Former McCutcheon, Purdue hurler Wittgren finds his groove in Cleveland bullpen

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

A change of baseball addresses meant a change in change-up approach for Nick Wittgren.

The 6-foot-3 right-handed reliever was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Cleveland Indians in February 2019.

The Tribe made a request of the former Purdue University closer and three-sport standout at McCutcheon High School — also in West Lafayette, Ind.

“When I got to Cleveland they told me my change-up plays pretty well and to throw it more to right-handers than I did in the past,” says Wittgren, who recorded a career-high 12 holds in 55 appearances and 57 2/3 relief innings. His 2.81 earned run average was 19th-lowest among American League relievers. “Roberto Perez was behind the plate and loved calling it.

“I almost felt like I threw my change-up more than I did my slider.”

Close.

According to Statcast data, Wittgren’s pitch arsenal included four pitches in 2019. He threw his four-seamer 66.4 percent of the time, slider 18.8, change-up 14.7 and curve 0.1.

“I was in my groove last year,” says Wittgren, who turns 29 on May 29. “I had my head where I needed it.”

With Miami in 2018, Statcast actually has Wittgren with a higher percentage of change-ups (15.7) as compared to sliders (12.8). Besides the four-seamer (62.7), there was also the sinker (7.5) and cutter (1.3).

With all the movement, Wittgren refers to his pitch repertoire as fastball, change-up and breaking ball.

Wittgren pitches from a three-quarter overhand arm angle. He throws across his body with his glove flaring out and whips around to deliver the baseball.

“I don’t know when I started,” says Wittgren of his mechanics. “In college I did it. It just works for me. I get the most force toward home. It’s really tough to pick up the baseball.

“To a righty I’m started with my arm behind them. It works in my favor.”

Wittgren favors sliders and four-seamers in on the hands with change-ups down and away.

“I started manipulated that pitch a little more last year,” says Wittgren of the change-up.

Indians pitching coach Carl Willis, assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla and bullpen coach Brian Sweeney will often remind Wittgren to use that pitch.

With Cleveland, he occasionally got a chance to deliver that pitch and others to a familiar target.

Kevin Plawecki, a college teammate, was a back-up catcher with the Indians in 2019 (the Westfield (Ind.) High School graduate signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox in January).

“It was kind of cool taking it back to the good old Purdue says,” says Wittgren. “We still clicked.

“I didn’t have the change-up in college. I didn’t need it.”

Wittgren played shortstop and pitched at McCutcheon for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jake Burton.

As a Mavericks senior, Wittgren was an MVP in tennis in the fall and earned the same recognition for basketball in the winter.

Following brother Kyle’s lead, Nick took up tennis as a freshman.

“It was a good way to stay active for basketball and baseball,” says Wittgren. “It helped with footwork and conditioning and hand-eye (coordination).”

Rick Peckinpaugh was Wittgren’s head basketball coach.

“(Peckinpaugh) brought the most energy and talent out in you,” says Wittgren. “We had a group that played together really well. He was there for every single person, trying to get us better.

“It was a pleasure and a joy playing for him.”

With no college baseball offers coming in, he was thinking about bypassing his senior year on the diamond and focusing on basketball.

“I was just looking for a way to pay for college,” says Wittgren. “I was not looking at the whole picture.”

Wittgren had his sights on teaching math and coaching — either at the high school or college level.

“My mom (Lisa) is a (fourth grade) teacher,” says Wittgren. “I love kids. I love numbers.”

Burton let Wittgren know that he had baseball potential past high school.

He said, ‘you have something special, don’t waste it,’” says Wittgren of Burton’s advice.

Besides that, Burton emphasized that Wittgren was part of a large senior class and he owed it to the guys he’d been playing with since sixth grade to finish high school strong (born in Torrance, Calif., and raised in Long Beach and Cypress, Nick moved to Indiana as a sixth grader; father Andy lives in San Juan Capistrano; Nick’s other brother is Jack).

“If Jake didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be here,” says Wittgren. “He saw something in me.”

A few days ago, the player and his former coach connected via FaceTime and Burton got to see Nick and Ashley Wittgren’s 14-month old son Jackson.

At McCutcheon, shortstop/pitcher Wittgren’s velocity topped out around 85 mph for most of the his senior season.

“I never took reps off in high school,” says Wittgren. “I need to do this to get better.”

His arm was tired from the workload.

With a few days off prior to sectional, Wittgren was touching 90.

Wittgren pitched in the Colt World Series in Lafayette and was scouted by McCutcheon graduate Matt Kennedy, then head coach at Parkland College. He got Wittgren to come to the junior college power in Champaign, Ill.

Seeing that the Cobras were in need of a Sunday starter, Wittgren pitched an idea to Kennedy.

He wanted to only pitch.

Wittgren recalls the response of the man he calls “KY.”

“He said that might be one of the best decisions you ever make,” says Wittgren a decade later. “I brought you in as a pitcher. I wanted you to figure it out.”

The lanky right-hander went 10-0 with 54 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings for a Parkland that placed fifth in the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series.

In the fall of his sophomore year at Purdue, Wittgren had an ulnar nerve transfer.

Boilermakers head coach Doug Schreiber wanted him to be the team’s closer in the spring of 2011.

“Whatever puts me out on that field is what I want to do,” says Wittgren, who finished 24 games and appeared in 29 with a Big Ten Conference-leading 12 saves to go with 55 strikeouts in 51 innings.

Schreiber (who later was head coach at McCutcheon and is now head coach at Purdue Fort Wayne) and assistants Ryan Sawyers and Tristan McIntyre (now head coach at McCutcheon) implored him to “trust your stuff and pound the strike zone.”

“They got me to throw certain pitches in certain counts,” says Wittgren.

He could change the batter’s eye level with fastballs up and sliders down. If he  pitched up and in, hitters would not be able to extend their arms.

Wittgren was named second-team all-conference and then went to play for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks that summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Schreiber asked Wittgren to be a closer again in 2012.

He pitched in 26 games, finishing off 25 and racked up 10 saves, setting a new Purdue all-time high with 22. He fanned 39 batters in 41 innings and was named third-team all-Big Ten. His two-year earned run average for the Boilers was 2.54.

Wittgren selected in the ninth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Marlins and made his major league debut for Miami in 2016.

On the Cape is where Wittgren first met Ashley Crosby. She was part of the media department for the elite summer circuit.

A few years later, strength trainer Ashley did an internship with Cressy Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and she began dating Nick, who was training in south Florida with the Marlins. The relationship blossomed. The married couple now lives near Miami.

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Wittgren works out in his garage gym.

“It’s a full set-up,” says Wittgren. “There’s anything you need.

“Eric (Cressy) writes my program. My wife implements them.”

Ashley Wittgren has wealth of knowledge with an MS (Master of Science) degree and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), Precision Nutrition (Pn1) and TPI accreditations. She is there to help her husband correctly perform the movements and get the most out of them.

“She could apply for a big league strength job if she wanted,” says Nick of his wife. “She walks and talks me through a lift so I can get as strong as I possibly can.”

During quarantine, Wittgren throws into a backyard net. On bullpen days, he throws to catchers living in the area brought together by CSP.

During the off-season, Wittgren long tosses. But as the season approaches, he gets dialed in to pitch from 60 feet, 6 inches.

“I want my release point during the season to stay the same on everything,” says Wittgren. “I keep it on a line the whole entire time and hit (the catcher’s) knees every single time.”

Nick Wittgren, a McCutcheon High School graduate who pitched at Purdue University, is now a reliever for the Cleveland Indians. He made his Major League Baseball debut in 2016 with the Miami Marlins. (Cleveland Indians Photo)

Nick Wittgren, who played at McCutcheon High School and Purdue University, delivers the baseball for the Cleveland Indians. He excelled as a set-up reliever for the Tribe in 2019. (MLB Photo)

 

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Toledo assistant McIntyre looks for players with talent, intensity

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Nick McIntyre coaches hitters, catchers and outfielders and coordinates recruiting for the University of Toledo baseball program.

In his 12th year with the Rockets in 2020, McIntyre knows just the kind of player he likes to land in the NCAA Division I’s Mid-American Conference.

“There’s a baseline of talent you have to have at the D-I level,” says McIntyre, a graduate of McCutcheon High School and Purdue University — both in West Lafayette, Ind. “What the kid has inside matters as much as anything.”

McIntyre, who is on a Toledo staff with head coach Rob Reinstetle, assistant Tommy Winterstein and volunteer Sean Repay, seeks players with the right type of makeup.

“I tend to go toward the dirtbag type of player that can hit a little bit,” says McIntyre. “Going forward, I’d like us to be a little more athletic on the field. I’d like to run a little better.”

McIntyre and company value offensive versatility and the ability to drive the ball.

“We have to have some thump,” says McIntyre. “I’d like everybody to at least be able to hit a double.

“I do like to recruit hitters — not just 6-5 guys who hit the ball real hard.”

McIntyre notes that the better players get the game to slow down and learn how to hunt pitches in certain counts.

This comes with time and work.

“We’re a mid-major school,” says McIntyre. “We’re not getting the most refined product. We take pride in our development.

“We recognize talent and develop it. The expectation to win is the next hurdle.”

In the fall, Toledo takes two or three weeks on individuals, getting pitchers and hitters up to speed on the program’s philosophy. Hitters hunt fastballs and try to stay in the middle of the field.

“That’s the time guys go out and compete for playing time for the spring,” says McIntyre.

If things need to be refined, they can be done after that.

McIntyre was an infield coach and assistant hitting coach for Cory Mee, who was Rockets head coach for 16 seasons (2004-19) and enjoys the change of pace that came with 2019-20.

He was recruited at Purdue as a catcher and played mostly third base and shortstop in his six minor league seasons after being selected as a second baseman by the Detroit Tigers in the 20th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

McIntyre played at McCutcheon for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jake Burton, helping the Mavericks win the IHSAA Class 4A state championship in 1999.

“Growing up in the McCutcheon area, baseball is a big deal,” says McIntyre. “(McCutcheon players), those were your superstars.

“(Burton) made that happen. He grew that system from the ground up. He was intense and winning was the expectation. Practices very organized.”

It was more of the same when McIntyre played at Purdue for Doug Schreiber.

“He was definitely intense,” says McIntyre, who was part of Schreiber’s first Boilermaker recruiting class. “You knew what the goal was to win. Period. No excuses.”

Purdue opened the 2001 season by knocking off the No. 1 team in the country — Rice.

It was not a big deal to Schreiber.

“We were expected to win,” says McIntyre.

When the Boilers twice lost to No. 2-ranked Clemson by two runs in 2002, there was no celebration.

“There were no moral victories,” says McIntyre.

Tristan McIntyre, Nick’s cousin, is now head coach at McCutcheon. Jake McIntyre, Nick’s brother, is on the Mavericks coaching staff.

“I’m pumped for him,” says Nick of Tristan. “He gets it.”

Nick McIntyre  turned 39 on the day Toledo played its last game of 2020 — a March 11 loss at Vanderbilt.

With the early shutdown to the season, the NCAA has awarded another year of eligibility for players.

“It only benefits us,” says McIntyre. “We had a very strong junior class this year. As for our seniors, we’ll see if they want to come back.”

Combined with the MLB draft possibly being limited to 10 rounds or less, it will make for a very competitive situation with players staying in the college game — either at their current schools or entering the transfer portal — and incoming high schoolers.

“It makes the cream rise to the top and puts more quality players in the pool,” says McIntyre. “There will be a a lot more competition the next few years. Junior college baseball will be very good.”

With Reinstetle in charge, Toledo is aggressive in recruiting and goes after junior college players to help supplement those coming out of high school.

“We’re calling everybody on earth,” says McIntyre. “We may get shot down a lot.

“If you want to play baseball, there’s somewhere for you. You decide the lineup the way you play in the fall and participate in practice.”

For now, COVID-19 has the diamond world in a holding pattern.

“You can only get better at baseball if you’re playing,” says McIntyre. “A lot of our guys are missing out on this time.

“How much summer ball will get played. It’s unknown right now.”

Repay, a graduate of Highland (Ind.) High School, has been a manager of the Bismarck (N.D.) Larks in the Northwoods League the past three years and got most Toledo players placed with summer collegiate leagues back in the fall.

Nick and Heather McIntyre have three children — daughters Mia (8) and Morgan (5) and son Mason (18 months). The former Heather Zielinski is a Sylvania, Ohio, native who played golf at Purdue. Nick and Heather did not meet while attending Purdue but at a tailgate event.

Nick McIntyre, a graduate of McCutcheon High School and Purdue University — both in West Lafayette, Ind. — was in his 12th season as a baseball assistant coach at the University of Toledo in 2020. (University of Toledo Photo)

 

Kennedy joins Butler Bulldogs coaching staff

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Matt Kennedy is back home again in Indiana after spending a few years coaching baseball in Florida.

The Lafayette native joined the staff at Butler University in Indianapolis in January. He is instructing catchers, infielders and hitters, helping pitching coach Ben Norton with recruiting, assisting with camps and clinics and office duties.

“It’s a group effort here,” says Kennedy. “We make sure we are all on the same page.”

Head coach Dave Schrage’s Bulldogs open the 2020 season Feb. 14-16 in Lexington, S.C., with two games each against North Carolina A&T and George Mason. Butler is a member of the Big East Conference.

Kennedy appreciates that Schrage values player development and promotes a family atmosphere.

“It’s about getting guys better and fundamentals,” says Kennedy of Schrage. “He’s a pitching and defense guy and believes in attention to details. He emphasizes base running, which a little bit of a lost art.

“We have a family feel within our clubhouse. He wants to make sure you get home and spend time with your kids. He knows how important that is, especially with the season right around the corner.”

Kennedy has has three children in West Lafayette. Son Karson Kennedy (16) is a junior catcher at Harrison High School, where Pat Lowrey is head coach. Daughter Emilyne (13) is a gymnast and a seventh grader at Battle Ground Middle School. Daughter Jolee (9) is a third grader at Battle Ground Elementary.

The 2018 and 2019 seasons saw Kennedy on the staff of Rick O’Dette at Saint Leo (Fla.) University. He had served three different stints with O’Dette at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind. ((2005, 2007-08, 2016-17). The school closed its doors after the 2017 season.

“Rick is phenomenal,” says Kennedy. “He believes in the importance of work ethic and that blue collar feel.

“It’s made (going to Butler) an easy transition for me. (O’Dette) was so family-oriented with the team. Players were caring for each other playing for each other. He knew the importance of team and not the ‘I’ factor. He demanded a lot, but you see the rewards of that.”

That’s the way it was at Saint Joseph’s, where alum O’Dette was head coach for 17 years.

When Kentucky Wesleyan College graduate Kennedy came to the Pumas, there was immediate acceptance.

“I’m one of them,” says Kennedy. “(O’Dette) is instilling that culture down at Saint Leo.”

Kennedy began his high school baseball career at Lafayette Central Catholic High School. He was bumped up from the junior varsity to the varsity, took a baseball to the face which required reconstructive surgery and ended his freshmen season early.

He landed a McCutcheon High School. As a senior second baseman, Kennedy was part of coach Jake Burton’s 1999 IHSAA Class 4A state championship team.

The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Assocation Hall of Famer’s expectations were high for Kennedy and the rest of the Mavericks.

“He saw a lot more in me in what I thought I could do — both as a person and a player,” says Kennedy of Burton. “Jake was great for me. I owe that man a lot. Without his influence, I definitely wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now.”

Kennedy learned to never be truly satisfied as a player and has carried that into his coaching career, holding himself and his athletes to a high standard.

“You can always learn, always get better,” says Kennedy. “You see there’s little more in there (with players). You have to figure out a way to get them out of them.”

Burton expected his players to work hard, be good people, follow the rules and be accountable for themselves and their actions. They had to make good decisions or they couldn’t be a part of the McCutcheon program.

“That put me in the right direction,” says Kennedy. “It put me with a good group of friends that I still talk to today.”

Kennedy played one season for coach Todd Post at Kankakee (Ill.) Community College and three at Kentucky Wesleyan — one for Greg McVey and two for Todd Lillpop.

McVey demanded much from his players and kept them on-task.

“He was a planner,” says Kennedy, who is among the Kentucky Wesleyan career leaders in fielding percentage and assists. “We knew everyday what we were doing. These are the goals of the day and this is what we want to accomplish.”

Like O’Dette at Saint Joseph’s, Lillpop became a college head coach at a young age and learned on the fly.

“He stressed the importance of working everyday and improving,” says Kennedy of Lillpop. “As a team, we had some success.”

The Owensboro-based KWC Panthers made their conference tournament for the first time in well over a decade and turned the program around.

Kennedy received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Kentucky Wesleyan in 2003. He began his coaching career as a KWC assistant in 2004.

After his first stop at Saint Joseph’s, he was an assistant to Bob Warn in the Hall of Famer’s last season leading the Indiana State University program.

“He cared so much for that place,” says Kennedy of Warn. “Everything he did was for the good of Indiana State baseball. His legacy there is going to be forever. Guys played hard for him and he was great to work for.

“As a young coach, you think you know more than you do. It’s good to keep your mouth shut and your ears open and you’re going to learn a lot more. (Warn) opened my eyes. There are a lot of different ways to do things.”

After his second tenure at Saint Joseph’s, Kennedy took over the reins at Parkland College in Champaign, Ill. (2009-13). His first four teams went 49-9, 50-13, 43-11 and 40-20. The 2009 Cobras, featuring future Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, won the 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association Divison II World Series.

Kiermaier was primarily a shortstop when he came to Parkland. Kennedy, wishing to get some more repetitions for his infielders, asked Kiemaier to move to center field during a fall game. He later told him his path to the next level would be at that position.

Before being selected in the 31st round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Kiemaier was a two-time NJCAA All-American.

“His athleticism was unmatched,” says Kennedy of Kiermaier. “It was fun to watch him out there.”

From spring to fall of 2013, Kennedy was briefly an assistant at High Point (N.C.) University for head coach Chris Cozart.

With his parents in declining health, he decided to move back to the Midwest.

Kennedy knew Jeff Isom through Lafayette baseball circles and was introduced by Bobby Bell.

When Isom became manager of the independent Frontier League’s Joliet (Ill.) Slammers, he invited Kennedy to be his hitting coach. He served in that role during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

“Pro ball is something that always intrigued me a little bit,” says Kennedy. “I checked it out for a couple years.

“I missed the college end of things.”

So he went back with O’Dette at Saint Joseph’s.

And now he’s back in Indiana, doing his best to develop players at Butler.

Matt Kennedy, a Lafayette, Ind., native, has joined the baseball coaching staff at Butler University in Indianapolis. His previous job was as an assistant at Saint Leo (Fla.) University. (Butler University Photo)

 

Shambaugh talks about ‘being competitive on game day’

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Detailed planning and setting expectations.

It’s what Bret Shambaugh has done as a baseball coach and educator.

There’s a always a plan and things are done for a reason.

Shambaugh, who has coached at college, high school and youth level, and is in his fifth year as an English teacher at Pioneer Junior/Senior High School in Royal Center, Ind., shared his ideas on “Being Competitive on Game Day” at the Huntington North Hot Stove clinics session Jan. 12 as a guest of Vikings head coach Mark Flueckiger.

A 1980 graduate of Pike High School and Marian College — both in Indianapolis — Shambaugh began his baseball coaching career while attending Marian (1984-89) and later became the Knights head coach (1990-93) before serving one season as an assistant to Bob Morgan at Indiana University (1994) then serving as head coach at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (1995-97).

He has served as a high school assistant to Jake Burton at McCutcheon, Phil McIntyre at Indianapolis North Central and John Zangrilli at Brebeuf Jesuit.

There have been a number of youth baseball coaching jobs, including the Lafayette White Sox, Hoosier Diamond, Indy Jets and, most recently, the Mavericks (which is attached to the McCutcheon program).

John Shambaugh, Bret’s son, is a senior first baseman/left-handed pitcher at McCutcheon.

“As an educator I’m amazed that there’s a lot of different ways to be successful in this game,” says Shambaugh, 58. “I believe in having a philosophy.”

Shambaugh says the coach’s philosophy should mirror that of his administrators.

This can help prevent future issues.

“We thought that they hired us because of us, but we forgot we answer to them,” says Shambaugh.

Since 2005, Shambaugh has been working from a syllabus/playbook that lays out the elements of his program. He shares this agenda with his players and often tests them on its content.

With the Mavericks, he emails it on sectional week.

“One week from the time they’re eliminated from their high school (season), they have to know this chapter and verse,” says Shambaugh. “It’s no different than reading the first three chapters of a novel.

“That is to make sure all of us — myself, whoever I have helping me, parents and players — that we all speak from the same book.

“I — for whatever reason — have never been good in the subjective. I have measured everything my entire life.

“That’s the only way I could understand as a coach how I could be good for the player.”

If everything is measurable those who enjoy competition will strive to meet the stated goal.

“‘A’ students will strive to make A’s,” says Shambaugh. “They’ll do whatever it takes to make an A.”

The same is true for someone trying to make the team, a sophomore wishing to play on the varsity rather than the JV or a player who wants to make the everyday lineup.

Shambaugh says putting an objective in front of the players eliminates favoritism and “who do you know?”

In Shambaugh’s calculations, he figured out to be a high school baseball head coach it takes at least 21 hours a week 52 weeks out of the year.

“That’s the amount of time minimum you would have to spend as the head coach for your program to do it right in my opinion,” says Shambaugh. “Of course, most of those months, as head coaches, you’re not in-season. But yet you have to give your program 21 hours a week.”

On game day, Shambaugh wants no wasted second.

The plan takes into consideration what is done for home and away contests.

“I’m talking everything,” says Shambaugh. “How they will be dressed on the bus, for example.

“I always have a rule when travel, the only thing you don’t have on are your spikes because I don’t want you to trip getting off the bus or the van and not be able to play.”

As soon players in the dugout, they change into their spikes and go to work.

Shambaugh devotes practice time to these things so players understand that no second is to be wasted.

If players are trained to know what they’re supposed to be doing, there will be no need to worry about “down” time.

“Evaluate what you’re doing constantly,” says Shambaugh. “Wins and losses don’t necessarily determine what you believe is the best practice for your players and your assistant coaches. It can always be re-tooled to meet the ultimate objective.”

Shambaugh learned from former Lewis & Clark College (Idaho) head coach Ed Cheff the importance of practicing delays with his players.

“They’d show up for practice and he’d send them back to the dorm. He would practice the rain delay in the third inning. What are you going to do during that time?”

Shambaugh says the worst thing you can create for teenagers is dead time.

“It may not happen but once or twice during the season, but are you ready for it?,” says Shambaugh. “Teenagers and parents will always react to your leadership. If you always appear to be in-control and in-the-know they’ll run through hell in a gasoline suit for you.

“If you’re not, that’s when the armchair quarterbacking begins.”

Shambaugh also says negativity should be saved for practice and not used on game day.

“I don’t think anybody lost on purpose,” says Shambaugh. “I don’t think the batter took the called strike three with guys on second and third and you’re one run down in the last at-bat. Your pitcher didn’t throw the gopher ball on purpose. Your shortstop didn’t take the ground ball through his legs on purpose.

“When we’re negative after the game, I don’t think it works. Positivity goes a lot further than negativity. It took me a long time to learn that.”

Things can be addressed at practice and no one else is around but the players and the coaches.

For Shambaugh, practices are always crisp.

Since leaving college and going into youth baseball coaching, he has learned that boring practices are a major reason players are quitting the game before they become teenagers.

Shambaugh has observed many youth practices where one player is hitting and the rest are standing around.

“When we practice with teenagers, we keep them moving,” says Shambaugh. “Whatever you are trying to accomplish on that given day, keep it crisp.”

Shambaugh says out-of-season is the time when teaching is done with individual players.

For players to know what is expected of them, objectives are written and explained.

Baseball is driven by numbers. It’s no difference than a grade-point average or the percentage of accuracy on a test.

“I believe in players knowing what those numbers are on a regular basis,” says Shambaugh. “It’s important. You can do that in the out-of-season.

“What’s the out-of-season for? To get better. Are you doing anything game-like to get better? If we don’t have written objectives for them, they’ll do what they’ve always done.”

In exit interviews with players last summer, Shambaugh told some to get 100 game-like swings three days a week. Infielders were told to field 100 grounders and throw to first base or start the double play. He also asked players to run 15 60-yard dashes for time.

Shambaugh wants his players to appreciate fitness 365 days a year.

“Teenage athletes, especially for the sport of baseball, have no idea what true fitness is,” says Shambaugh. “I agree that multiple-sport athletes, especially here in the Midwest, have some advantages.”

There are also disadvantages since the in-season athlete is focused on the next game and not so much on improving fitness.

In evaluating high school baseball, football and basketball program, Shambaugh sees a lot of natural ability but not a lot of fitness.

Shambaugh says coaches are careful with building fitness because they don’t want to take too much out of an athlete’s legs.

“If a baseball player doesn’t have his legs, he can’t hit,” says Shambaugh. “He’s anemic. He can’t move defensively.

“At the high school level, baseball pitchers play shortstop in the game they’re not pitching.”

Shambaugh says an athlete can train year-round for fitness.

“Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat,” says Shambaugh. “At least I haven’t heard of it.”

Coaches should have a written plan in what they want their players to do as an athlete in fitness.

With the Mavericks, Shambaugh has measured progress for his players in speed and strength.

“Serve those who want,” says Shambaugh. “We can hold it against players when they don’t show up. It will take care of itself over time. When players don’t want to get in the work, they won’t be on that roster or they won’t be in that lineup.

“I’ve never worried about who wasn’t there. I only wanted to serve those that were in front of me.”

Shambaugh also has written objectives for the pre-season.

“What do you want to accomplish (on a given day)?,” says Shambaugh. “Make sure your players know.”

Scrimmages allow coaches to immediately identify strike throwers and aggressive players.

“Baseball is a game that needs played,” says Shambaugh. “You won’t win any games probably on the gym floor or the batting tunnel.

“If it’s me, I’m going to scrimmage. For me to make a qualitative decision, I need to see guys perform.”

All things are game day-related. Runners are placed on the bases to create situations during batting practice. Hitters are expected to move the runners with hits or sacrifice bunts. Runners must read the ball in play. The defenders must do their jobs.

“Do they know what your expectations are in writing before you get there?,” says Shambaugh. “Because those are your coaching moments. You knew what your job was and you didn’t do it.”

Again, fitness is part of the equation.

“I’ve baseball players tell me for years, ‘Coach, I did not join the track team,’” says Shambaugh. “I’m sorry. It’s either that or the pool guys. (Players have) got to be in shape. All my years coaching, I never had a pitcher come up lame. That’s because we ran.”

Shambaugh asks players to do things that are difficult because baseball is a difficult game to play.

With in-season practices, Shambaugh challenges his players when they’re tired.

“It’s easy to play when you’re fresh,” says Shambaugh. “But baseball is a marathon.”

High school players play close to 30 games in seven weeks and also have take care of homework and — maybe — a part-time job.

“That’s a grind,” says Shambaugh. “Guys get tired.”

All things game day-related and the team scrimmages for three innings a day.

Once again, fitness is important.

Shambaugh says that timing is everything.

Teams might win their conference, in-season tournaments or rack up 20 wins, but the focus for the high school coach becomes winning the first game of the sectional and advancing as far as the team can.

“We’re building up momentum,” says Shambaugh. “We want to be good for that first game of the sectional.

“I would start my planning three weeks out. Get you (No. 1 pitcher) ready. Do you really know what your best lineup is when he pitches?

“Do I like what I see? Are we getting done in practice what we need to get done? Are our kids positive? Are we fresh? Do we have the right mindset? Does everybody understand what we’re looking to accomplish? Otherwise, why be disappointed when you get beat the first game of the sectional?

Once the team reaches the post-season, everyone involved knows the plan and everyone is all in.

“Just give me the baby,” says Shambaugh. “I don’t want the labor pains.”

In the postseason, everyone should know the objective is to win.

“Now your stats don’t mean donkey squat,” says Shambaugh. “No matter what it takes, we’re going to win. It’s not going to matter what gets the credit. It doesn’t matter what substitutions we make. We’ve got one objective.”

To Shambaugh’s way of thinking, the summer is the start to the next season.

Most coaches will want their athletes to play in the summer and will guide them to teams that are appropriate for them.

“Tuning it out is dangerous,” says Shambaugh. “I believe in the exit interview and not just for seniors, but everybody who was involved.

“I know the athletic director or the principal is going exit-interview me. I want to hear from all of my people.

“If I’m a good listener and they’re being conscientious, I’m going to learn. It also builds ownership in the program.”

Shambaugh says coaches should follow and support their players in their accomplishments away from the team.

“They get a big kick out of that when their head skipper or assistant coaches that don’t have any summer accomplishments are at the ballpark or become aware that they did something that was pretty cool,” says Shambaugh. “It is amazing if an adult gives a teenager positive information.”

Shambaugh marvels that many high school coaches don’t consider the summer as part of the out-of-season. In many places, basketball and football coaches are involved with their players at that time of year.

“Baseball players probably play for someone else in the summertime?,” says Shambaugh. “Why can’t you have open fields in the summertime even if it’s just two days a week?”

By reaching out to players out-of-season, coaches will know who might be considering not coming back for the next season and who might be thinking about joining the team for the first time.

Shambaugh says it will pay to support football and get those players pumped for their season.

“Football controls the numbers,” says Shambaugh. “They have 35 to 50 guys involved with their program.

“Getting along with the football staff and program really benefits a baseball guy.”

With all that, Shambaugh wants his players to have fun and he wants to know what makes them tick.

“It can be about the X’s and O’s, but it’s always about the Jimmys and Joes,” says Shambaugh. “You can have this technique or that technique or you can get involved with your people so that they know you’re in it with them. Everything you’re trying to do is on their behalf.”

Bret Shambaugh has coached baseball at the college, high school and youth levels. He shared some of his thoughts at the Huntington North Hot Stove clinics Jan. 12. (Steve Krah Photo)

Bret Shambaugh has coached baseball at various levels since 1984, including being head coach at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Marian College (now Marian University) and high school assistant jobs at McCutcheon, Indianapolis North Central and Brebeuf Jesuit. He talked at the Huntington North Hot Stove clinics Jan. 12. (Steve Krah Photo)

McIntyre expects his McCutcheon Mavericks to play with confidence

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Tristan McIntyre was proud to be associated with McCutcheon High School baseball even before he pulled on a Mavericks uniform.

That emotion continued as McIntyre played for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jake Burton and helped the West Lafayette-based Mavs win an IHSAA Class 4A state championship in his senior year of 2003.

“He had pride in the program and invested a lot of time and energy in making this one of the better programs in the state,” says McIntyre of Burton. “That has resonated down through everyone who has come through and played for him.”

As a youngster, Tristan attended McCutcheon baseball camps. Older cousins Jake McIntyre (Class of 1996) and Nick McIntyre (Class of 1999) played for the Mavs. McCutcheon was a state runner-up in 1994 and state champion in 1999.

Tristan grew up as the only child of Roger and Shirley McIntyre (now deceased) in Stockwell, Ind., which is about 10 miles southeast of McCutcheon, and got his diamond start in the PONY Baseball (which is now Shetland for 6U, Pinto for 8U, Mustang for 10U, Bronco for 12U, Pony for 14U, Colt for 16U, Palomino for 18U and Thorobred 23U). Gary Christopher was the coach.

As he progressed, the young McIntyre played for teams based at James E. Cole Elementary, Lauramie Township and then Wainwright Middle School.

In high school, McIntyre played in the Colt World Series in Lafayette. After that came Lafayette American Legion Post 11, coached by Jim Watson and Dan Yeoman.

McIntyre played three seasons for the Boilermakers (2005, 2006 and 2008). He redshirted his freshman year (2004) and because of injury missed another season (2007).

The 2008 Boilers went 21-10 in Big Ten Conference play and featured future big leaguer and current Korea Baseball Organization star Josh Lindblom as the closer.

McIntyre remembers Lindblom hitting 100 mph on the radar gun at Northwestern, the only time he’s been around someone who hit triple digits.

“We knew that if we could get the ball to him with the lead it was pretty much ‘game over,’” says McIntyre of Lindblom, a graduate of Harrison High School in Lafayette. “His stuff was just so electric.

“(New Haven High School graduate) Matt Bischoff was a starting pitcher that had really good command and could go out there and give us seven or eight innings every start (in 2008).

“We had a lefty out of the bullpen — (Hammond Bishop Noll Institute grad) Andy Loomis — who was lights out that year as well.”

McIntyre was an assistant coach at Bluffton (Ohio) University for two seasons (2009 and 2010) and on the Purdue coaching staff for six seasons (2011-16).

That means the McIntyre both played for Doug Schreiber at Purdue and coached with him at both Purdue and McCutcheon. T-Mac was a part of the Mav coaching staff the past two seasons under Schreiber.

“It’s his knowledge of the game,” says McIntyre of one attribute he appreciates about Schreiber. “He’s been in so many good experiences throughput his career. I just try to be a sponge and soak that in.

“And he’s one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever been around. As a player and a coach, it inspired you to want to work hard and compete and find ways to get guys better and find a way to win.”

With Schreiber leaving to become head baseball coach at Purdue Fort Wayne, McIntyre was recently named head coach of the Mavs and has been reinforcing the culture during fall limited contact workouts.

“We want to take a lot of pride in the opportunity represent McCutcheon and coming out here with a purpose everyday,” says McIntyre. “Ultimately, we want to be able to play the game with confidence and break the game down to a series of one-pitch-at-a-time.

“If we do that over and over again, I think we’ll find ourselves in a lot of ball games with a chance to win.”

McIntyre, 34, takes over a program that went 22-6 and played in the 4A Lafayette Jeff Sectional championship game in 2019.

The coach sees the best chance to keep having success is by limiting the extra outs and offensive opportunities for opponents.

“Stylistically, we want to take care of the baseball whether that’s on the mound or defensively,” says McIntyre, who counts Brandon Fulk, Ryan Wides, Dustin Anthrop and Jake McIntyre among his assistants with the hopes of filling a couple more slots with Schreiber and (Crawfordsville High School head football coach) Kurt Schlicher moving on.

Fulk leads the JV team and is assisted by Anthrop, who is president of McCutcheon Youth Baseball League with Fulk as vice president. Wides works with catchers and outfielders. Jake McIntyre is a McCutcheon social studies teacher.

Nick McIntyre, who is now an assistant at the University of Toledo, was a role model for a young Tristan.

“(Nick) was someone I always looked up to. No. 1, he was talented. No. 2, he was always a competitive guy,” says McIntyre. “As a kid it was fun to be around him. He’s a high energy guy and obviously knows the game.”

As coaches, Tristan and Nick have been able to bounce ideas off one another. While Tristan was a hitter and a pitcher in high school, he has moved toward the pitching side of things while Nick’s focus has been offense.

“He knows the mindset of the hitter and he’s always been very open as far as giving me tips and things along those lines,” says Tristan.

Away from baseball, Tristan and wife Andrea are the parents of daughter Clara (4). His day job is finance and operations manager at Gutwein Law in Lafayette.

“To be able to do this in general it takes the support of a lot of people,” says McIntyre. “First and foremost is my wife. She has to be very understanding and patient. Having her on-board is tremendous.

“(Gutwein) has been very gracious to me and flexible with my schedule.”

Tristan McIntyre, a 2003 McCutcheon High School graduate and a Mavericks assistant for the past two seasons, is now head baseball coach at his alma mater. He also played and coached at Purdue University and coached at Bluffton (Ohio) University. (Steve Krah Photo)