Schaaf looks to establish strong baseball culture at Anderson Prep

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Ray Schaaf goes into his first season as a head baseball coach with an idea about building the culture of his program.

“We take this seriously,” says Schaaf, who was hired a few weeks ago to lead the diamond efforts at Anderson (Ind.) Preparatory Academy, a military style school for boys and girls that stresses leadership. “This matters to us.”

Schaaf is also in his first year as a teacher (he instructs high school U.S. History) in 2023-24 and is a seventh grade boys basketball head coach and eighth grade boys basketball assistant at APA. He says he will put an emphasis on player development for his baseballers.

The IHSAA Limited Contact Period window was to open again today (Dec. 4). Schaaf was planning to work with athletic director David Bradford to see what that looks like at the charter school.

Anderson Prep Academy (enrollment around 300) is a member of the Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference (with APA, Liberty Christian, Muncie Burris, Seton Catholic and University in the North Division and Bethesda Christian, Central Christian Academy, Greenwood Christian, International and Shortridge in the South Division).

The Jets are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping in 2024 with Cowan, Daleville, Liberty Christian, Southern Wells, Tri-Central and Wes-Del. APA has not yet won a sectional title.

Jeremy Bostic, who has been vice president at Anderson Youth Baseball & Softball, is Schaaf’s assistant coach.

Schaaf says it is not yet certain whether Anderson Prep will field a junior varsity team in the spring. Junior high baseball is a newer program at the school.

APA is K-12. The K-5 building is on 22nd Street.

The Jets play home games less than a mile from campus at Memorial Field, which has been the site of baseball memories for decades. 

“We hope to add to the good history there,” says Schaaf.

Liberty Christian is just over a mile to the northeast of APA.

Prior to arriving at Anderson Prep, Schaaf worked for Cru Summer Missions with trips to Croatia.

He was also involved with Cru at Ball State University, where he earned a Sport Administration degree in 2014 and played club baseball.

Schaaf is a 2010 graduate of Northwestern High School in Kokomo, Ind., where he played football, basketball and baseball. Indiana Football Hall of Famer John Hendryx, Jim Gish and Ryan Berryman were Schaaf’s head coaches. 

“He was very detail-oriented,” says former prep pitcher Schaaf of Berryman. “There was an emphasis not just on skill acquisition but taking care of your body and being in good condition.

“My high school coaches were pretty impactful in different ways.  (Little League coach) Greg Smith set a foundation for me.” 

Ray and wife Erin Schaaf recently celebrated eight years of marriage and their daughter — Gemma — turned 1.

The Schaaf family: Ray, Erin and Gemma (1).

Memorial Field in Anderson, Ind.

Scott in second stint guiding Anderson Prep Academy Jets baseball

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

Corey Scott — who is in his second stint as head baseball coach at Anderson (Ind.) Preparatory Academy — says the Jets are looking to establish a culture of success.
“We’re still a relatively-new school,” says Scott, noting that APA opened as a middle school in 2008, grew into a K-12 school and had its first year of IHSAA tournament eligibility in 2015-16. “We want to get to when we can be competitive on a game-to-game basis.”
Scott was an assistant coach when the Jets were still in a probationary period in 2015 and were not eligible to participate in sectional play after posting an 11-10 record.
“We were pretty solid,” says Scott of that ’15 team.
The 2022 team included 14 players with just one senior and two juniors. APA went 0-15. Scott moved up from assistant to head coach three weeks into the season.
Scott is entering his 10th year at Anderson Prep, where he is also the head boys basketball coach.
“We were extremely young last year,” says Scott, whose Jets went 1-21 on the hardwood.
Anderson Prep (enrollment around 250) is part of the 10-member Pioneer Conference (with Bethesda Christian, Greenwood Christian, Indianapolis Shortridge, Liberty Christian, Muncie Burris, Park Tudor, Seton Catholic and University playing baseball and International not having a program).
The Jets hosted an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping in 2022 with Cowan, Daleville, Liberty Christian, Southern Wells, Tri-Central and Wes-Del. APA has not yet won a sectional championship.
APA plays home games at Memorial Field — less than a mile from campus on 29th Street. The Jets conduct most practices on the school’s practice football field. They worked out once each at Memorial Field and at Liberty Christian — about a mile away on Columbus Avenue — then hosted an IHSAA Class 1A Sectional at Memorial Field in 2022.
Anderson High School just built two new on-campus diamonds. Scott is hopeful that will mean more access to Memorial Field.
An IHSAA Limited Contact Period goes from Aug. 29-Oct. 15, but many players will be busy with soccer.
Scott says he hopes an assistant coach — as yet unconfirmed — can lead baseball players through workouts this winter while he is occupied with basketball.
Scott is a 1995 graduate of Daleville (Ind.) High School, where he played hoops for Broncos head coach Everett Gates and on the diamond for Mike Reese and was later his assistant for five years while Daleville won its first two baseball sectional titles (1999 and 2000).
After high school, Scott played basketball for two years at Glen Oaks Community College (Centerville, Mich.) then transferred to Anderson (Ind.) University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and began coaching — first as a volunteer — and then as a paid assistant for basketball and baseball.
Scott is an elementary Physical Education and middle School Health teacher for APA.
Corey and wife Erin Scott have two sons — Jack (19) and Ben (17). Jack Scott played soccer, basketball and baseball at Anderson Prep. After finishing U.S. Army basic training, he will start his sophomore year at Ball State University. Ben Scott is an APA senior who plays basketball and baseball.

Corey Scott.

Fundamentals come first for Heim and his Anderson Indians

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

In Adrian Heim’s vocabulary monotonous is not a negative word.

It’s doing the basic things over and over again that has helped him be successful as a high school baseball coach.

Heim led Anderson (Ind.) High School to a 19 wins in 2018. During the campaign, he picked up his 200th career victory and goes into 2019 with 205 earned in eight seasons at Elwood (Ind.) High School and three at Anderson.

It is something that was instilled in Heim when he played at Elwood for head coach Joe Williams and it’s something he’s carried on in his coaching life.

Williams was devoted to the fundamentals of the game.

“We did a lot of monotonous stuff,” says Heim. “Fundamentals is the most important thing. We do tons of fundamental work before we do any of the fun stuff so to speak.

“We hit off the tee first. We look at batting in the cage as a privilege. You’ve got to earn that.”

A 1995 Elwood graduate, Heim played four seasons for head coach Don Brandon at Anderson University.

Heim has nothing but kind words for Brandon, a member of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association, National Association of Interscholastic Athletics and Anderson U. halls of fame.

“The most important thing in coaching is your relationship with your players,” says Heim. “(Brandon’s) relationship with us was awesome. He was there with you, helping you through the tough times.

“I wouldn’t be where I’m at now without Don Brandon.”

Heim says Brandon made the game fun, but also expected much from his Anderson Ravens and the same is true with Heim and his Anderson Indians.

“We demand a lot,” says Heim.

And if he has to get on a player, he is also their to build them up.

Heim is now leading fall workouts. Rather than having a coach working with two athletes at a time, a new IHSAA rule allows coaches to work with players for two hours a day two days a week during certain windows of opportunity.  The Indians are lifting weights on Mondays and Wednesdays and practicing baseball on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It’s extremely hard to come out on a baseball diamond and only work with two kids at a time. This is much better.”

The window closes at the end of next week and opens again the first week of December. Teams are allowed to lift weights and condition year-round.

“The reason for (the new rule) in my eyes is that there was a set of coaches who felt that they could do whatever they wanted,” says Heim. “Now there’s no gray area about what’s an open gym or an open facility.

“It’s much better for us. We go up to Oct. 12 then we have to shut it down.”

After that, Heim’s baseball players will lift weights on Mondays and Wednesdays and attend Baseball 101 classroom sessions on Thursdays.

“A lot of these kids don’t know the game the way they should,” says Heim, who wants players to pay attention to the Major League Baseball postseason. “You learn from watching.”

Last spring, Anderson carried 30 players for varsity and junior varsity schedules. Heim expects the number to go up a little next spring. However, the two teams still need to share storied Memorial Field until two new fields are built. Those are expected to be ready for the 2020 season.

Heim’s coaching staff includes Garrett Jones, Chris Waymire and Jeff Johnson and he’s looking to hire one more.

Among seniors expected to return are Andrew Bliss, Jordan Harris, Cameron McGlothlin, Cameron Pratt, Mike Stewart, Brayden Waymire and Braden Zirkle.

Anderson belongs to the North Central Conference (along with Arsenal Tech, Harrison, Kokomo, Lafayette Jefferson, Logansport, Marion, McCutcheon, Muncie Central and Richmond).

The NCC is broken into two divisions — Anderson, Arsenal Tech, Marion, Muncie Central and Richmond in the East with Harrison, Lafayette Jeff, Kokomo, Logansport and McCutcheon in the West.

Teams play each divisional opponent twice and then there is a seeded cross-divisional tournament. Anderson was the No. 1 seed in the East and wound up placing fourth in the 2018 tourney.

Anderson is in an IHSAA Class 4A grouping with Connersville, Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), Muncie Central, Pendleton Heights and Richmond.

The Tribe has won seven sectionals in program history — the last in 2012.

Anderson’s program is fed by the Highland Middle School combined seventh/eighth grade team, Brooklyn Little League and various travel organizations.

Besides his baseball duties, 2001 Anderson U. graduate Heim, is detention school supervisor for the Anderson High School Area Career Center.

Heim has a daughter named Kennedy (12).

Anderson (Ind.) High School head baseball coach Adrian Heim (right) shares a moment with former Anderson (Ind.) University coach Don Brandon. Heim, who played for the Hall of Famer, has 205 career victories, amassed at his high school alma mater — Elwood — and Anderson High.