Carmel alum Williams contributes for Michigan State

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Christian Williams was in the mix Friday, May 3 as Michigan State University edged visiting rival Michigan 3-2 in Big Ten Conference baseball.

The righty-swinging redshirt junior occupied the No. 6 slot in the Spartans lineup.

Another Williams — Nick — lofted a 10th-inning sacrifice fly that won the game and was mobbed by his teammates.

Heading into Game 2 of the three-game Saturday, May 4 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in East Lansing, Mich., Christian Williams has played in 39 contests (37 starts) and is hitting .280 (37-of-132) with three home runs, no triples, eight doubles, 24 runs batted in, 28 runs scored and an .831 OPS (.422 on-base percentage plus .409 slugging average). The designated hitter has eight multi-hit games with four safeties Feb. 24 against Marshall and three Feb. 28 at Georgia.

“I just like to see the ball in the heart of the plate,” says Williams of his offensive approach. “I look for something middle-middle with the fastball and use my athleticism to adjust from there.”

Williams was red-shirted for the 2021 season. In 2022, he played in 24 games (18 starts) and hit .258 (17-of-66) with two homers, two triples, four doubles, 16 RBIs, 14 runs and a .816 OPS (.346/.470). As a catcher, he made 84 putouts with six assists and posted a .978 fielding percentage.

A broken hamate bone in his hand suffered while swinging the bat limited Williams to just two games for the 2023 Spartans. 

He was with the Midwest Collegiate League’s Northwest Indiana Oilmen (the MCL is now the Northern League) in the summer of 2021, the champion Bag Bandits in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2022, missed 2023 while rehabbing from his hamate surgery and plans to go this summer with the Coastal Plain League’s Lexington County (S.C.) Blowfish. He is to be be joined by MSU teammate Sam Busch.

Williams, 22, has at least one year of remaining eligibility and could have two if he seeks and is granted a medical redshirt for ’23. He graduated April 29 with a Kinesiology degree. He plans to pursue a certificate in Coaching, Leadership and Administration while playing in 2024-25. 

What about his defensive keys while behind the plate?

“Catching’s a tough position. You’re seeing the whole field. You’re kind of the unsung hero at times. Good catchers go unnoticed. 

“When I’m back there I try to help my pitchers as best as I can and be a leader on the field — stay calm, cool, collected and athletic and try to help the team win.”

It was at about age 12 that Williams became a catcher.

“When I was younger I liked the gear,” says Williams of why he decided to be a backstop. “I just stuck with it.”

Born in Tampa, Fla., Williams moved to Indiana at about 3 months. I’ve been in Indiana for most of my life. He played rec ball in Pike Township in Indianapolis until 12.

There was followed by a four-year stint in Michigan where he earned two baseball letters at Northville High School playing for head coach John Kostrzewa and played travel ball for the Michigan Bulls.

When he returned to the Hoosier State, Williams went with the Indiana Bulls for his 17U summer and earned two baseball letters at Carmel (Ind.) High School with his 2020 senior season taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greyhounds head coach was Matt Buczkowski.

“He was a great coach,” says Williams of Buczkowski. “He’s a great leader and a great guy. He led us in the right direction. He let us have fun — but at the same time — kept us on the straight and narrow.

“He kept us serious when we needed to be. We won a lot of games.”

Christian is the son of Alan and Lisa Williams. Dad played football at Williams & Mary University and mom soccer at Slippery Rock University. 

Among his football-coaching father’s teams have been the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. He is taking the year off.

Two brothers — Solomon Williams (Carmel Class of 2022 now a safety at Princeton University) and Nathan Williams (Carmel Class of 2025 and exploring college options) — are football players.

At Carmel (Ind.) High School, Christian was a quarterback, receiver and kick returner and considered football as his collegiate route. 

“I had a strong thought,” says Williams, who won four football letters as a high schooler and helped Carmel to a 2019 Class 6A state runner-up finish with 118 all-purpose yards in the title game. “I was being recruited in both (baseball and football) until just before my senior year. Ultimately, I decided on baseball. I couldn’t forgive myself if I wasn’t able to swing a bat again.

“I hit the recruiting process hard and ended up here at Michigan State.”

MSU counts Jake Boss Jr., as head coach.

“He’s a great leader and a strong Christian guy,” says Williams of Boss. “He’s an awesome guy to play for. He lets us do our thing and have fun.”

Spartans hitting coach duties fall to former Western Michigan University shortstop Andrew Stone.

“He’s taught me how to be a good, mature hitter, stay inside the baseball, take good swings and work on my mechanics,” says Williams of Stone. “I work on my approach at the plate and the mental side and being confident and collected.”

Adam Eaton, who logged 10 Major League Baseball seasons, is Michigan State’s director of player development.

“Just learning from a big leaguer has been amazing,” says Williams of Eaton. “He just has a different mentality and approach to the game. To pick up on little things that he teaches us has been huge for me.

“It’s really the mental side and how to be a good baseball player as much as the X’s and O’s and swing techniques. How do I approach baseball on a day-to-day basis? How do I show up and play hard? What do coaches look for?”

The rest of the MSU coaching staff includes Graham Sikes and Mark Van Ameyde plus director of baseball operations Tommy Merlo.

Williams’ favorite MLB team is the Boston Red Sox. He picked that up from his mother who grew up in New England and her side of the family.

Former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was a special player to Williams.

“He was a smaller player and I’ve always a shorter guy,” says Williams, who is 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds. “I liked how he played the game hard and well at his size.”

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Hanover right-hander Alter already getting coaching experience

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

Matthew Alter can see a future in baseball coaching at the collegiate level.
He’s already gotten a head start by assisting in travel ball while also a college player himself.
The 2019 graduate of Indianapolis Lutheran School with two years of eligibility remaining at Hanover (Ind.) College is in his third summer with the Indiana Bulls.
He assisted with Scott French’s 15U Bulls Black squad in 2020. That team featured Class of 2023 standouts Max Clark (Franklin Community) and Andrew Wiggins (Heritage Christian).
Alter aided (former Anderson University assistant) John Becker with the 15U Bulls Grey squad in 2021 and is now helping Becker’s 16U Bulls Grey team. By summer’s end the group will have played about 40 games with tournaments at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., LakePoint Sports in Emerson, Ga., and Creekside Baseball Park in Parkville, Mo.
“After college the plan is to be a college baseball coach,” says Alter, who turned 22 in May. “The quickest way to be an assistant is to be a pitching coach. But I’m also interested in being a graduate assistant.”
Matthew’s cousin, Jared Broughton, is a college baseball coach. He most recently served for three years at Clemson (S.C.) University.
Dick Alter, Matthew’s father, retired from Indianapolis Lutheran following the 2019 season after 40 years of coaching (about the last 25 years of that as a teacher).
“There’s so many thing he taught me,” says Matthew of the shared wisdom shared. “The biggest thing my dad taught me is that baseball is the game of life.
“It doesn’t matter what you did today, it’s what you do tomorrow and the next day.”
Born in Carmel, Ind., Matthew the son of Dick and Karen Alter (who is president of Borshoff, a public relations and advertising agency in Indianapolis).
The Alter family moved to the south side of Indianapolis when their son was 3.
He played at what is now Franklin Township Little League (located behind the former Wanamaker Elementary School) and then was in travel ball with the Indiana Prospects and Indiana Pony Express.
Alter played football, basketball and baseball (for his father) at Lutheran then went to Piedmont College in Demorest, Ga., where Broughton was associate head coach.
Matthew says going to college to play baseball meant “going from being an only child to having 40 brothers.”
He counts slugger Alex Christie (Center Grove) among his good friends on the team.
As a right-handed pitcher, Alter made six relief appearances during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season and went 1-0 with a 2.65 earned run average, nine strikeouts and six walks in 17 innings for the Piedmont Lions.
Alter decided to transfer to another NCAA Division III school in Hanover. Grant Bellak is the Panthers head coach. Until leaving for another job, Thomas Murphy was HC’s pitching coach.
“(Coach Bellak) and I have a great relationship,” says Alter. “He focuses more on hitters and infielders.”
Murphy helped Alter in 2020-21 by helping him build up his lower half to utilize his power and increase velocity. Using a Core Velocity Belt and throwing weighted PlyoCare Balls with Driveline Baseball exercises were part of the routine.
“(Murphy) helped us pitchers with the mental aspect of the game,” says Alter. “He is big on visualizing success and always trying to stay positive. It’s about keeping composure and maintaining positivity and self talk.”
Alter pitched in 11 games (eight starts) in 2021 and went 5-0 with 45 strikeouts and 33 walks in 52 1/3 innings. In 13 contests (11 starts) in 2022, he was 5-5 with 45 strikeouts and 29 walks in 72 innings.
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference plays Saturday and Tuesday doubleheaders and Alter was the Saturday morning starter.
“A lot of the teams (in the HCAC) are very similar,” says Alter. “They have a few good pitchers. But it relies solely on hitting.
“That was evident in our conference tournament. There were a lot of high-scoring games.”
Alter spent just over two weeks with the 2022 summer wood-bat Coastal Plain League’s Lexington County (S.C.) Blowfish before shutting it down for the summer with a tender shoulder.
“It was from overuse,” says Alter, who did not play on any summer teams in 2019, 2020 and 2021. “But I did not tear my labrum.”
Using a three-quarter arm slot, Alter throws two kinds of fastballs (four-seam and two-seam) plus a slider, change-up and curveball.
He topped out at 87 mph with the four-seamer this summer.
“The two-seamer is one of my best pitches,” says Alter. “It definitely moves. It starts at the middle of the plate and ends up outside to a lefty. It moves so much I’m able to fool hitters.”
Alter employs a “circle” change and a 12-to-6 curve that he is able to throw for a strike in any count.
A Communication major, Alter is on pace to graduate at the end of his fourth year in 2023.
If he takes a fifth year, he says he will likely pursue a masters in Communication. Hanover does not have a graduate program in that subject.

Matthew Alter (Hanover College Photo)

Matthew Alter (Hanover College Photo)

Matthew Alter (Piedmont College Photo)

Indiana U.’s Tucker gets summer ball opportunities on two fronts

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Some college baseball players did not get to have a summer season in 2020.

Indiana University’s Braydon Tucker pitched in two different leagues. The right-handed pitcher from Brazil, Ind., was in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., then accepted the invitation to hurl in the Coastal Plain League.

The 12-team Grand Park league sprung up when other circuits opted out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Used mostly as a Tuesday starter (most CSL games were played on Mondays and Tuesdays with training at Pro X Athlete Development Wednesday through Friday), Tucker drove weekdays from Brazil to Grand Park to train or play for the Tropics, a team featuring Josh Galvan as manager and Ryan Cheek as an assistant coach.

As that season wound down, IU pitching coach Justin Parker let Tucker know about an opportunity with the Macon (Ga.) Bacon and the righty took it.

The Bacon, with Jimmy Turk as manager and Josh Teichroew as pitching coach, operated as part of a three-team pod with the Savannah (Ga.) Bananas and Lexington County (S.C.) Blow Fish. Macon teammates included Indiana pitchers Ty Bothwell, Matt Litwicki, Connor Manous and Braden Scott.

Used mostly as a starter with some relief work on scheduled “bullpen” days, Tucker made one trip to Columbia, S.C. He made five mound appearances (three starts) with an 0-0 record, 4.97 earned run average, 14 strikeouts and seven walks in 12 2/3 innings.

His summer four-seam fastball was thrown at 90 to 93 mph, occasionally touching 94. That’s up from 89 to 92 and touching 93 in the spring and 89 to 91 and touching 92 as a freshman in 2019.

Thrown from a three-quarter arm angle like all his pitches, Tucker’s fastball is thrown with a split-finger grip and has sinking action. 

His slider moves from 1-to-7 or 2-to-8 on the clock face, meaning the movement (both horizontal and vertical) is in to the left-handed batter and away from a righty.

He throws a “circle” change-up.

He’s working to add two other pitchers to his selection — a curveball an cutter (cut fastball). 

“The curve plays off the slider,” says Tucker. “It is more vertical than horizontal.”

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Tucker was slated to spend most of June and all of July with the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Keene (N.H.) Swamp Bats, but Keene did not get a chance to go after a second straight NECBL when the league elected to cancel the season.

Tucker, who has logged two springs with the Hoosiers (he has started four of his nine games and is a combined 2-1 with a 4.10 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 11walks in 26 1/3 innings) and played in the summer of 2019 with the Prospect League’s Terre Haute (Ind.) Rex. That team was managed by Tyler Wampler. Jeremy Lucas coached pitchers and catchers. The PL did not take the field this summer either.

A 2018 graduate of Northview High School in Brazil, Tucker helped the Craig Trout-coached Knights win an IHSAA Class 3A state championship in his sophomore year. When he was not on the mound during his prep career, he logged time at first base, second base, third base and all over the outfield.

There was an expectation with Trout of hard play and focus.

“He wanted us to have a loose practice and enjoy it, but if we didn’t execute in practice — like somebody missed the cut-off man — it was a waste of time,” says Tucker, using his own words.

Tucker committed to Indiana when Chris Lemonis was head coach. Most of the pursuing was done by former Hoosier assistants Kyle Bunn (pitching coach) and Kyle Cheesebrough (recruiting director). 

Soon after high school graduation, Tucker enrolled in summer school. By the fall, the coaching staff had changed and Jeff Mercer was in charge with Parker as pitching coach.

“I don’t have one single word to described what it’s like to describe working with them,” says Tucker of Mercer, Parker and the rest of the IU staff. “It’s very detailed and developmental. It’s structured to the point that you don’t need down time. You always have something to do.”

Even when pitchers are engaged in throwing bullpens, long toss or some other specific thing, they are expected to do something productive and help their teammates. The same is true for all of the Hoosiers.

Tucker was born in Terre Haute and grew up in New Palestine, Ind., moving to Brazil as he was starting high school. His father (Jim) grew up in Clay County and his mother (Tammy) was raised on the south side of Terre Haute.

Braydon started in T-ball in New Palestine and was 6 when he made an Indiana Bandits 9U travel team. He attended a camp at the old Bandits Yard in Greenfield, Ind., conducted by Harold Gibson (father of Texas Rangers pitcher Kyle Gibson). Jim Tucker retained the information and used it with Braydon.

After playing two more years with the Bandits, there were three summers with the Indiana Prospects (led by Shane Stout and Mark Peters) and one with the Hancock County-based Indiana Travelers (Mark Horsely).

From 13U to 16U, Tucker played for coaches Rick Arnold and Dan Metzinger with the Ironman Baseball out of Louisville. The 17U summer was spent with the Cincinnati Spikes. Trent Hanna was the head coach and was assisted by Aaron Goe, Stephen Rodgers and Joe Janusik.

Jim Tucker is a senior sourcing team leader at GE Aviation in Terre Haute. Tammy Tucker works is at Catalent Pharma Solutions in Bloomington. She had been in quality management at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis.

Braydon (who turned 21 in July) has two brothers — Dakota (27) and Trey (19). Dakota Tucker played baseball and football at New Palestine then football at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he earned a mechanical engineering that he now uses at Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Trey Tucker is a sophomore at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. He played baseball and basketball at Northview.

Braydon Tucker, who is a Sports Marketing & Management major at IU, represented the Knights on the hardwood for three years. Now back at school, he is taking five classes this fall (all on online). Class begins Monday, Aug. 24. Tucker says baseball facilities are not to open until Sept. 17.

Brayden Tucker, a right-handed pitcher and 2018 graduate of Northview High School in Brazil, Ind., has played two baseball seasons at Indiana University. In the summer of 2020, he played in both the College Summer League at Grand Park and in the Coastal Plain League. (Indiana University Photo)