 home runs and drove in 48 runs and was named the 2003 Northwest Indiana Times Player of the Year as well as all-conference and first-team all-state.

Basham’s junior year saw hum hit .538 with seven homers and 33 RBIs and was all-conference and first-team all-state.

As a junior, Basham hit .495 with eight homers, 50 RBI and gathered all-conference and all-state honors.

He went on to play three seasons at Michigan State University (2004-06).

Basham played for the Spartans right away and hit .297 with eight homers, 15 doubles and 27 runs batted in.

“I hit well, but in terms of being a situational hitter, I was leaving a lot of guys on and not driving guys in,” says Basham. “After I made that a primary focus, changed RBI output for the rest of my career.”

MSU head coach Ted Mahan and hitting coach John Young got Basham to see his problem as a hitter with runners on base.

“Early on I put a lot of pressure on myself in those situations,” says Basham. “The pressure is really all on the pitcher with a runner in scoring position. I had zero pressure on me. I relaxed. This is where I want to be.”

His coaches also reminded Basham that scoring a runner from third base doesn’t always require a hit. Sometimes hitting to the right side of the infield or lofting a fly ball will do the trick.

Basham hit ..358 with eight homers, 12 doubles and 43 RBI as a sophomore. As a junior, with David Grewe as head coach, he hit .373 with eight homers, 12 doubles and 53 RBI. He was twice named all-Big Ten Conference and earned a marketing degree from MSU (2007).

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Basham in the 29th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

After an injury kept him from playing in the Blue Jays organization, but he did log five seasons of independent professional baseball with the Florence (Ky.) Freedom (now known as the Florence Y’alls), Windy City Thunderbolts (Crestwood, Ill.) and Joliet (Ill.) JackHammers.

In 420 pro games, Basham hit .285 (195-of-573) with 50 homers, 39 doubles and 123 RBI.

Now owner of Basham Baseball LLC, a training facility in Whitestown, Ind., Basham still endorses the theory that hitters can have too many voices.

Some players can have many different opinions coming at them from the their head coach, hitting coach, travel coach, father, grandfather and so on.

“They’re all trying to tell them different things,” says Basham. “It happens quite a bit.”

As Basham’s playing career was winding down, he became a coach. He was an assistant to Jim Nohos at Hanover Central High School in Cedar Lake, Ind. He knew Nohos through the Hammond Chiefs and Hammond Seminoles travel organizations.

Basham was an assistant to Mike Kahirsky at Robert Morris University in Chicago.

At 13, Basham was an original member of the Playmakers travel team fielded by Dave Griffin. His instruction career began at Dave Griffin’s Baseball School in Griffith, Ind.

He has also worked with Justin Stone of Elite Baseball Academy, and former major leaguers John Cangelosi, Dean Anna, and the legendary Bo Jackson at the Bo Jackson Elite Sports Dome in Lockport, Ill.

Ryan and Jessica Basham (both 35) moved from Plainfield, Ill., to central Indiana in 2013, landing first in Whitestown then last winter in Zionsville. Jessica, who is also from Lowell, is a human resource business partner for Sales Force. The couple has two daughters — Emelia (8) and Clara (5).

After the move, Basham was an instructor at RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield, Wheelhouse Baseball Academy and Zionsville Little League. He coached the Indiana Mustangs prior to his current role as 16U coach with the Indy Titans, an organization that has Justin Kamm as president.

Basham was with the same group in 2019 when they competed in 15U events.

“I love work working up through high school — 15U to 17U,” says Basham. “The continuity year or year is important in their development process.”

While the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has everyone separated and training on their own right now, the Titans hope to have a 2020 season.

“We want to try to play as much as possible through June and July,” says Basham. “We usually play 6-8 tournaments.”

The tentative schedule includes appearances with Bullpen Tournaments at Grand Park in Westfield and Pastime Tournaments out-of-town.

“I’m going to reach out to families to see comfort level in traveling in a couple of months,” says Basham, who has been communicating with players via email with suggestions for workouts. “It’s almost like going back in time. They have to learn how to train on your own the best you can with what you’ve got.

“You can hit a bucket (of balls) a day if you have the resources.”

The youngest of Jerry and Janice Basham’s four children (following Laurie, Doug and Mike), Ryan fondly remembers spending hours as a kid having Doug throw batting practice on a field in Lowell.

“Throwing and sprinting are the things you can be doing and can do without anybody else there.”

Basham says if this had been a normal year, his team would have been six weeks into training together six days a week.

This quarantine also offers a chance for players to focus on recruiting by reaching out to coaches with notes of interest and videos.

Ryan Basham, a Lowell (Ind.) High School graduate, played three baseball seasons at Michigan State University (2004-06), twice earning all-Big Ten Conference honors. (Michigan State University Photo)

Ryan Basham, a graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School and Michigan State University, swings for the independent professional Windy City Thunderbolts. Basham played five pro seasons and is now a baseball instructor and coach based in central Indiana. (Windy City Thunderbolts Photo)

The Basham family of Zionsville, Ind., includes Jessica (35), Ryan (35), Clara (5) and Emelia (8). Ryan and Jessica are both graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School. Ryan is a baseball instructor and coach.

Ryan Basham, a graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School and Michigan State University, offers baseball instruction. He was a three-time all-state player in high school and twice named all-Big Ten Conference at MSU.

Ryan Basham, a graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School and Michigan State University, demonstrates the baseball swing to a young player. Basham was a three-time all-state player in high school and twice named all-Big Ten Conference at MSU.

Ryan Basham is the owner of Basham Baseball LLC in Whitestown, Ind. He is a graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School and Michigan State University.

Ryan Basham is the owner of Basham Baseball LLC in Whitestown, Ind. He is a graduate of Lowell (Ind.) High School and Michigan State University.