BY STEVE KRAH
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.
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