New head coach Blocker seeks ‘efficient’ Southwood Knights

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

Cory Blocker moves up from varsity assistant to head baseball coach at Southwood Junior/Senior High School in Wabash, Ind., in 2022-23.
Borrowing a motto from another coach, Blocker wants the Knights to be “efficient.”
“In practice drills, we’re not standing around but getting plenty of swings and taking game-like reps,” says Blocker, who wants to see efficiency in the field, on the mound and in the batter’s box.
Southwood left 6.6 runners on base per game and committed 88 fielding errors in going 5-17-1 in 2022.
“We want to make the plays behind our pitchers,” says Blocker. “We want to have an (offensive) approach and understand our job each time we go to the plate. We’ll try to put ourselves in the best position to achieve that job.”
If the Knights have a runner on first base, the job will entail moving them at least to second base.
“We want to make (opposing) pitchers work and make every out count,” says Blocker, who wants to see his hitters make contact and increase their batting average on balls in play.
Pitching efficiency includes mechanics, throwing strikes and liming walks.
Among Southwood returnees for 2023 is senior catcher Mo Lloyd, who hit .452 with 12 home runs and 40 runs batted in for 2002 and hitting .480 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs for a 22-7 team in 2021.
Besides Blocker, the coaching staff features returnees Danny Lloyd and Christian Deeter and newcomers in pitching coach Kyle Zerfas and junior varsity coach Tanner Chamberlain.
There were about 25 players in the program — varsity and JV — in 2022.
Blocker is in his eighth year as a Southwood teacher. He instructs sixth grade math and is at the junior/high school building for the first time in 2022-23.
He has been a baseball and football assistant for seven years. This fall, he was the special teams coordinator and running backs coach. The 2022 Southwood football team went 7-3.
Because of when Blocker was named head coach and his football duties, there were no IHSAA Limited Contact Period activities in the fall.
The Knights play home games on-campus on a facility sometimes called “The Launching Pad” for its cozy dimensions. Blocker says its about 280 feet down the foul lines.
Wabash Little League serves Wabash County and feeds players to Southwood, Manchester, Northfield and Wabash high schools.
Southwood (enrollment around 250) is a member of the Three Rivers Conference (with Maconaquah, Manchester, Northfield, North Miami, Peru, Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley, Wabash and Whitko).
In recent seasons, TRC teams met each other once during the season. There is no conference tournament.
The Knights part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping in 2023 with Caston, North Miami, North White, Northfield and West Central. Southwood has won five sectional titles — the last in 2021.
A 2009 graduate of Huntington (Ind.) North High School, Blocker played four years of football, three of baseball and two of basketball. His head coaches were Rief Gilg (the Vikings went 8-3 in 2008, Blocker’s senior year on the gridiron), Russ Degitz and Eric Foister.
“A lot of our time in baseball was spent with the little details,” says Blocker of Degitz. “He was a big fundamental guy.
“They were all coaches that were hard on you but cared about you at the same time and made sure that was relayed in everything they did.”
Blocker spent two years at Purdue University and four at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, graduating in 2015.
Cory and Brittany Blocker have been married five years. The couple resides in Wabash and has three children — daughter Wrenley (3), son Wesley (1 1/2) and daughter Willow (almost eight months).

Cory Blocker. (Frederick’s Photography)

Cory and Brittany Blocker with children (from left): Wrenley, Wesley and Willow.

Advertisement

Ginder, Lehrman headline 2022 NEIBA Hall of Fame class

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

Northeast Indiana Baseball Association plans to honor longtime high school coaches Dave Ginder and Dean Lehrman and former professional player Steve Finken as part of its Hall of Fame class of 2022.
Heading into the spring, Dave Ginder is 335-118 in 15 seasons at Carroll with eight sectional titles, four regionals, three Final Four appearances state championships in 2010 and 2011. The 1991 Carroll graduate was a Chargers assistant for six years.
Ginder graduated from Anderson (Ind.) University with a Mathematics and Secondary Education degree and is in his 21st year as a math teacher at Carroll. He also holds a Masters in Administration.
Dave and Kristen Ginder, a Parkview SurgeryONE surgical case coordinator, have three children — son Langston (18) and daughters Drezdan (16) and Jantzyn (13).
In 43 seasons (nine at Woodlan and 34 at Heritage, including 2020 COVID-19 year), Lehrman has 615 wins, 12 Allen County Athletic Conference titles with eight sectionals, three regionals, one semistate and three semistate appearances with a state runner-up finish in 2007. He’s also been a district coach of the year and twice named an Indiana High School Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series coach.
Lehrman, who retired as a high school math teacher at Heritage in 2020, coached football for 39 years and was 40-26 in six seasons at head coach.
Dean and wife Janice have three children — Camryn, Derek and Ryne — and four grandchildren.
Finken is a graduate of Fort Wayne Elmhurst High School and was an All-American at the University of Michigan. He was selected in the 21st round of the 1988 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers and played in the minors from 1988-92. The infielder was in Triple-A with the Dodgers in 1991 and played his last pro season in the San Francisco Giants system.
Overall, Finked hit .267 with a .373 on-base percentage, .431 slugging average, 49 home runs and 227 runs batted in for 473 games.
Journalist Steve Krah will also go into the NEIBA Hall of Fame during a banquet at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 12, 2022 at Classic Cafe in Fort Wayne.
Jeff Herring will receive the organization’s Colin Lister Award from the Hall of Fame for his 25-plus year of service to high school sports, specifically baseball. He has been an assistant coach at both Elmhurst and Wayne high schools.

Northeast Indiana Baseball Association.

Fishers, Indiana Wesleyan alum Davis comes back to baseball as a coach

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

When Brice Davis got the call that led him into professional baseball he was busy on the field.
Davis was coaching third base for Indiana Wesleyan University in a doubleheader when the independent Frontier League’s Schaumburg (Ill.) Boomers manager Jamie Bennett, who pitched of the DuBois County (Ind.) Dragons and Gary (Ind.) SouthShore RailCats coached with the RailCats, and outgoing hitting coach Derek Shomon reached out about filling Shomon’s spot since he had taken a coaching job in the Minnesota Twins organization.
“They wanted to see if I’d get rattled,” says Davis of the timing. “It was a twisted joke.”
But Davis impressed and after the twin bill received text messages and got a good review. The next thing he knew he is joining the Boomers for spring training and after that came a 96-game regular season and the fourth league championship in franchise history.
“It was whirlwind,” says Davis of the 2021 baseball season began in early February with Indiana Wesleyan in Lakeland, Fla., and ending in late September with Schaumburg in Washington, Pa. “It was an incredible year and an incredible ride.
“It was a really special group (at IWU). To be leaving them at that time was incredibly tough. I’m in awe that we got to share all those runs together.”
Indiana Wesleyan wound up 2021 at 44-14, Crossroads League regular-season and tournament champions and an NAIA Opening Round host.
Davis, a four-year starter at IWU and a 2013 graduate with a Sports Management degree, spent three seasons on the staff of Wildcats head coach Rich Benjamin (2019-21).
“He’s a huge offensive mind and about hitting for power,” says Davis of Benjamin, who was an assistant at Fishers (Ind.) High School before moving on. “I saw it as an opportunity.
“I wanted to see if I could hack it at the college level.”
Davis first became a hitting instructor in 2009 (his training business is Davis Baseball LLC). But it was a big transition to working with professional hitters in 2021.
“You’re helping prepare guys to be successful (in pro ball),” says Davis. “At the college level, you’re doing a lot of development. They’re making strides every single month to be the best versions of themselves and trying to stay locked in.
“Guys at the professional level are already pretty talented. They want to take their skill level and apply it against a pitching staff (or individual). In both arenas the goal is to simplify life. You pick out an approach that is going to breed results and success.”
The difference between high school and college and pro baseball is that the pros play everyday with much more travel and they don’t have as much time to work on their craft.
“Learning how to hit when you’re only 80 percent or getting your two knocks comes in a lot of ways,” says Davis. “I was amazed how many guys played hurt.”
How a player felt on any given day is how they prepared for that day’s game. That might mean more batting practice or less.
“You can’t treat everyday like Opening Day,” says Davis. “It just doesn’t work like that.”
Since Schaumburg is an independent league team, scouting is done differently. Major League-affiliated clubs have access to plenty of stored data on opponents.
The only resource available to the Boomers staff was Frontier League TV (2021 was the first year that all league clubs broadcast games). Coaches and players spent a lot of time looking at video to find tendencies.
The Evansville Otters were the only team who put pitching velocity on the screen during their broadcasts, leaving Schaumburg to study those videos when teams took on Evansville.
In the league championship series against the Washington Wild Things, the staff was at a disadvantage. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boomers had not played anyone on Washington’s side of the league during the regular season. Also, there was no radar gun reading available at Wild Things Park.
“It was all hearsay. You had no more information than in a non-conference high school baseball game. It was ‘see it and hit it, boys!’
It was absolute gauntlet level from our staff and our players. It’s not copy-paste-print like it is at some of the other levels. It’s not like high school baseball where you can trade tapes.
“It was a big learning curve.”
Davis notes that the Frontier League is now partnered with Major League Baseball so maybe things will change for the better.
Not all pro players take to information the same way.
“This guy wants to know velo and out pitch and this guy wants to know as much as possible,” says Davis. “Other guys don’t want to know anything and just play the game.”
And if a pro hitter doesn’t want info, it’s not up to the coach to shove it down his throat.
“You have respect for what they’re trying to do,” says Davis.
While Schaumburg players hail from all over the country, there are also a number with ties to the area, including former Indiana Wesleyan pitcher Isaiah Rivera from Des Plaines, Ill.
“There are a lot of college players in the region,” says Davis. “You don’t want to miss on anything in your back yard. Chicago is a cool city with a lot of great athletes in it.”
Davis says many have the misconception that independent ball is full of 27-year-old has-beens. But a good deal have been selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft and spent time in the affiliated minors.
The Frontier League is unique because it puts players into Rookie, Experienced and Veteran eligibility classifications and there is a cap on veterans (those turning 29 by Oct. 1). Teams can also make just 30 transaction moves per season.
“The world of independent baseball is fascinating,” says Davis.
Another thing about 2021 in much of independent ball is that there was no season in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“They’re learning how to play baseball again and getting their timing back,” says Davis. “It’s like they’ve been waiting for the prom for two years.
“It was about managing emotions, telling them to enjoy the moment and don’t overthink it.”
There was a time when Davis didn’t want to think about baseball. It stung too much when his playing career was over and he did not watch a game for two years.
Brice’s father was a high school boys basketball coach for many years. Hagerstown, Ind., native Jerry Davis was a head coach at Triton Central and Wawasee and an assistant at Marion and Hamilton Southeastern. He came back to Indiana from Dallas, where Brice was born, to teach math and coach hoops.
“I grew up in the gym,” says Brice. “My safe place to process life was listening to bouncing balls. That’s a sanctuary few people understand.”
Davis, who did not play high school basketball to focus on baseball opportunities, joined the Hamilton Southeastern hardwood staff of Brian Satterfield and coached freshmen for two seasons.
“Climbing up the hard way in basketball appealed to me,” says Davis. “Going to clinics and studying tape was a journey in itself.”
Then came the call back to baseball and he answered it.
“I’m in a better head space when I’m going to the field,” says Davis, who received words of encouragement that still resonate with him.
Brian Abbott, the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association executive director and a former IWU assistant, approached Davis at the IHSBCA State Clinic when the latter was on Matt Cherry’s Fishers Tigers staff.
“He was one of the first people who told me I needed to be in coaching,” says Davis of Abbott, the IHSBCA Hall of Famer. “It’s because of kids like myself. He said, ‘you belong in this industry. You might be the only person who gets to tell a kid that day that they matter.
“You have a purpose to connect with kids.”
Davis has taken that connection to heart.
“I love teaching the game,” says Davis. “I know it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. A lot of good can be done by powerful teaching and coaching.
“It’s a great profession.”
Davis, who was part of Fishers’ first graduating class in 2008, was reunited with Cherry for three seasons (2016-18) as an assistant coach. The 2018 team made an IHSAA Class 4A state title run.
“He’s single-most influential person in my life besides my dad since I was 15,” says Davis of Cherry. “He knows there’s more to people than baseball. He’s transformational.”
Cherry, who had coached Davis prior to the 2016 season he needed a freshman coach. Davis accepted the invitation.
“I’ll be darned if I wasn’t completely consumed,” says Davis. “I told (Cherry) the next year I want to be a varsity coach. I want to be with the older kids. I want to dive in and see where it could go.”
In 2017 and 2018, Davis was Fishers’ hitting coach. The latter team set 21 school records.
“We had all the fun in the world,” says Davis.
Now 32 and living in Wheeling, Ill., Davis is teaching at area facilities, including Parkway Bank Sports Complex aka The Dome in Rosemont, Ill., and East Sports Academy in Itaska, Ill., and helping at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines. Owls head coach Bill Fratto is also an assistant/first base coach for the Boomers.
Through it all, Davis has developed a fraternity of brothers at each baseball stage and keeps in-touch with people on his high school, college and pro path. Kris Holtzleiter, the new Eastbrook High School head coach, played and coached with close friend Davis at IWU.
“Every season has a story whether it’s good or bad,” says Davis. “You must make the most of the moment you’re in.
“It’s not about the championships or the trophies.”
It’s the people.

Brice Davis.

Jerry Davis and Brice Davis.

Brice Davis with mother Jerry and mother Paige.

Brice Davis and M.J. Stavola.

Bill Fratto and Brice Davis.

Young Schaumburg (Ind.) Boomers fan and Brice Davis.

Former Indiana Wesleyan University players Isaiah Rivera and Brice Davis a player and coach with the Schaumburg Boomers.

Wabash catcher Terry likes controlling the game

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Catcher has been Canton Terry’s primary position since he began playing baseball as a boy at Clinton (Ind.) Little League.

He backstopped Babe Ruth League teams in Terre Haute, Ind., and at South Vermillion High School in Clinton, the second of four Terry brothers to playing for father Tim Terry. There’s T.J. (24), Canton (21), Cooper (19) and Easton (15).

Canton’s high school days also saw him catch two travel ball summers each for the Matt Merica-coached Indiana Thunder and Tony Smodilla-coached Indiana Havoc. 

At present, Terry is a lefty-batting catcher/designated hitter at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. The 2020 season was his third for head coach Jake Martin’s Little Giants. 

“The catcher controls the game almost more than the pitcher does,” says Terry. “It comes down to good quality pitch calling. My whole career I’ve always called all the pitches. I take take a lot of pride in it. I take every pitch into consideration and how the batter did the previous at-bat and what pitches are working for (the pitcher).”

Terry has an aptitude for remembering what batters did within a game.

“I see how he handled the last pitch or even how his confidence looks at the plate,” says Terry. “Where they have their hands to load the swing (also comes into play). 

“We definitely don’t give them their cream-of-the-crop pitch, but try to keep them off-balance.”

Sometimes, Terry puts on an auto-shake for the pitcher. He will appear to shake off the sign when he really intends to throw — for instance — a first-pitch fastball.

“Having him do that can throw off the batter,” says Terry.

Like he has for years, Canton also had a brother for a teammate. The 2019-20 school year was Cooper Terry’s freshmen year at Wabash.

“I helped him raise expectations and know what level of play he needs to get to,” says Canton of Cooper. “I also showed him the do’s and don’ts of college. 

“Wabash is a pretty academically-rigorous school. You have to put in hard work.”

Canton’s leadership was not contained to his brother.

“I try to lead by example and not try to cut anything short,” says Terry, who notes that the Little Giants were still getting into the weight room and working out in the winter when coaches were not allowed to be a part of it. “Putting in the hard work it takes to make a championship level team.”

The COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2020 season for Wabash (6-2) in March and Terry started in three games and finished with a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 with 11 putouts and two assists.

During the shutdown, he stayed ready for his next baseball opportunity and is now with the Nighthawks in the 12-team College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. He drives two hours from Clinton twice a week to play for the team that has Anderson University assistant John Becker as head coach.

“It’s been an awesome opportunity to get a lot of playing time and a lot of at-bats,” says Terry. “I’m with a great group of guys. 

“I don’t think we’ve had a single bad game with chemistry.”

Terry played in 14 games with three starts as a Wabash freshmen in 2018. He hit .313 (5-of-16) and drove in five runs while reaching base at a .476 clip. In 2019, he got into 36 games with 29 starts and hit .318 (28-of-88) with one home run, 19 RBIs and a .462 on-base percentage.

All the while he’s enjoyed playing for Martin.

“He’s been a really good coach,” says Terry. “He’s definitely a coach that cares for his players — in and outside of baseball.”

This summer has not all been about the diamond for Terry. There is also an eight-week internship with a Neuroscience professor, doing online research. 

“We’re studying impulsivity for quitting smoking and other addictive behaviors,” says Terry, a Psychology major and Biology minor.

Terry started on a path to be a double major in Physics and Math before taking and enjoying a neuroscience class.

When the Wabash campus was closed, Terry came home and finished his spring courses online. 

It was not easy having to focus that long with five other people in the house, including three rambunctious brothers.

“There are a lot more benefits to in-person (learning),” says Terry. “Wabash has one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the country. Overall, the learning experience is a lot more successful and functional in-person.”

On-campus classes at Wabash is scheduled to resume Aug. 12.

Terry is a 2017 graduate of South Vermillion. He earned 10 varsity letters — four in baseball and two each in cross country, soccer and basketball.

“I’ve been asked a lot about playing for my dad,” says Terry. “It wasn’t weird to me. I was always at high school baseball practices. It’s just the norm. There were no problems or issues.”

But expectations are higher.

“Being a coach’s son, you expected to give the hardest effort and have the most perfection,” says Terry. “That helped me.”

In 2017, senior class president and Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader Terry hit .612 and was named district player of the year, first-team all-state and to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series. He was also team MVP and team captain for the second straight year. In 2016, he was on the all-Western Indiana Conference team and led the WIC in hitting (.490). He was South Vermillion’s rookie of the year in 2015.

Canton played soccer for Juan Montanez and basketball for Phil Leonard as a freshman and sophomore and ran cross country for Mike Costello as a junior and Kent Musall as a senior.

“I had several concussions in sports so I focused mainly on baseball,” says Terry. “As a catcher I always have a helmet on — on defense or batting.”

Tim Terry, who is also South Vermillion’s athletic director, was the South head coach and T.J. Terry was an assistant for the 2019 IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series in Madison.

Kim Terry, Tim’s wife and the mother of the four boys, is a science teacher at SVHS.

Canton Terry, a 2017 graduate of South Vermillion High School in Clinton, Ind., has played three baseball seasons at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., through 2020 and is now with the Nighthawks in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. (Wabash College Photo)

Brebeuf, Butler graduate Haddad applying talent with Yankees

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Radley Haddad has built a skill set that he uses to help the New York Yankees as a coaching assistant and bullpen coach.

Haddad is educated on everything from pitch design to game planning. He sits in on hitter’s meetings. He speaks the language of analytics and translates it into terms that players can understand. 

Once a game starts, he’s in the bullpen to assist pitchers in geting ready.

The Yankees have newcomers for 2020 at pitching coach (Matt Blake) and catching coach (Tanner Swanson). 

Haddad has been in the organization since 2013. He was signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent and was a catcher is the system until 2016, when he served as a player-coach at Staten Island in preparation for a minor league coaching assignment. 

But an opportunity came with the major league club and Haddad has been on the Bronx Bombers staff since 2017. He can use his knowledge to help Blake and Swanson with their transition.

“Where those guys will want or need help, I’m there to fill in the gaps,” says Haddad, a graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School (2008) and Butler University (2013) — both in Indianapolis. ”A lot of my time will probably be spent on game planning.”

Radley and wife Arielle, a Franklin, Ind., native who he met at Butler, moved from Manhattan to New Jersey in January. It’s a 20-minute drive to Yankee Stadium. 

Being close year-round has made it easy for Haddad to get to know the ins and outs of the team’s analytics department. 

Hadded earned a Finance degree at Butler. His familiarity with regressions, progressions and algorithms allows him to work with weight averages and other analytic concepts.

“You need to have some experience in some upper level math,” says Haddad. “You don’t have to be a genius. It’s math and it’s computers and being able to write codes.

“(Players) are very open to what we’re trying to do. Kids coming from college programs are more up with technology and buzzwords and they understand the value. We’re all trying to accomplish the same thing. Sometimes you just have to use different verbiage.”

Haddad notes that 29-year-old right-hander Gerrit Cole, who signed as a free agent in December 2019 and likely would have been tabbed by manager Aaron Boone as the Yankees’ Opening Day starter had the 2020 season started on time, has embraced analytics during his career.

“He’s really smart guy and cares about his career,” says Haddad. “He applied what they gave him in Houston. He used the information presented to him.

“We’re trying to parlay off of that and make him just a tick better.”

With Haddad being close by, he’s also been able to catch area residents Coleand righty reliever Adam Ottavino during the current COVID-19-related shutdown. Some of those sessions happened in back yards. The Stadium was just recently made available.

Players and staff are literally spread across the globe and have stayed in-touch through group texts and Zoom calls. Sharing of Google Docs has allowed coaches and other pitchers to keep up with their progress.

Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey makes sure they have what they need, including a catcher, so they can stay on track and be ready.

Haddad likes the way Gerrit puts it: “I will keep the pilot light on so I can fire it up.”

As of this writing, Gerrit is in a starting rotation mix that also features Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, Jordan Montgomery, Jonathan Loaisiga, James Paxton and Domingo German.

Fireballer Aroldis Chapman is the Yankees closer. Besides Ottavino and Chapman, the bullpen includes Zack Britton, Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Jonathan Holder, Tommy Kahnle and Tyler Lyons.

Haddad moved with his family to Carmel, Ind., at 10. He played travel baseball with the Carmel Pups. They were in need of a catcher so Radley put on the gear and fell in love with the position.

“I loved everything about it,” says Haddad, who was primarily a catcher at Brebeuf, two seasons at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. (2009 and 2010), and two at Butler (2012 and 2013). “I liked the mental side, being involved in every pitching and calling games. I liked working with all the pitchers and seeing how guys can manipulate the ball.”

John Zangrilli was a frequent spectator at Carmel Pups games and is now Greyhounds pitching coach on a staff led by Matt Buczkowski. 

Zangrilli was head coach at Brebeuf when Haddad was there and had a major impact.

“He was the most beneficial person in my baseball career,” says Haddad of Zangrilli. “He taught me about being a real baseball player and taking care of business.

“That meant doing things the right way, paying attention to details.”

It was also the way you treat people. It was more than baseball, it was life skills. 

Zangrilli was at Radley and Arielle’s wedding in 2018.

Haddad earned honorable mention all-state honors at Brebeuf. He helped the Braves to an IHSAA Class 3A No. 1 ranking and a Brebeuf Sectional title while hitting .494 with 38 runs scored as a senior.

Playing time at Western Carolina was limited and Haddad decided to go to Butler, where he started 89 games in his two seasons.

NCAA rules at the time required players transferring between Division I school to sit out a transfer season. That’s what Haddad did when he went to Butler, where Steve Farley was Bulldogs head coach.

“Steve was a great guy,” says Haddad. “He welcomed me. He didn’t have any stigma about who I was and why I was leaving a school. He knew I wanted to get on a field.

“He’s a good man who taught people how to live the right way.”

Though he doesn’t get back to Indiana often, Haddad stays connected to central Indiana baseball men Zangrilli, Farley, Chris Estep, Jay Lehr and Greg Vogt.

During his high school years, Haddad played travel baseball for the Indiana Mustangs which operate out of Estep’s RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield. 

Lehr is a long-time baseball instructor based in Hamilton County.

Vogt, a former Carmel Pups teammate of Haddad, runs PRP (Passion Resilience Process) Baseball out of Finch Creek Fieldhouse in Noblesville.

“We played together or against each other our whole lives,” says Haddad of Vogt. “He’s done a great job of building a program he believes in.”

Bob Haddad Jr., Radley’s father, is Chief Operating Officer at Harrison Lake Country Club in Columbus. Radley’s mother, Lauren Schuh, is remarried. 

Radley (30) has two younger brothers — Griffin Haddad (28) and Ian Schuh (20). 

Grffin is an assistant athletic trainer for the Green Bay Packers. He went to Brebeuf for four years, earned his undergraduate degree at Texas Christian University and his master’s at the University of Michigan. 

Ian spent one year at Brebeuf and finished high school at Carmel. He is at South Dakota State University with his sights on being a conservation officer.

Haddad was featured on the Robertson Training Systems podcast in January.

Radley Haddad, a graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School and Butler University – both in Indianapolis, is entering his fourth season on the coaching staff of the New York Yankees. In 2020, he is a coaching assistant and bullpen coach. (New York Yankees Photo)

Foxworthy, Seeger Patriots value being a good teammate

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

In his capacity as head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind., Reed Foxworthy wants his players to know that they’re all in it together.

“One of our big things is always be a good teammate,” says Foxworthy, who heads into his fourth season of leading the Patriots in 2019. “That covers a lot of stuff like getting your schoolwork done and making sure you’re eligible, being prepared and giving it your best effort.”

Foxworthy, a 2008 Seeger graduate who spent three seasons as junior varsity coach before taking over the program, also emphasizes the importance of having a good attitude.

“Focus your energy on things you can control,” says Foxworthy. “Don’t worry about what you can’t control.

“Hopefully, that carries on to life and whatever they do after baseball.”

Foxworthy graduated from Purdue University in 2012 with a degree in social studies education. He now teaches math to seventh graders and psychology and sociology to high schoolers at Seeger, which is located in Warren County and 15 miles east of the Indiana-Illinois state line.

When he was a high school student, Foxworthy played baseball for head coaches Doug Allison and Brent Rademacher and basketball for head coach Brad Metzger.

Foxworthy credits Allison and Rademacher for running well-organized practices.

“We had something to do,” says Foxworthy. “There was never down time. I try to carry that over. That’s important to us.”

Those coaches also instilled characteristics that Foxworthy wants from his players.

“We were always doing things the right way, being on time and respectful toward officials,” says Foxworthy. “We tried to control what we could control.”

Foxworthy remembers Metzger as a stickler for details.

“The little things add up,” says Foxworthy.

Seeger (enrollment around 390) is a member of the Wabash River Conference (with Attica, Covington, Fountain Central, North Vermillion, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke and South Vermillion).

WRC teams play each other twice to determine a conference champion. These games are played either as a weekday home-and-home series or in a Saturday doubleheader.

Non-conference opponents for the Patriots include Benton Central, Bismarck-Henning (Bismarck, Ill.), Clinton Prairie, Faith Christian (Lafayette), Frontier, North Montgomery, Oakwood (Fithian, Ill.), Southmont, South Newton and Tri-County.

There has been talk about having Seeger play Cascade, where Cadets head coach Ty Foster is Foxworthy’s cousin. But the two schools are 85 miles apart.

The Patriots are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic and Western Boone. Seeger has won five sectional titles — the last two in 2012 and 2015.

Foxworthy’s assistants are Dale Carroll, Avery Acton and Andy Stover. There are usually around 20 players for varsity and junior varsity squads.

“We’d like to have a few more,” says Foxworthy, who has played with 11 varsity players and sent nine to a JV game on the same night.

Home games are played on-campus on a diamond that in recent years has gained a new batting cage and bleachers and had its infield, mound, home plate and base areas re-done.

During the IHSAA limited contact periods since the end of the football season, baseball players — many of whom are also basketball players or wrestlers — have met on Thursday mornings. As the season approaches, workouts have been on Tuesday nights.

Taking advantage of auxiliary gym space, the Patriots have been able to pull down two indoor batting tunnels and have enough room for long toss.

“Not every school around here has this,” says Foxworthy. “It’s pretty nice.”

A junior high club team of seventh and eighth graders played in the spring. In the summer, those same kids take part in the Wabash Valley Summer Baseball League.

Players also play with various travel baseball organizations, including those around Crawfordsville, Indianapolis and Danville, Ill.

Reed and wife Madison Foxworthy do not have children.

Reed Foxworthy is head baseball coach at Seeger Memorial Junior/Senior High School in West Lebanon, Ind. He is a 2008 Seeger graduate.

 

Alum Stang now guiding Franklin County Wildcats baseball

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Derek Stang received more and more responsibility from the two previous head baseball coaches at Franklin County High School in Brookville, Ind., and now he’s the man in charge.

After serving two seasons each on the staffs of Tony Windle and Dave Miley, 2007 FCHS graduate Stang is leading a Wildcats program that is used to success.

Franklin County has won 15 or more games in five of the past six seasons. The Wildcats have been consistent contenders in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference and earned seven sectional crowns — the last in 2013.

Stang played for Windle as a young boy and at FCHS.

“(Windle) always stressed relationships with kids,” says Stang. “He made them feel comfortable around the coaches. It’s their program. They respected him and enjoyed playing for him.”

Miley brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to Franklin County. He managed or coached many years in professional baseball, including 2003-05 as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

“Learning from him the last few years has been a great thing,” says Stang. “Dave had me coach third base the past two years. He gave me the freedom to do what I need to do.

“It won’t be a huge transition.”

Miley’s wife, Andrea, is from Franklin County and he is still local and in contact with Stang.

With his connections, Miley has helped bring Marty Brenneman, Tom Browning and Ron Oester to town for “A Night With A Legend” team fundraisers.

There is continuity on the staff since pitching coach Brett Rauch, junior varsity coach Scott Carie, freshmen coach Randy Bolos and volunteers Roger Miller and Gene Hodges are all returnees.

“That consistency is going to help a lot,” says Stang. “We know how we want to play.”

Stang plans to have his Wildcats playing a lively brand of baseball.

“We want to be aggressive — at the plate or on the bases,” says Stang. “We want to put pressure on the defense and make them make plays.”

When the other team is at the plate, he wants Franklin County fielders to make the the routine plays.

“We do not want to get too sped up on defense,” says Stang. “That starts with pitchers throwing strikes.”

Pitchers who can’t find the zone have a tendency to put their defense to sleep.

“Staying in the game is half the battle sometimes,” says Stang. “We also want to cut down on our number of strikeouts. Even the guys with the most RBI’s last year had too many strikeouts.”

During the current limited contact time when teams can practice two times a week for two hours, Stang and his coaching staff are trying to make the most of the opportunity.

“It’s a challenge this year,” says Stang. “We’ve got varsity, JV and freshmen in a two-hour time period and trying to get pitchers to get their pitch counts up.”

Players spend half their time at hitting stations then rotate to an agility station.

When it comes to defensive work, players are grouped by position. Catchers do a progression drill that focuses on receiving the ball, a POP drill that emphasizes footwork and a blocking drill.

In the old Brookville High School gym, infielders concentrate on fundamentals and take some ground balls. Middle infielders get some double play reps and work on communication.

Outfielders do zig-zag and angle drills — the latter to help prevent a gapper from turning from a single into a double.

“We utilize every foot of that space,” says Stang. “We make the most of it and get done what we can get done.”

Stang expects to have program numbers in the high 30’s this year.

In recent years, the Wildcats have sent players on to college baseball. Joe Monroe, Blake Ripperger and Jake Fields went to Miami University Hamilton and Brennan Meyers to Wright State University-Lake Campus.

Many players take part in travel baseball while participate in the Franklin County Recreational Baseball League (T-ball through age 12) and Franklin County Babe Ruth League (ages 13-15).

Each June, Stang, Rauch and some FCHS players conduct a youth camp. The youngsters who look up to the high schoolers enjoy being taught by them. There is also a youth night during the spring where kids get into the game free by wearing their uniform and are recognized on the field.

Franklin County plays its home games on its campus. This year the facility will be named Jim Hughes Field in honor of the former coach and educator at Brookville and Franklin County. The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer died Nov. 12, 2018.

Franklin County (enrollment around 750) is part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Batesville, Greensburg, Lawrenceburg, Madison Consolidated, Rushville Consolidated and South Dearborn.

A member of the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference, Franklin County competes with Batesville, Connersville, East Central, Greensburg, Lawrenceburg, Rushville Consolidated and South Dearborn. In 2018, the EIAC went to a format where each team played a home-and-home series against each other on Mondays and Thursdays and that will continue in 2019.

Stang also played basketball at Franklin County for coach Josh Johnson. He was an assistant coach at the high school the past four years and switched to eighth grade this winter.

He has also been a baseball and basketball assistant at Daleville High School and coached basketball at the AAU level for the Spiece program and at Zionsville Junior High.

A math teacher at FCHS, Stang attended Indiana University in Bloomington and received his degree from Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis.

Derek and Heather Stang have a daughter — Amelia. She turned 1 on Thursday, Feb. 7. Heather is a sixth grade teacher at Mt. Carmel Elementary in Cedar Grove, Ind.

Derek Stang is heading into his first season as head baseball coach at Franklin County High School in Brookville, Ind. He is a 2007 FCHS graduate and has served the past four seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater.