Crown Point alum Bosse earns CCAC Pitcher of the Week honor with St. Ambrose U.

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Jacob Bosse was honored as Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week on April 23.

The junior left-hander at NAIA member St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, threw an eight-inning complete game with a career high-tying 12 strikeouts and four walks in a 14-1 win against Judson University. He had a shutout going until the seventh inning.

In eight mound outings (all starts) for the 2024 Fighting Bees, Bosse is 2-1 with a 6.00 earned run average, 53 strikeouts and 36 walks in 36 innings. Opponents are hitting .218 against him.

In his first season at St. Ambrose in 2023, he pitched 11 times (six as a starter) and was 1-0 with a 3.82 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 38 walks in 30 2/3 innings.

SAU head coach Tony Huntley and pitching coach Hunter Keim could decide to send Bosse to the bump Sunday, April 28 against visiting Calumet College of St. Joseph (the school in Whiting, Ind., has players familiar to Bosse including Jorge Santos) or save him for next week’s CCAC Tournament in Joliet, Ill.

Pitching wasn’t always the thing for Bosse.

Growing up in Crown Point, Ind.,and playing Little League and Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth ball and travel ball with Top Tier, he was an outfielder.

At Crown Point High School, he only stepped on the mound once in awhile.

“I’d go in if we needed a guy,” says Bosse. “I had no real feel for how to be a pitcher.”

He went up the ladder for the Bulldogs, playing on the frosh team as a freshman, junior varsity squad as a sophomore and varsity as a junior. He could be found in left field or center field.

Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Steve Strayer leads the CPHS program.

“He’s probably one of the best coaches I’ll ever have,” says Bosse of Strayer. “He’s a great guy. He really gave me confidence. 

“He helped me become a better baseball player and a better person.”

While working out for a 2020 senior season that wound up canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bosse began to get serious about pitching.

After graduation, the left-hander stuck with it.

As fits his personality, he threw himself the task of getting better at the craft.

“I’m a very fierce competitor,” says Bosse, 22. “I care a lot about what and how I’m doing. If goes beyond the game for me. I’m planning my days out around what I’m going to do to get better. 

“My competitiveness and hunger to do better every day are my best qualities.”

Delivering from a high three-quarter arm slot, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Bosse mixes a four-seam fastball, “circle” change-up, 12-to-6 curveball and a slider.

He has topped out at 92 mph and sits at 87 to 91 mph with his fastball. His change travels at 75 to 78, curve at 70 to 74 and slider at 76 to 79.

“I try to get more arm-side sink (with the change-up),” says Bosse. “I try to get a lot of fade to it to miss more barrels. It plays really well off my fastball.

“I do get a lot of natural run. When I pull it down, I get more back spin than side spin. I try to create a rise effect with it.”

Bosse attended a Prep Baseball Report showcase through Top Tier and was drawn to South Suburban College, a National Junior College Athletic Association member in South Holland, Ill. It was where he became a pitcher-only.

Toeing the slab for the Steve Ruzich-coached Bulldogs, Bosse pitched in 37 games (29 as a reliever) in 2021 and 2022 and went 5-3 with 5.72 ERA, 96 strikeouts and 70 walks in 74 innings.

Pitching for the NWI Rippers in a Babe Ruth district game in the summer of 2021, Bosse struck out a record 20 batters. He faced 24 batters and gave up one hit in 6 2/3 innings. Of 106 pitches, 69 were strikes.

“I do consider myself to be a pretty high-strikeout pitcher,” says Bosse. “I do take into account how many pitches I’m using. If I can strike out a guy as fast as I can, I try to do that and really challenge him.”

Through Twitter (now X), Bosse was recruited to St. Ambrose by assistant coach Joe Vaccaro.

“I came out here for a visit, loved it and decided it was the place for me,” says Bosse. “It is a really nice place.”

In the summer of 2022, Bosse played for the Crown Point-based Lake County CornDogs of the Northern League. In 2023, he was with the Northwoods League’s Rochester (Minn.) Honkers. This summer he’s due to play for the NWL’s Fond du Lac (Wis.) Dock Spiders.

A Sport Management major, Bosse expects to finish his undergraduate degree in the fall then begin masters classes. He says he plans to play 2025 might come back in 2026 as a graduate student. The pandemic plus his time in junior college has added to his eligibility clock.

Bosse’s favorite MLB team is the Los Angeles Dodgers. A recreational basketball player growing up, his favorite athlete is former Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose.

“I got to see him play a couple of times when I was a kid,” says Bosse. “That’s how I grew to love Chicago.”

Jacob is the oldest of Brad and Diana Bosse’s two children. Allyson Bosse is studying Business at Indiana University South Bend.

Jacob Bosse. (St. Ambrose University Photo)

Jacob Bosse. (St. Ambrose University Photo)

Jacob Bosse. (St. Ambrose University Photo)

Jacob Bosse. (Lake County CornDogs Photo)

Jacob Bosse. (Lake County CornDogs Photo)

Jacob Bosse. (South Suburban College Photo)

Jacob Bosse.

Jacob Bosse with sister Allyson, father Brad and mother Diana.

Mokma does his part to help Huntington U. pitchers reach their goals

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Even before Mike Mokma became part of the baseball coaching staff at Huntington (Ind.) University, he was getting to know Foresters players.

Mokma, a standout right-handed pitcher at Holland (Mich.) Christian High School (2013-16) and Michigan State University (2017-19) who competed in the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021) and Seattle Mariners systems (2022) and served as head coach at South Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Mich. (spring of 2023), was the pitching coach for the Jamie Sailors-managed Lafayette (Ind.) Aviators (summer of 2023).

Prospect League member Lafayette featured Huntington pitchers Graham Kollen and Tyler Papenbrock and catcher Sebastian Kuhns and it was with the Aviators that Mokma met HU head coach Thad Frame. 

Hired by Huntington in August, Mokma reunited with the three Foresters who were part of a team that went 37-16 overall and 27-9 in NAIA Crossroads League when he arrived on campus in the fall as Frame’s pitching coach. 

The emphasis for Mokma, 25, has been development.

“It’s how we can get our guys to achieve the goals they want to achieve as well as the goals we want to achieve (as a team),” says Mokma. “It’s just being there all the time for them.

“What’s our plan on the mound every time we go out? What’s that look like opponent to opponent? What makes our guys good?”

The 2023 campaign ended with a 6-5 loss to Indiana Wesleyan University in the championship game of the CL tournament at HU’s Forest Glen Park. Two conference teams — IWU and Taylor University — moved on to NAIA Opening Round play then wound up at the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Taylor is No. 9 and Indiana Wesleyan No. 14 in the 2023-24 Top 25 preseason rankings.

“Our expectations are to get the NAIA World Series,” says Mokma. “You look inside of that and it’s what we did last year and what we’re going to do. Our emphasis this year are the little things. What little things did not allow us to (make the 2023 NAIA tournament)? Everyone coming back knows the feeling of not being able to get there.

“You see how close we got last year. You clean up a few of the little things, there’s your opportunity.”

Mokma splits recruiting duties with Huntington assistant Jamar Weaver.

“For me, it’s finding guys that I feel fit out pitching staff with make-up, repertoire and how they compete,” says Mokma. “We’re looking for the best players that we feel fit us.”

The current 2024 online roster includes 24 players with Indiana hometowns plus three from Ohio and one each from Kentucky, New York, Canada, Curacao and the Dominican Republic.

Cost is the same for all players — in-state or out-of-state. Athletic scholarship money is based on a Crossroads League spending limit.

“Almost every kid coming in will get some kind of academic scholarship,” says Mokma. 

Frame plus assistants Weaver and Andy Vaught and graduate assistant Langston Ginder are all HU graduates. Ginder played for the 2023 Foresters.

At the NCAA D-I level, there are 11.7 available scholarships divided among 27 players on a 35-man roster. Mokma says he does not recall that anyone at Michigan State was on a “full-ride” is his three seasons in East Lansing.

Mokma grew up in Holland and played summer travel ball for Elite Baseball of Grand Rapids and occasionally was picked up for tournaments by the Kalamazoo Maroons. Jim Caserta was the Holland Christian head coach. 

Scott and Jennifer Mokma had two sons on the field when HCHS (also known as the Maroons) won a Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state championship in 2016. Mike Mokma was pitching and little brother Chris Mokma, a freshman, was at first baseman.

In Mike’s junior and senior years of high school, he earned basketball letters with Jason Mejeur as head coach.

At Michigan State, the 6-foot-7, 235-pound Mokma made 34 mound appearances (18 starts) and went 4-7 with a 3.71 earned run average, 85 strikeouts and 37 walks in 111 2/3 innings. 

As a Spartan, Mokma discovered his diamond identity.

“I learned just who I was as a pitcher,” says Mokma. “I got to college and I could throw hard and I could throw strikes. But besides that it was how I could get guys out and how I could go deep into games.

“When you go against big-time hitters you get intimidated pretty quick, especially being a young freshman. I had to learn quickly that who I was had nothing to do with who they were and my best was going to beat their best. It wasn’t easy, but once I learned that the confidence went up from there.”

Jake Boss Jr., was — and still is — head coach at Michigan State. Recruited by Mark Van Ameyde, Mokma had two pitching coaches at MSU — Skyler Meade (now head coach at Troy, Ala., University) in 2017 and Van Ameyde (who head coach at Eastern Michigan University then came back for his second stint as a Spartans assistant) in 2018 and 2019.

Mokma pitched in 53 professional games (all in relief) and went 7-5 with two saves, a 3.32 ERA, 78 strikeouts and 25 walks in 81 1/3 innings. He was in the Dodgers organization for three years but only go to play for one. Injured in March 2019, he spent the rest of the year rehabbing though was signed by LA as an undrafted free agent. The COVID-19 pandemic took away the 2020 minor league season. 

He finally pitched in a game again in 2021 for the High Class-A Great Lakes Loons (Midland, Mich.). A free agent at season’s end, Mokma was inked by the Seattle Mariners organization and hurled for the High Class-A Everett (Wash.) AquaSox in 2022. 

“I learned the mental game of baseball is a very funny thing,” says Mokma of his pro experience. “I think it’s overlooked from a pitching standpoint. I learned to control what you can control not let your highs get too high or your lows get too low.”

Mokma decided to make 2022 has last season as a player. He earned his degree from MSU in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science and began his coaching career in 2023, leading the program at South Christian. 

“I always wanted to get into coaching,” says Mokma. “I always wanted to give back and do the same that every coach I’ve had has helped me with, getting them where they want to be.”

Mentors include Caserta, who also led West Ottawa High School in Holland to an MHSAA Division I state crown in 2003, and David Kool, Michigan’s Mr. Basketball in 2006 at South Christian and Western Michigan University’s all-time leading scorer with 2,122 points and a former Holland Christian head boys basketball coach and now the South Christian athletic director.

“Both of them have told me some of the things I’m going to run into and here’s a framework for a lot of things,” says Mokma. “With (Caserta), we were going get our work in, do the best we can and we’re going to get out.”

Caserta is now quarterbacks coach for Holland-based Hope College football.

Chris Mokma, who was a back-up catcher and first baseman on the varsity as a freshman and grew to be a 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher with multiple perfect games, committed to Michigan State but was selected in the 12th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Miami Marlins and went pro. He has logged 80 minor league games 2019, 2021-23. He was with the High Class-A Midwest League’s Beloit (Wis.) Sky Carp in parts of 2022 and 2023.

“He’s always been able to control the fastball a little bit better than I have,” says Mike of Chris. “He’s got a really good change-up. I never had a change-up. I was always a fastball/slider guy. That’s what I relied on.”

In a pairing of former NCAA Division I athletes, Mike and Miranda (O’Donald) Mokma were married October 2020 in Emmaus, Pa. She is from that Lehigh Valley town and played softball for three years while majoring in Sport Management at the University of Delaware. The couple met in the summer of 2018 when Mike was playing in the Cape Cod League with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and Miranda was doing an internship.

Huntington is scheduled to open the 2024 baseball season Feb. 9 against MidAmerican Nazarene in Olathe, Kan.

Mike Mokma. (Los Angeles Dodgers Photo)

Mike Mokma. (Michigan State University Photo)

Mike Mokma. (Everett AquaSox Photo)

Taylor U. alum Minta Dodgers pitching analytics coordinator

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

It’s no secret that baseball has become more data-driven in recent years.

Technology has helped lead to new metrics in evaluating player performance.

Pitchers alone can be measured for extension, release point, movement, velocity and much more. 

Major League Baseball organizations have invested in studying this information to best develop their players at all levels.

As pitching analytics coordinator and part of the pitching leadership group with the Los Angeles Dodgers former Taylor University (Upland, Ind.) player Brent Minta makes sure the organization is moving in the right direction from an analytics perspective.

“The front office cares about specific things,” says Minta. “It’s my job to marry the relationship between our analysts and coaches and players. I make sure that things like pitch design and pitch usage are being carried out on the field.”

Minta educates so that those on the field are equipped and able to speak the “language of analytics.”

“Something we hold as a high standard for all our players and coaches is to be able to have those higher-level conversations because it accelerates our player development process,” says Minta. “We tell our players you don’t have to be crazy about this but at least be at a point where you can understand what we’re talking about.”

After playing four years and graduating from Taylor with a double major in Finance and Sport Management in 2015, Minta served an internship with the Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Ill., near where he was a prepster (he is a 2011 alum of Aurora Christian High School in Naperville, Ill.).

That was followed by a video scout job with what was then Baseball Info Solutions (now Sports Info Solutions) in Coplay, Pa., near Allentown in 2016. 

“I watched MLB and some minor league games all day and charted them on software,” says Minta. “I was around people who were driven to work in professional baseball. It was a really fun year. There’s a really good network of people who used to work on BIS/SIS. 

“It’s always a good thing to have on your resume — at least in my opinion.”

Minta spent the 2017 season with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers as a video associate then stayed on with the system’s player development department, moving to Arizona in January 2018. His job title morphed to his current position.

Minta spends this time of year going to the complex at Camelback Ranch in Glendale a few times a week aiding the six or seven players who choose to live in the area and work out there. 

“It’s more relaxed (in the off-season),” says Minta.

Brent and wife Stephanie met in 2019 and were married in 2020. The couple lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with young son Luke (born Dec. 17, 2022).

“It’s really cool,” says Brent Minta, who turns 31 on Dec. 11. “We were born six days and 30 years apart.”

Stephanie Minta has been a teacher at Scottsdale Christian Academy.

A dead period, which is a new part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), goes from the Saturday before Thanksgiving and goes through Jan. 1. Contact between players and team personnel is not allowed during this period. Winter training resumes Jan. 2.

The off-season is also a time for Minta to look at minor league free agents and lay out player plans with ways they can improve and areas they can target leading up to spring training in February/March 2024.

“As a department we all get on the same page and talk about these things and I’ll end up putting it on paper to lay it out for our coaches and players and hold ourselves accountable,” says Minta. 

Taylor has taken to spending J-Term in Arizona and training while playing its early games. To open the 2024 season, the Trojans plan to play Ottawa (Ariz.) Feb. 25-27. 

Over the years, Minta has built a relationship with Taylor pitching coach Justin Barber while also seeing TU head coach Kyle Gould, who recruited Minta to the school in the NAIA’s Crossroads League.

“He’s very passionate,” says Minta of Gould, who is heading into his 20th season as head coach in 2023-24. “The four years that I was there we were going to work hard at practice and play baseball the right way. We were going to throw strikes. There was a high standard for what Taylor University baseball was from the minute I got there.

“It sharpened everybody.”

While he did not play much his freshman year at Taylor in 2012, Minta split his time between pitcher and catcher 2013-2015. He was starting catcher also used on the mound as a junior and mostly a pitcher as a senior.

“My faith has always been very important to me,” says Minta in explaining why he chose TU to extend his athletic and academic careers. “Somebody about the vibe and people I met at Taylor I just fell in love with it.

“I fell in love with the school and the baseball program separately.”

Right-hander Ryan Pepiot, a Westfield High School graduate who was selected by LA in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Butler University in Indianapolis, pitched for the Dodgers at the big league level in 2022 and 2023.

Brent Minta. (Los Angeles Dodgers Photo)

Hall of Fame president Rawitch, inductee Rolen share Indiana U. bond

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Josh Rawitch wore something special at Cooperstown on July 23 — the day for the 2023 enshrinement class went into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Hall of Fame president since September 2021, Rawitch had something in-common with one of the honorees.

Scott Rolen, who was born in Evansville and shined on the diamond and hardwood at Jasper (Ind.) High School, is the director of player development for baseball at Indiana University. Rawitch earned a bachelor’s degree in Sport Marketing & Management and a minor in Business at Indiana in 1998.

“On the day of the induction I wore an IU tie,” says Rawitch. “Most of the world just thought it was a red tie. It had a small IU logo at the bottom and I took a picture with Scott and I was showing it off at the end of the day.”

Through Sport Management professor Paul Pedersen, who had brought Rawitch to speak to his classes and devoted a chapter to him in his text book, a relationship was formed with Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Rolen.

“It was very cool to be part of the group to call him in Bloomington to let him know that he had gotten in (to Cooperstown),” says Rawitch. “(Pedersen) actually stayed at my place during the induction. With (Anderson, Ind., native) Carl Erskine (who received the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award) there were a lot of Hoosier people in Cooperstown in July and it was pretty  cool to see all those people and feel a kinship with them.”

Josh grew up in Los Angeles, the son of Bob and Cynthia Rawitch. They were were journalism veterans. His mother was a career professor and later a provost and his father was a reporter and editor at the LA Times and an adjunct professor for years. Both worked at Cal State-Northridge.

A cousin from Massachusetts — Ken Roth — attended Indiana about a decade before Josh and moved out to LA and lived from Josh and his family. 

“He always talked about how great Indiana, Bob Knight and the Big Ten,” says Rawitch, who played second base and third baseball for Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles and got to visit when his father had a Midwest conference. “When I saw the campus I just fell in love with it and realized that’s where I wanted to go.”

IU is where Rawitch met the women he would marry. Josh and Erin have two children. Emily (15) works in the Hall of Fame gift shop. Braden (13) is a shortstop and pitcher who played at Cooperstown All Star Village this week.

As Hall of Fame president, Rawitch has had the chance to experience many special moments, including being on stage at the induction ceremony or attending the dinner the night before that is just for living Hall of Famers plus the commissioner and the museum president.

“Those are the most surreal things that have happened since I’ve been here,” says Rawitch. “But for me it’s really been it’s just seeing this community, the people that work here and being part of a really, really incredible institution. Almost everyday something happens where I pinch myself and say I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.”

Rawitch, who turned 47 in July, oversees the daily operation of the Hall of Fame which employs nearly 100 full-time staff members a welcomes more than 300,000 annual visitors.

He estimates that about 400 artifacts are brought into the collection and many others are considered. 

“It is a living, breathing museum every single day,” says Rawitch, who says the Hall of Fame’s library contains 3 million documents and many books, documents, photos, audio tapes etc. are regularly considered for acquisition. “It’s not as well known to the public, but it’s pretty cool.”

Fundraising or helping in the building of an exhibit is another part of Rawitch’s job.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to promote the game,” says Rawitch.

About a week a month, Rawitch is traveling. He spends the rest of the time in Cooperstown.

Trips might include taking a plaque to a park or visit to the World Series, All-Star Game or spring training. 

In 2023, Rawitch has been at the London Series with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals and Mexico City Series featuring the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.

Before taking his current position, Rawitch was with the Arizona Diamondbacks, serving as senior vice president of communications then senior vice president of contest & communications.

While with the D-backs, he was also an adjunct professor of Strategic Sports Communications in Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Beginning in 1995, Rawitch spent two stints with Los Angeles Dodgers, holding the titles of vice president of communications, director of public relations and broadcasting, assistant director of public relations, baseball information coordinator, advertising & special events coordinator and intern.

In 2001-02, he was a beat reporter for Major league Baseball Advance Media then went back to the Dodgers.

He has also served as an adjunct professor in the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

“The class that I taught was basically everything I did for the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers — everything from media relations and how you pitch a story to how you find statistics to the point you’re making for a broadcaster. Social media grew dramatically over the time I taught the class. 

“We debated on how things were handled from a communications standpoint and how we might have handled it differently,” says Rawitch.

In 2018, Rawitch received the prestigious Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence.

“Probably 15 years ago or so I had a boss that told me he thought I could be a club president some day,” says Rawitch. “The seed was planted that somewhere during my career down the road the opportunity would come up.”

It was not until previous Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson was getting ready for his retirement that he reached out to Rawitch about applying for the position.

“It’s certainly not something I ever thought about,” says Rawitch. “I dreamed about being in Cooperstown with a plaque when I was a kid, but I certainly never dreamed of working and living in Cooperstown. 

“I’ve done it for a couple of years and it’s better than I could have ever imagined. It’s such a special place. It’s a great community and great place to raise a family.”

Josh Rawitch. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Photo)

Pepiot in third big league spring training with Dodgers

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

Ryan Pepiot has experienced quite a run in his life and career.
Since November 2021, Pepiot has gotten married, made his Major League Baseball debut and landed his first hole-in-one.
“I’ve had a pretty good 18 months,” says Pepiot, a right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers who began his third big league spring training camp at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The Indianapolis-born Pepiot was selected in the third round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft out Butler University (brother Kyle Pepiot is a senior outfielder for the Bulldogs in 2023; Ryan, a 2016 graduate of Westfield (Ind.) High School where he played for Ryan Bunnell, was recruited by Steve Farley and played at Butler for Dave Schrage) wed Lilia Poulsen in 2021.
Pepiot, 25, met the New Orleans native at Butler where she was studying ballet. Lilia — cousin of draft-eligible Ball State University right-hander Ty Johnson — was a ballerina was in a professional LA-based touring company prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She’s going to get back into commercial dance when the season starts,” says Ryan of Lilia Pepiot.
The couple resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., where a favorite restaurant — Ocean 44 (a seafood and steak eatery) — is within walking distance.
“We like the oysters,” says Pepiot.
May 11, 2022 was Pepiot’s first MLB appearance. The afternoon game in Pittsburgh was attended by no less than 15 relatives and friends. Among them was his wife, brother, parents, in-laws, best friends from high school, college teammates and close family friends.
“It was the closet I played to home in a long time,” says Pepiot. “Indianapolis to Pittsburgh isn’t too far.
Pepiot, who once wore the uniform of the Chris Estep-led Indiana Mustangs travel team roster, made nine MLB mound appearances (seven starts) for the 2022 Dodgers and went 3-0 with a 3.47 earned run average. In 36 1/3 innings, he recorded 42 strikeouts and 27 walks. He also went 9-1 for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
“I learned a lot about myself — physically, mentally, everything,” says Pepiot of his time in the majors. “I learned that I can pitch and compete at the highest level.
“When I’m in the (strike) zone and attacking hitters I can give our team a chance to win ballgames. I learned how it all works being in that clubhouse with Hall of Famers and superstars. I got advice and picked their brains.”
In LA, Pepiot is in the starting rotation mix with left-hander Julio Urias, right-handers Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, lefty Clayton Kershaw and righties Noah Syndergaard, Michael Grove, Andre Jackson and Walker Buehler.
“We’re in a good group so it will be interesting,” says Pepiot, who is still considered a rookie. “I’ll be happy whenever I can pitch and in whatever role I’m cool with it.”
Former big leaguer Mark Prior is the Dodgers pitching coach. He is assisted by Connor McGuiness.
Pepiot’s “out” pitch is his “circle” change-up.
He began developing the pitch — which runs away from left-handed batters and into righties — while playing for the Keene (N.H.) Swamp Bats in the summer of 2017.
“I needed something,” says Pepiot. “I’ve continued to fine-tune it ever since.”
Pepiot’s change-up — which is generally clocked at 84 or 85 mph or between 8 to 12 mph slower than his four-seam fastball — has been compared to that of Milwaukee righty closer Devin Williams.
While Williams throws his at around 3,000 RPM, Pepiot’s comes in around 2,500.
A slider is the other one of Pepiot’s three-pitch repertoire.
MLB rules call for a pitch clock in 2023. Pitchers will have 15 seconds to throw a pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base. Hitters will need to be in the batter’s box with eight seconds on the pitch clock.
“It won’t be a big deal for me. I had it in Triple-A last year so I got used to it and I like to work fast,” says Pepiot. “The hard part is you might only have eight seconds to go through a sign sequence when the guy gets in the box.”
While there is no such system in the minors, MLB uses PitchCom to relay signals from catcher to pitcher. With the system, the catcher has a pad on his knee cap which is programmed with pitches and location. The pitcher has a receiver in his cap which tells him the desired pitch.
There is also the new pick-off rule. Pitchers will be allowed to disengage with the rubber twice per plate appearance. This number resets if a base runner advances within the same plate appearance.
A third step-off with result in a balk, unless at least one offensive player advance a base or an out is made on the ensuing play.
“That one’s a little difficult,” says Pepiot.
How about that hole-in-one?
Pepiot, who plays golf a couple of times a week, picked up the game after he was drafted. He was on the links often after COVID came along. Lilia’s parents live next to a country club near New Orleans.
His ace came in the Justin Turner Golf Classic Feb. 6 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He was using a 9-iron in the 182-yard par-3 hole.

Ryan Pepiot makes his MLB debut.

An ace for Ryan Pepiot.

Ryan Pepiot. (Los Angeles Dodgers Photo)

Ryan Pepiot. (MLB Photo)

’22 Evansville North grad Decker adapting to life with the Dodgers

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

Cameron Decker was a young baseball player at McCutchanville Community Park on the north side of Evansville, Ind., when he donned a Dodgers jersey.
Flash forward about a decade later and Decker is with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
The 18-year old was selected in the 18th round of the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Dodgers. The draft was held July 17-19, he signed July 30 and last week finished a short stint in the Arizona Complex League. He came back to Evansville for a few days then headed back to Glendale, Ariz., for “bridge” league and Arizona Instructional League (which conclude Oct. 8). The Dodgers’ training complex is at Camelback Ranch.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder enjoyed a super senior season at Evansville North High School in 2022. He made 115 plate appearances and hit .447 with 12 home runs, five doubles, three triples and .617 on-base percentage as a righty-swinging shortstop. He bashed six homers in the Huskies’ first three games.
“It was my goal going in to hit a lot of home runs,” says Decker of the offensive approach at the end of his high school career. “(After the hot start), I saw a ton of curveballs and balls. I switched my mindset to be less aggressive and more patient and take what comes my way.
“As a pro, I’ve tried to hunt fastballs. In two-strike counts, I’m looking to put something in-play.”
While he has not fully committed to it, Decker is considering becoming a switch hitter.
“When I was about 12 I took a few (lefty) swing in the cage and my body felt well and not awkward,” says Decker. “I’ll sometime hit (lefty) in the cage to loosen things up.”
Decker was selected to play in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series June 25-26 at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion and Evansville North head coach Jeremy Jones was head coach for the South.
A University of Central Florida commit, Decker opted to go pro rather than attend college.
“It was a combination of a lot of things,” says Decker of the factors that went into his decision. “Three years of college is a lot of time. You’re not guaranteed to be drafted again. Development in pro ball is higher than three years of college.
“My dream since I was a little kid to play Major League Baseball.”
Decker, who turns 19 on Sept. 22, is getting used to the transition from amateur to pro baseball.
“I’m enjoying you a lot,” says Decker. “It’s a job and it’s a lot of baseball. We’re at the field 9 to 12 hours a day getting work in and playing games.
“I’m around a lot of smart people who love baseball. It’s pretty cool.”
The Dodgers have used Decker as a corner infielder but he has also gotten reps in the outfield and at shortstop and second base.
Decker considers strength and the ability to cover ground in the infield and outfield and run the bases well as some of his best qualities.
“I’ve always been a strong kid,” says Decker. “I’ve always had power regardless of my height. I’ve been working on being more mobile and loose. “It’s part natural strength. I also hit weight room three times a week for a whole-body workout.”
Since the end of his freshman year at Evansville North, Decker has worked out with Tyler Norton, who is a strength and conditioning coach for the Dodgers and runs TNT Fitness and Performance in Fort Branch, Ind.
Decker was born in Evansville and grew up on the north side. After playing at McCutchanville, he was with Highland and competed in the Indiana Little League State Tournament at age 12.
Playing for father Chad Decker, Cameron went into travel ball with the Evansville Thunder.
“Then it was time to go chase bigger things,” says Cameron, who was with the Canes Midwest coached by David Bear and Phil McIntyre his 15U and 16U summers and 5 Star Midwest coached by Jerry Cowan at 17U.
Along the way, Decker impressed scouts including those with the Dodgers, especially after he showed well in an event in Jupiter, Fla.
Dodgers Upper Midwest area scout Mitch Schulewitz (who pitched the University of Illinois-Chicago) signed Decker to his first pro contract.
Cameron — the oldest of Princeton (Ind.) Community High School graduates Chad and Libby Decker’s two sons — comes from a family with a strong baseball pedigree.
Grandfather Joe Don Decker played at Indiana State and in the Cincinnati Reds system. He was a 1962 spring training roommate of Pete Rose and went as high as Triple-A.
Father Chad Decker set records at Princeton then went to the University of Central Florida as a pitcher. After developing arm problems, he transferred to Indiana University to study business and now sells dental insurance.
Cousin Jeff Goldbach broke Chad’s Princeton hitting records and was drafted in the second round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He was tragically shot and killed in Greensboro, N.C., in 2021.
Uncle Quinn Decker pitched at Indiana State and lettered in 1996.
Brother Cole Decker (Evansville North Class of 2024) is a lefty-swinging and lefty-throwing outfielder who spent the summer of 2022 with the traveling Louisville Legends. The spring high school season was his first baseball season playing with his big brother.
“We’re a very tight family,” says Cameron. “But summers are usually split with mom and dad trading off (to followed one brother or the other).”
Libby Decker is a former social worker now in marketing. She holds degrees from Indiana State and UCF.

Cameron Decker. (Los Angeles Dodgers Photo)

Cameron and Chad Decker from the McCutchanville days.

Cameron Decker’s first Los Angeles Dodgers organization jersey.

Cameron Decker (left) and Los Angeles Dodgers strength and conditioning coach Tyler Norton in Glendale, Ariz.

‘The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story’ makes Indianapolis premier

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

“The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story” — a film by Ted Green — made its Indianapolis debut Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Tobias Theater aka The Toby.
After the screening presented by Heartland Film, Green told why he chose the documentary subject.
“I like to do films that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit,” said Green, a producer, director, writer and researcher who partnered with Indiana Historical Society and created a cinematic portrayal of the man who has impacted the baseball world and so much more. “I just found myself drawn to this 95-year old guy up in Anderson, Ind., who was able to sort of move social mountains — not through bombast, not through money, but through grace, through humility, through servant leadership — and I will tell you that the last two years spent during production were the greatest two years of education of my life.
“Maybe just maybe niceness and decency can win in the end.”
Esteemed broadcaster Bob Costas summed it up in his on-screen introduction: “It was a story told softly as you’re about to see and hear about a story that cumulatively speaks to a person who’s deeply admirable.”
Erskine, who became known as “The Gentleman from Indiana,” was born Dec. 13, 1926 in Anderson, won 122 games as a right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.
Throwing an overhand curveball that Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully said could be seen in a snowstorm, Erskine struck out a then-record 14 batters in the 1953 World Series.
“Oisk” — as Brooklyn fans called him — is the last living member of the 1955 team that won the World Series. That group is part of Roger Kahn’s celebrated book, “The Boys of Summer.” Hall of Famer and Indiana native Gil Hodges was also on that team.
Erskine threw two no-hitters and the was the starting pitcher in the Dodgers’ first game in LA.
But that’s just a part of Erskine’s tale.
“When I was a little boy I had this feeling in my soul: Something good is going to happen to you,” said Erskine early in the film. I just had this feeling,”
Carl and Betty Erskine will celebrate 75 years of marriage on Oct. 5. They raised four children — Danny, Gary, Susan and Jimmy.
The latter was born in 1960 — less than a year after Carl retired from baseball — with Down syndrome. Rather than put Jimmy away in an institution, the Erskine showered him with love and treated him like the rest of the children.
“We were an active family,” said Gary Erskine. “Jimmy was not left behind.”
Jimmy got on to a school bus for the first time in 1972 and has gone on to lead an independent life.
When Carl and Betty’s fourth child came along, Indiana had long took a dim view of the “feeble-minded” and in 1907 was the nation’s first state to enact compulsory sterilization to “prevent procreation of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles and rapists.”
Expected to live to around 35, Jimmy Erskine turned 62 this year. He worked at Applebee’s in Anderson for two decades and competed in Special Olympics for 50 (starting with the Indiana State Special Olympic Games in Terre Haute in 1970).
The Carl and Betty Erskine Society raises money for the Special Olympics.
The Erskine Personal Impact Curriculum (EPIC) is a set of materials for elementary, middle and high school students that uses stories from Carl’s life to “create lessons and activities with themes including empowerment, friendship, inclusion and leadership.”
Thursday’s event was also a celebration of the Erskine connection to Special Olympics Indiana and helping to promote grace, humility, diversity, inclusion and servant leadership.
When Carl was 10 and playing basketball in the alley with friends, 9-year-old Johnny Wilson wandered in.
Carl’s question to the boy who happen to be black was, “Do you want to play?”
It was the start of long friendship that lasted more than eight decades — one that will be commemorated with a mural in downtown Anderson in 2023.
The boy who went on to be known as “Jumpin’” Johnny Wilson came from a family on welfare so he often ate at the Erskine house.
Blacks were not welcome in some Anderson restaurants. They could not join the YMCA. They were restricted to the balcony of the movie theater.
The Ted Green film made its world premier Aug. 11 at Anderson’s Paramount Theatre with an encore on Aug. 13.
“Blacks were expected to be where they were supposed to be and the whites on the other side,” said Erskine.
Carl’s parents — Matt and Berths — did not show that prejudice.
General Motors Delco Remy inspector Matt Erskine “walked as easily among blacks as whites.”
Bertha Erskine “was known for seeing the best in everyone and everything.”
Said Carl, “She gave me the feeling that beauty is all around us. Don’t forget to look at it.”
Carl went to the blacks-only swimming pool with Johnny Wilson. He didn’t go to places Johnny couldn’t and he sat in the balcony with his pal.
They later played together on the Anderson High School basketball team. Wilson was chosen as Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1946 and went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters and is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He competed in baseball, basketball, football and track and field at Anderson College (now Anderson University) and is in that school’s athletic hall of fame.
Erskine, who was later head baseball coach at Anderson College for 12 years and is also in the Ravens Hall of Fame, shined on the diamond for Anderson High and Anderson American Legion Post 127.
Throwing a tennis ball against a barn with a strike zone marked in chalk, Carl continually fanned his hero.
Said Erskine, “I can’t count how many times I struck out Babe Ruth.”
First discovered by Indianapolis scout Stan Feezle, Carl landed with the Dodgers after a stint in the U.S. Navy.
The Dodgers were run by Branch Rickey, who signed the Hoosier hurler for $5,000.
“I think there was an esteem there,” said Branch Rickey III of the relationship between his grandfather and Erskine. “He just had a deep, deep appreciation for what character could do individually. We loved what character could do for teams.”
As a minor leaguer pitching against the big club, Erskine first met Jackie Robinson, who made a point of encouraging him his outing.
Erskine made his Dodgers debut in 1948 and went on to toe the rubber for the franchise 335 times.
Two Erskine-penned books are “Tales from the Dodgers Dugout” and “What I Learned from Jackie Robinson” and has been involved with Jackie Robinson Day activities with The Base Indy.
One day after Erskine had shown kindness to wife and son — Rachel Robinson and Jackie Jr. — Robinson expressed his appreciation.
“‘Come on, Jackie, it’s as natural to me as breathing,’” said Erskine of his response. But Jackie was always kind of surprised. He said to me, ‘this black and white thing doesn’t seem to bother you.’ I told him about Johnny my buddy. He said, ‘Carl, I see life divided. You seem to see life connected.’”
When Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella was paralyzed in an auto accident in 1958, the first teammate to visit him in the hospital was Erskine.
A man of faith who met Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Erskine was there at the start of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Erskine lent his talent to Dale McMillen aka “Mr. Mac” with the Wildcat League for youth in Fort Wayne, Ind.
An insurance salesman and a bank president in his hometown, Carl has been a civic leader along with Betty.
Anderson has Erskine Elementary School (a video message from Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda at the dedication appears in the film).
There’s also was is now known as Anderson Youth Baseball & Softball at Erskine Park.
The broadcast premier of “The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story” is slated for 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 on WFYI in Indianapolis with PBS stations around Indiana expected to follow.
As well as being part of the Heartland International Film Festival Oct. 6-16 in Indianapolis, screenings are planned for Sept. 29 at Eagles Theater in Wabash, Ind., Oct. 13 at Muncie Civic Center with dates to be determined at Artcraft Theater in Franklin, Ind., and Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Indianapolis premier of the Ted Green film “The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story” was Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Tobias Theater aka The Toby. (Steve Krah Photo)

A memento from the Indianapolis premier of the Ted Green film “The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story.” (Steve Krah Photo)

Lefty Lohman competes way to Dodgers organization

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

Competition.
It’s one of the things Carter Lohman likes most about baseball.
As a left-handed pitcher, the 2018 Hamilton Southeastern High School graduate enjoys the challenge of facing hitters.
In four seasons at the University of Louisville (2019-22), he appeared in 38 games (30 in relief) and went 3-4 with a 5.59 earned run average, 62 strikeouts and 52 walks in 58 innings.
The Cardinals went 134-65-1 during Lohman’s time with the program, including 51-18 and a College World Series appearance in 2019.
Each season was preceded by the Omaha Challenge — a series of competitions to get the team ready for the season and focused on the goal of ending the season at the CWS.
For a week or two, the red and black teams took part in swimming, tire flips, 100-meter dashes, lifting and running and more. There was a truck push around the Kentucky State Fairgrounds.
Lohman was in the individual top 10 and on the winning team a couple of times.
In high school, he played four varsity seasons (all but his junior year as a pitcher-only) for then-HSE head coach Scott Henson and the Royals did the Victory Challenge (the IHSAA State Finals are at Victory Field) early in the spring semester.
“It helped make us mentally and physically tougher,” says Lohman. “(Coach Henson) pushed everyone to get the most out of themselves on the field. Our practices were scheduled nicely. There was no lollygagging. That was our time to get better.
“At the same time he knew that baseball is fun so let it be fun.”
He struck out 125 batters during his prep career and was ranked as Indiana’s top left-handed pitcher by Perfect Game. He also earned two football letters at HSE.
Lohman has also enjoyed development at PRP Baseball at Mojo Up Sports Complex in Noblesville, Ind., working with Greg Vogt, Anthony Gomez and others and going against other players on Fridays.
“It’s a good atmosphere for competing and getting better,” says Lohman.
Dan McDonnell is Louisville’s head coach. Lohman worked closely with associate head coach/pitching coach Roger Williams.
“He did not take a cookie-cutter approach (to each pitcher),” says Lohman of Williams, who has been at the U of L for 16 seasons. “The emphasis was on learning the game and becoming a better player.”
Lohman learned about things like bunting scenarios and first-and-third situations.
“I could go for days talking about pitch sequencing,” says Lohman. “You can use your pitches in different ways to get the batters out.”
Lohman’s been good enough at it to get paid for it.
The 22-year-old southpaw was signed Aug. 1 as a minor league free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers is now at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., throwing regular bullpen sessions and expecting to make his pro debut soon in the Arizona Complex League.
Lohman, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder, throws from a high three-quarter arm slot.
His four-seam fastball has gotten up to 96 mph. His two-seamer has similar velocity with more horizontal movement to the arm side as opposed to the glove side for the four-seamer.
To get more feel for the pitch, Lohman positions his index finger to throw a “spike” curve ball.
Thrown harder than his curve, his slider has more horizontal break.
His uses a “circle” grip for his change-up.
Born in Indianapolis on Christmas Day 1999, Carter is the oldest of Northwestern High School graduates Brian and Andrea Lohman’s four children.
Brian Lohman, a sales engineer, played baseball and football in high school and lettered as a defensive back at Purdue University (1992-95).
Andrea Lohman, an actuary, was a high school cheerleader.
Griffin Lohman, 21, is a right-handed pitcher at Purdue. Ava and Sydney have played volleyball at HSE.
The Lohman brothers were teammates briefly during Carter’s senior year of high school and with the Tropics of the 2021 College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind.
What was it like growing up with a ball-playing brother?
“The biggest thing was playing catch,” says Carter. “We eventually passed up our dad so we had no one else to throw with.”
Carter played recreation ball in Fishers until 8 then travel ball for the Fisher Cats, Indiana Bulls and Evoshield Canes (now Canes Midwest) at 16U and 17U.
He met Jared Poland around 10 while both were on the Bulls. Right-hander Poland went on to pitch at Indianapolis Cathedral High School and was selected in the sixth round of the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Miami Marlins.
“We definitely talk about (pitching),” says Lohman of some of his conversations with Poland.
Lohman played briefly with the Indiana Nitro in the summer of 2018 before joining other freshmen on the Louisville campus. He had a short stint in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Orleans Firebirds in 2019 and was with the CSL’s Snapping Turtles in 2020.
In May, Lohman earned a degree in Exercise Science.
“I’ve always been interested in how the body moves,” says Lohman. “It can help me on the field.”
Away from baseball, the knowledge gives Lohman many options including athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach and physical therapist.
But now it’s about competing on the pitcher’s mound.

Carter Lohman at the University of Louisville. (Bryan Green Photo)

Brothers Carter and Griffin Lohman with Tropics of 2021 College Summer League at Grand Park.

Carter Lohman signs pro baseball contract. (Los Angeles Dodgers Photo)

Eleven players who prepped in Indiana selected in ’22 MLB Draft

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

Eleven players who graduated from high school in Indiana were chosen in the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which concluded its three-day run in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 19.
There were 20 rounds and 616 players selected.
Indiana University right-handed pitcher Jack Perkins (Kokomo High School graduate) was picked in the fifth round (154th overall) by the Oakland Athletics.
Ball State University left-hander Tyler Schweitzer (Hamilton Southeastern) was chosen in the fifth round (161 overall) by the Chicago White Sox.
University of Louisville right-hander Jared Poland (Indianapolis Cathedral) was taken in the sixth round (172 overall) by the Miami Marlins.
University of Connecticut right-hander Austin Peterson (Chesterton) went in the ninth round (271st overall) to the Cleveland Guardians.
Purdue University left-hander Jackson Smeltz (McCutcheon) was picked in the 10th round (300th overall) by the San Diego Padres.
Indiana U. right-hander Bradley Brehmer (Decatur Central) was drafted in the 12th round (347th overall) by the Baltimore Orioles.
Ivy Tech Northeast Community College right-hander Matt Peters (Fort Wayne Dwenger) was picked in the 12th round (353rd overall) by the Chicago Cubs.
Righty-swinging Georgia Tech shortstop Tim Borden II (Providence) was chosen in the 16th round (493rd overall) by the Houston Astros.
Evansville North High School switch-hitting shortstop Cameron Decker (a University of Central Florida commit) was drafted in the 18th round (555th overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Westfield High School right-hander Gage Stanifer (a University of Cincinnati commit) was picked in the 19th round (578th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Indiana U. right-hander Reese Sharp (University High) was selected in the 20th round (587th overall) by Baltimore.

Major League Baseball Image

Indiana products making mark in bigs, minors

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

Left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson, who was a star at Wapahani High School in Selma, Ind., and the University of Kentucky, made his Major League Baseball debut when he earned a four-inning save for the St. Louis Cardinals June 3 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Thompson, 24, has made 10 starts for the Triple-A Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds in 2022 and is 2-2 with a 4.67 earned run average.
Zach McKinstry (Fort Wayne North Side/Central Michigan) has split his time between the minors and the big-league Los Angeles Dodgers and the lefty-swinging infielder is currently on the active roster with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers. He made his big league debut in 2020.
McKinstry, 27, is hitting .335 with three home runs and 20 runs batted in over 164 MiLB at-bats and is 1-for-5 with LA — the hit being a June 3 two-run home run off New York Mets right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Right-hander Ryan Pepiot (Westfield/Butler) had made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 11. He is back with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Pepiot, 24, is 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA in nine appearances for OKC and 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three games (11 1/3 innings) in the big leagues.
Many other players are also on active rosters in the minors.
Right-hander Luke Albright (Fishers/Kent State) is with the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Albright, 22, is 3-2 with a 3.64 ERA in 10 starts.
Third baseman Cole Barr (Yorktown/Indiana University) plays for the High-A Everett (Wash.) AquaSox (Seattle Mariners).
Barr, 24, is hitting .172 with three homers and 17 RBIs.
Right-hander Gabe Bierman (Jeffersonville/Indiana) toes the rubber for the Low-A Jupiter (Fla.) Hammerheads (Miami Marlins).
Bierman, 22, is 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts).
Right-hander Garrett Burhenn (Lawrence North/Ohio State) takes the bump for the Low-A Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers).
Burhenn, 22, is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in nine starts.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Zach Britton (Batesville/Louisville) is with the High-A Vancouver (B.C.) Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).
Britton, 23, is hitting .206 with four homers and 11 RBIs.
Right-hander Zack Brown (Seymour/Kentucky) is one step from the majors with the Triple-A Nashville (Tenn.) Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers).
Brown, 27, is 1-0 with two saves and a 3.54 ERA in 17 relief appearances.
Outfielder Drew Campbell (Jeffersonville/Louisville) swings from the left side for the High-A Rome Braves (Atlanta Braves).
Campbell, 24, is hitting .266 with one homer and 22 RBIs.
Left-hander Jacob Cantleberry (Center Grove/Missouri/San Jacinto) is with the High-A Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers) in Midland, Mich.
Cantleberry, 24, is 2-1 with one save and a 6.10 ERA in 13 games out of the bullpen.

Right-hander Adysin Coffey (Delta/Wabash Valley) is on the Development List as a reliever with the Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).

Coffey, 23, is 2-2 with two saves a 7.30 ERA in 13 games.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Craig Dedelow (Munster/Indiana) takes his cuts for the Double-A Birmingham (Ala.) Barons (Chicago White Sox).
Dedelow, 27, is hitting .226 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs.
Lefty-swinging second baseman Clay Dungan (Yorktown/Indiana State) is with Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals).
Dungan, 26, is hitting .204 with three homers and 18 RBIs.
Outfielder Elijah Dunham (Evansville Reitz/Indiana) bats lefty for the Double-A Somerset Patriots (New York Yankees) in Bridgewater, N.J.
Dunham, 24, is hitting .346 with seven homers and 27 RBIs.
Right-hander Parker Dunshee (Zionsville/Wake Forest) is spinning pitches for the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland Athletics).
Dunshee, 27, is 1-5 with a 7.24 ERA in 12 games (10 starts).

Righty-swinging outfielder Matt Gorski (Hamilton Southeastern/Indiana) is with Double-A Altoona (Pa.) Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates).

Gorski, 24, is hitting .290 with 19 homers and 46 RBIs.
Left-hander Timmy Herrin (Terre Haute South Vigo/Indiana) takes the mound for the Triple-A Columbus (Ohio) Clippers (Cleveland Guardians).
Herrin, 25, is 0-2 with one save and a 4.00 ERA in 17 relief appearances.
Right-hander Bryan Hoeing (Batesville/Louisville) challenges hitters for the Triple-A Jacksonville (Fla.) Jumbo Shrimp (Miami Marlins).
Hoeing, 25, is 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Jacob Hurtubise (Zionsville/Army) is with the Double-A Chattanooga (Tenn.) Lookouts (Cincinnati Reds).
Hurtubise, 24, is hitting .299 with no homers and five RBIs. He has spent some time on the IL.
Right-hander Drey Jameson (Greenfield-Central/Ball State) fires it for the Triple-A Reno (Nev.) Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Jameson, 24, is 3-5 with a 5.80 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).
Catcher Hayden Jones (Carroll/Mississippi State/Illinois State) is also a lefty swinger and plays for the Low-A Daytona (Fla.) Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds).
Jones, 22, is hitting .210 with one homer and eight RBIs.
Righty-swinging catcher Scott Kapers (Mount Carmel, Ill./Valparaiso) is with the High-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads (Texas Rangers).
Kapers, 25, is hitting .257 with five homers and 16 RBIs.
Lefty-swinging first baseman Niko Kavadas (Penn/Notre Dame) competes for the Low-A Salem (Va.) Red Sox (Boston Red Sox).
Kavadas, 23, is hitting .253 with seven homers and 31 RBIs.
Right-hander Chayce McDermott (Pendleton Heights/Ball State) journeys around the circuit with the High-A Asheville (N.C.) Tourists (Houston Astros).
McDermott, 23, is 5-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 12 games (six starts).
First baseman Jacson McGowan (Brownsburg/Purdue) plies his trade with the Double-A Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays).
McGowan, 24, is hitting .276 with one homer and two RBIs. He has been on the IL in 2022.
Right-hander Zach Messinger (Castle/Virginia) hurls for the Low-A Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons (New York Yankees).
Messinger, 22, is 0-4 with two saves and a 4.85 ERA in 18 games (15 in relief).
Right-hander Evan Miller (LaPorte/Purdue Fort Wayne) works mostly out of the bullpen for the Triple-A El Paso (Texas) Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres).
Miller, 27, is 1-2 with two saves and a 6.59 ERA in 21 games (19 in relief).
Lefty-swinging shortstop Colson Montgomery (Southridge) is with the Low-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).
Montgomery, 20, is hitting .295 with four homers and 23 RBIs.
Righty-swinging infielder Nick Podkul (Andrean/Notre Dame) was with the Buffalo (N.Y.) Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays).
Podkul, 25, is hitting .178 with two homers and nine RBIs.
Left-hander Triston Polley (Brownsburg/Indiana State) has been a reliever for the High-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads (Texas Rangers).
Polley, 25, is 6-2 with one save and a 5.67 ERA in 16 games (all out of the bullpen).
Outfielder Grant Richardson (Fishers/Indiana) bats lefty for the Low-A Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons (New York Yankees).
Richardson, 22, is hitting .207 with two homers and 16 RBIs.
Left-hander Andrew Saalfrank (Heritage/Indiana) is a reliever for the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Saalfrank, 24, is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 17 bullpen games.
Andy Samuelson (LaPorte/Wabash Valley) pitched for the Rookie-level Braves (Atlanta Braves) until retiring June 11.
Samuelson, 23, pitched 1/3 of an inning in 2022.
Right-hander Caleb Sampen (Brownsburg/Wright State) pours it in for the Double-A Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays).
Sampen, 25, is 1-12 with a 5.02 ERA in nine appearances (five starts). He has been on the IL in 2022.
Right-hander Reid Schaller (Lebanon/Vanderbilt) is part of the bullpen for the Double-A Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators (Washington Nationals).
Schaller, 25, is 2-0 with one save and a 2.89 ERA in 14 bullpen contests.
Lefty-swinging outfielder Nick Schnell (Roncalli) is back on the field after a long injury-list stint. He plays for the Low-A Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays).
Schnell, 22, was activated May 31 and is hitting .333 with no homers and six RBIs. The “Diamonds in the Rough” podcast features Schnell and Cole Wilcox.
Left-hander Garrett Schoenle (Fort Wayne Northrop/Cincinnati) mostly comes out of the bullpen for the High-A Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash (Chicago White Sox).
Schoenle, 23, is 3-1 with one save and a 1.39 ERA in 14 games (13 in relief).
Left-hander Avery Short (Southport) has been starting for the High-A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Short, 21, is 0-4 with a 4.58 ERA in nine starts.
Left-hander Tommy Sommer (Carmel/Indiana) is a starter for the Low-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox).
Sommer, 23, is 2-4 with a 3.13 ERA in 11 starts.
Right-hander Skylar Szynski (Penn) was drafted in 2016 and has missed much time because of injury. He is Low-A Stockton (Calif.) Ports (Oakland Athletics).
Szynski, 24, is 1-1 with a 12.66 ERA in 15 bullpen games.
Right-hander Nolan Watson (Lawrence North) is mostly a reliever for the Double-A San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres).
Watson, 25, is 1-2 with a 7.76 ERA in 14 appearances (12 in relief).
Among those on the 7-day injury list are right-hander Sam Bachman (Hamilton Southeastern/Miami of Ohio) with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels) in Madison, Ala., righty-swinging third baseman Kody Hoese (Griffith/Tulane) with the Tulsa (Okla.) Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers), right-hander Michael McAvene (Roncalli/Louisville) with the High-A South Bend Cubs (Chicago Cubs) and righty-swinging third baseman Riley Tirotta (Mishawaka Marian/Dayton) with the High-A Vancouver (B.C.) Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).
Bachman, 22, is 0-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts.
Hoese, 24, is hitting .284 with three homers and 21 RBIs.
McAvene, 24, is 0-0 with a 40.50 ERA in one relief appearance.
Tirotta, 23, is hitting .209 with three homers and 20 RBIs.
Right-hander Tanner Andrews (Tippecanoe Valley/Purdue) with the Triple-A Sacramento (Calif.) River Cats (San Francisco Giants), right-hander Pauly Milto (Roncalli/Indiana) with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash (Chicago White Sox) and righty-swinging third baseman Hunter Owen (Evansville Mater Dei/Indiana State) with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) are on the 60-day IL.
Andrews, 26, is 0-0 with an 11.12 ERA in four relief games.
Milto, 25, is 0-0 with a 3.07 ERA in nine games (eight in relief).
Owen, 28, is hitting .256 with no homers and five RBIs. He made his MLB debut in 2021.

Zack Thompson (MLB Photo)