Warren sharing stories for decade with Top Coach Podcast

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

“Every coach has a story.”
It’s a line that comes early on the Top Coach Podcast hosted by Jack Warren.
“If we’re able to listen to what people are saying, everybody’s got something to say,” says Warren, who published his first episode in 2013 (with then-Indiana University head coach Tracy Smith) and No. 421 Jan. 30, 2023 (with State University of New York-Oswego’s Scott Landers). “I love to hear people’s stories.”
Mostly baseball interviews though he has featured other sports (including a talk with Jeffersonville, Ind., High School coach Danny Struck), the podcast features conversations with coaches at all levels. The focus is not X’s and O’s, but the relatable stories they tell.
“The absolute best way to learn — bar none — is a good story,” says Warren. “If I can get someone to tell a memorable story I’ve done my job.
“Who’s got something to say to other coaches to instruct, encourage and edify them? Bottom line: If someone’s got a compelling story, I want to tell it and I want to hear it.”
Discussions are not about bunt defense or gripping the curve, but things like organization, management, communication as well as career and staff development.
Over the years, Warren began consulting and career coaching.
“I’ve picked the brains of 1,000-plus coaches,” says Warren, who advises youth coaches to beware of money issues.
“If you go into college coaching right now you better hope you don’t have a lot of debt so it’s not something you’ve got to worry about,” says Warren. “You’ll be working 60-70 hours a week with the baseball team.”
Warren coached at the high school and youth levels in Indiana, Illinois (including Normal’s Calvary Christian Academy) — and briefly — California and worked for three decades for State Farm Insurance. The job gave him the flexibility to coach.
A Tennessee native and 1976 graduate of Gary (Ind.) Wirt High School (he was a Troopers classmate and teammate of future big league slugger Ron Kittle and began coaching at Gary’s Miller Little League as a junior) Warren was one of the early podcasters.
In the mid-2000’s, he and friend Tom Jackson started a baseball podcast in central Illinois.
Warren landed back there while working for State Farm Insurance. He attended Illinois State University in Normal for two years, got married and later graduated from Middle Tennessee State University.
“Bloomington-Normal is a baseball hotbed,” says Warren. “Within three miles of each other you’ve got Heartland Community College which is one of the top junior college baseball programs in the country, Illinois State University which has done very well and Illinois Wesleyan which won the (NCAA) D-III national title.”
At the time, the head coaches were Nate Metzger at Heartland, Mark Kingston at ISU and Dennis Martel at Illinois Wesleyan.
In a 30-mile radius there were about 70 high school graduates playing on college diamonds.
“We decided to take advantage of that and we started a podcast dedicated to local baseball,” says Warren of the show which aired weekly from a local restaurant from March to September or October.
In 2013 while living in Towanda, Ill., Warren got the idea to try to take it national. He contacted Kingston and some other coaches in his inner circle. He learned about third-rail topics to avoid and began to send invitations to potential guests.
“I still thank Tracy Smith for being willing to step out there on faith and do the podcast with me,” says Warren.
His fourth episode in 2013 was with then-Purdue University head coach Doug Schreiber. He followed up with Schreiber in 2014 at Purdue and 2021 at Purdue Fort Wayne.
The first several minutes of the first interview was mostly about Ken Schreiber, who won over 1,000 games and seven state titles as head coach at LaPorte (Ind.) High School.
“Growing up in northwest Indiana there was LaPorte and everybody else who wanted to be LaPorte,” says Warren.
The podcast pioneer has filled guest map from coast-to-coast. Other podcast chats with ties to Indiana include Notre Dame’s Mik Aoki (2015), Saint Joseph’s College’s Rick O’Dette (2015), Indiana’s Chris Lemonis (2016), Noblesville High School’s Justin Keever (2017) and Butler University’s Blake Beemer (2022). He’s shined the Assistant Coach Spotlight on Munster (Ind.) High School graduate and Trinity Christian College’s Adam Enright (2017), IU-Kokomo’s Jason Leone (2018) and Culver (Ind.) Academies’ J.D. Uebler (2022).
At first, Warren went after the biggest names he could find and it was “easy pickings.” He was able to land folks like Florida State’s Mike Martin, Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin, Louisville’s Dan McDonnell, Texas Christian University’s Jim Schlossnagle and even American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Ron Polk and former Kentucky head coach and SCORE International/Inside Pitch Magazine publisher Keith Madison.
“In other sports those kinds of guys are impossible to get,” says Warren. “(Baseball coaches) love to give back. Baseball coaches are some of the most giving people there are.
“One of the reasons I think both baseball and softball coaches are this way is because you have to do everything yourself. You don’t see high school golf coaches mowing the grass or track coaches lining the track. You don’t see football coaches (lining the field).
“Baseball coaches have to do it all.”
So while not all show guests are the most well-known, they all have a story to tell.
“Top Coach is not just about the biggest names in coaching,” says Warren. “It just means you add something to the sport.”
Warren retired from State Farm, worked briefly in North Carolina and landed with wife, Pam, in Fernandina Beach, Fla. That’s where Corn Belt Sports and its media arm — Top Coach — now calls home.
He records his podcasts and is able to make TC Tour stops around the Sunshine State.
Metzger, who now pitching coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, encouraged Warren to attend his first ABCA Convention.
He’s now at regular at the ABCA, where he spends three days in early January going from one person to the next absorbing their stories.

Jack Warren.

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Indiana Wesleyan runs win streak to 16; Indiana off to 7-1 start

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana Wesleyan University opened the 2021 baseball season with seven road losses, including three to No. 1-ranked Southeastern (Fla.) and three against NAIA No. 3 Faulkner (Ala.).

Since then the Wildcats have won 16 straight and are 16-7 overall and 8-0 in the Crossroads League. IWU is coming off a four-game home sweep of Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Taylor’s four-game sweep at Bethel pushed the Trojans’ win streak to eight. Taylor is 19-6 overall and 8-0 in the Crossroads League.

Marian (13-8 overall, 6-2 Crossroads) ran its win streak to six with a four-game sweep of visiting Goshen.

Huntington (12-3 overall, 5-3 Crossroads) went 3-1 against Grace at Logansport (Ind.) High School.

Saint Francis (11-10, 3-5 Crossroads) won three of four at Spring Arbor.

Also in the NAIA, No. 11 Indiana University Southeast moved to 13-11 in all game and 6-0 in the River States Conference with three-game sweep of visiting Indiana University-Kokomo.

Indiana University South Bend beat Lourdes four times — twice in Sylvania, Ohio, and twice at Rex Weade Stadium in Granger, Ind.

Sophomore right-hander McCade Brown’s 16 strikeouts for NCAA Division I Indiana (7-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) in a one-hitter Saturday against Penn State tied the school record and set the standard for K’s against a Big Ten opponent.

Brown’s 16 punch-outs are the most since Brad Edwards fanned that many in 2000 against Quinnipiac.

Hoosiers head coach Jeff Mercer tested positive for COVID-19 and went into quarantine. IU is slated to play a four-game series against Purdue in Bloomington Friday through Sunday, March 19-21.

Notre Dame (7-2 overall, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) swept a three-game series at Virginia. The Irish are to open the home season with a three-game set Friday through Sunday against Duke.

Indiana State (9-5) went 2-1 at No. 20 Florida Atlantic. The Sycamores will wait a little longer to play on Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute. ISU plays at Alabama-Birmingham Friday through Sunday.

Purdue Fort Wayne (4-7) went 2-1 in a non-conference at Butler.

Valparaiso split four games at Middle Tennessee State. The highlight of the series for the Crusaders was Colin Fields’ seven-inning no-hitter Saturday. The junior right-hander whiffed 10 and walked four.

In NCAA Division III, DePauw (7-3) went 3-1 against visiting Concordia University Chicago.

Earlham (5-1 overall, 5-1 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) was 2-0 at Transylvania Saturday and 1-1 against Bluffton Sunday.

Hanover (5-2 overall, 5-2 HCAC) went 2-1 for the weekend, including 1-1 at Anderson Sunday.

The Panthers beat visiting Rose-Hulman 8-4 before trailing through eight complete innings in Game 2 Saturday. The suspended contest will be completed in a few weeks.

Wabash swept a doubleheader against visiting Spalding Saturday and lost a single game against No. 3-ranked North Central at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., Sunday

Indiana Tech went 1-2 against Olivet Nazarene and beat Campbellsville at Grand Park.

Anderson had a 2-2 weekend, splitting doubleheaders at Franklin Saturday and against visiting Hanover Sunday.

Vincennes University (10-4) swept a National Junior College Athletic Association doubleheader against visiting Milwaukee Area Tech.

INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL

Records Through March 14

NCAA Division I

Indiana State 9-5 (0-0 MVC) 

Indiana 7-1 (7-1 Big Ten) 

Notre Dame 7-2 (7-2 ACC) 

Evansville 7-9 (0-2 MVC) 

Ball State 6-7 (0-0 MAC) 

Purdue Fort Wayne 4-7 (1-3 HL)

Valparaiso 3-7 (0-0 MVC) 

Purdue 1-7 (1-7 Big Ten) 

Butler 2-2 (0-0 Big East) 

NCAA Division II

Purdue Northwest 3-3 (0-0 GLIAC)

Southern Indiana 3-7 (1-3 GLVC) 

Indianapolis 1-5 (0-0 GLVC)

NCAA Division III

DePauw 7-3 (0-0 NCAC) 

Earlham 5-1 (5-1 HCAC) 

Hanover 5-2 (5-2 HCAC) 

Anderson 3-3 (3-3 HCAC) 

Franklin 3-3 (3-3 HCAC) 

Wabash 3-5 (0-0 NCAC)

Manchester 2-6 (2-6 HCAC)

Rose-Hulman 1-2 (1-2 HCAC) 

Trine 0-4 (0-0 MIAA)

NAIA

Taylor 19-6 (8-0 CL) 

Indiana Wesleyan 16-7 (8-0 CL) 

Marian 13-8 (6-2 CL)

Indiana University Southeast 13-11 (6-0 RSC)

Huntington 12-3 (5-3 CL) 

Saint Francis 11-10 (3-5 CL) 

Oakland City 8-10 (1-5 RSC)

Indiana University-Kokomo 7-9 (3-3 RSC)

Grace 7-9 (4-4 CL)

Indiana University South Bend 4-10 (0-0 CCAC)

Indiana Tech 4-12 (0-0 WHAC) 

Bethel 4-16 (1-7 CL) 

Calumet of Saint Joseph 0-9 (0-3 CCAC)

Goshen 0-11 (0-8 CL) 

Junior College

Vincennes 10-4 (0-0 MWAC) 

Ivy Tech Northeast 6-9

Ancilla 2-10 (0-0 MCCAA)

Princeton’s Barrett coaches where grandfather, Gil Hodges used to play

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Zach Barrett was born and raised in Evansville, Ind.

But before he knew about hometown baseball hero Don Mattingly, he heard stories about Gil Hodges.

That’s because his grandparents — Don and Bonnie Barrett — lived in Princeton, Ind., and Don played American Legion ball with Hodges — who went on to fame with the Brooklyn Dodgers — in the early 1940’s. When Gil joined the team Don moved from shortstop to third base.

Zach Barrett is now the head baseball coach at Princeton Community High School. The Tigers play on Gil Hodges Field. It’s the same diamond where its namesake and his grandfather once played the game.

“He always had something for me to work on,” says Zach of his grandpa. “He knew the game really well.”

One of Zach’s cousin is Aaron Barrett. Before Don Barrett died he got to see Aaron pitch in the big leagues.

“He was super-proud of Aaron,” says Zach. “He would be super-proud to know I was hired at Princeton — his alma mater.”

Gil Hodges Field has a different look these days, including turf in the infield. Barrett’s players got a chance to get on the carpet for the first time just this week.

“The school corporation put a ton of money into it,” says Barrett. “There are all sorts of upgrades.”

Jason Engelbrecht was the head coach at Evansville Central High School when Zach’s cousins Aaron Barrett (who has come back from multiple injuries as a pro), Drew Barrett (a left-handed-hitting infielder who played two years at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill., and two at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky.) and Ryan Barrett were playing for the Bears.

Jason Barrett (Zach’s older brother who played at Ball State University) was a hitting star at Central for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Paul Gries. The Central facility is now known as Paul Gries Field.

Engelbrecht was later head coach at Princeton Community and is now Tigers athletic director. He brought Zach on as an assistant. With the cancellation of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 is to be Barrett’s first one with games.

Princeton Community went 10-16 in 2019. A number of regulars remain from that team.

“We have a pretty good nucleus,” says Barrett.

The Tigers go in with a group that includes senior left-handed pitcher/outfielder Rhett Thompson, senior shortstop Lance Stuckey, senior corner infielder/right-handed pitcher Briar Christy and junior catcher/pitcher/third baseman Sean Stone.

The 6-foot-7 Thompson was the mound starter in the 2019 IHSAA Class 3A Vincennes Lincoln Sectional championship game against the host Alices.

Stone is already getting looks from college baseball programs.

Gerit Bock, a 2020 Princeton graduate, is now on the roster at Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind.

With Barrett serving as an assistant on Princeton Community head football coach Jared Maners’ staff, there was no IHSAA Limited Contact Period baseball activity in the fall. Players began to get rolling in January.

Princeton (enrollment around 610) is a member of the reconfigured 13-member Pocket Athletic Conference (with Boonville, Forest Park, Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, Mount Vernon of Posey, North Posey, Pike Central, Southridge, South Spencer, Tecumseh, Tell City and Washington).

Conference games are played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This format promotes the development of pitching depth if teams want to be competitive.

The Tigers are part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Gibson Southern, Pike Central, Southridge, Vincennes Lincoln and Washington. Princeton has won six sectional crowns — the last in 1991.

Barrett’s 2021 assistants are Brad Stone, Alec Sandefur, Reed Farmer, Brandon Winschief and Lane Rumple.

The expectation is that there will be 22 to 24 players to fill out varsity and junior varsity teams with some swinging between the two.

Princeton Youth Baseball, which plays at Jack Bishop Park, helps feed the high school Tigers as does the middle school Cub program.

Made up primarily of seventh and eighth graders with some sixth graders, that squad plays from March to May.

“We have good coaches at that level that understand the game,” says Barrett. “It’s not about wins and losses at that level. Are the kids having fun? Are they getting better? Are they part of the team?”

Barrett, who splits his work day between teaching high school Health and middle school Physical Education, will walk the halls to find athletes. 

Thorough his own experience and observation, he realizes that what they are at 13 and 17 may be vastly different.

“I’ve played with kids absolute studs in middle school and barely played as seniors,” says Barrett. “On the other side, there are those (smallish or uncoordinated kids) who stick with it and become very good varsity players.

“You just never know. Kids mature differently.”

The Cub team practices and plays on Gil Hodges Field, which features lights. 

“I want those kids to feel like they’re a part of us,” says Barrett. “In years past, they’ve worked out with our varsity guys.”

That’s given the older ones a chance to mentor the younger ones.

“They understand that they are the future,” says Barrett. “They put Princeton first.

“They’re not selfish.”

Barrett is a 2004 graduate of Reitz High School in Evansville, where the 6-foot-5 athlete was a standout in football, basketball and baseball. He played receiver and safety for John Hart on the gridiron, power forward or center for Michael Adams on the hardwood and pitcher, shortstop and center fielder for Steve Johnston on the diamond.

Hart, a member of the Reitz and Greater Evansville Football halls of fame, impressed Barrett with the way he went about his business and the relationships he built with his players. Unlike some coaches, Hart was not intimidating but approachable.

“He was like a second dad,” says Barrett. “I was able to talk with him.

“He was good about taking care of the small things and being disciplined. He was a very smart coach.”

Nick Hart, John’s son and head football coach at Gibson Southern, is a good friend of Barrett’s.

Barrett was all-city, all-SIAC and Indiana Football Coaches Association All-State as junior and senior, AP All-State and an Indiana Mr. Football Finalist as senior.

Adams, who is still on the bench at Reitz, got Barrett’s attention when he as attending basketball camps as an elementary school student.

“His attention to detail was apparent at that age,” says Barrett, who saw varsity minutes as a freshman and became a starter as a sophomore. “He was very strict but he knew how to relate to players. 

“He was about as good an X’s and O’s coach as you’ll ever see. He would get you ready and prepared mentally and physically.

“I’m glad to see all the success he’s had lately.”

Barrett won four basketball letters at Reitz and paced the team in rebounding three times. He was all-SIAC as a junior and senior and honorable mention All-State as a senior.

Johnston gave Barrett the chance to experience varsity ball as a freshman and made him a starter the next spring.

“Everybody enjoy playing for him,” says Barrett of Johnston. “He had a good baseball mind.”

Barrett completed his Reitz baseball career second all-time in both hits (95) and slugging percentage (.576). He was named all-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference as a junior and Associated Press All-State as a senior when he was also selected in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Florida Marlins and chosen to play in the IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series.

College baseball for Barrett included two years under coach Dennis Conley at Olney (Ill.) Central College (2005 and 2006) and two under coach Steve Peterson at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (2007 and 2008).

“DC — we called him the ‘Mayor of Olney,’” says Barrett of veteran skipper Conley. “He was a mentor and taught you about doing things right. He wasn’t messing around. But he could flip the stitch and be able to relate to us.

“He obviously knew the game very well. He was tough to play for. He put a lot of pressure on you. You needed to come up big and handle situations. I had my share of butt-chewings. He got max effort out of all of us and we respected the heck out of him.”

Similar to Conley, Peterson was Old School in his approach. He believed in fundamentals and discipline.

“He was not afraid to run you and do things like that when he didn’t get the most of us,” says Barrett. “I learned a lot of life lessons from my high school and college coaches.”

Barrett uses drills in his high school practices that he learned from Conley and Peterson.

Barrett played in 116 games as a third baseman for the MTSU Blue Raiders. He hit .329 with 12 doubles and 32 runs batted in as a junior and . 383 with nine home runs, 16 doubles and 46 RBI’s in as a senior.

In 2008 and 2009, Barrett was the manager of the Dubois County Bombers’ summer collegiate wood bat team.

He began his teaching career and was a football assistant at Evansville Harrison High School on the staffs of Cory Brunson and Lane Oxley prior to Princeton Community.

Barrett and fiancee Kim live on the north side of Evansville and are to be married in July. Kim’s daughter from a previous relationship is Charley (5). Ellie was born to Zach and Kim in May 2019.

Zach Barrett is the head baseball coach at Princeton (Ind.) Community High School.

Former Heritage, Indiana lefty Saalfrank now pitching in Diamondbacks system

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Andrew Saalfrank has the physical tools to pitch a baseball at high levels.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound left-hander was a standout at Heritage Junior/Senior High School in Monroeville, Ind., where he graduated in 2016 then for three seasons at Indiana University (he was a weekend starter in 2019) and now in his first professional season in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

After making 15 appearances (12 as a starter) and going 8-1 with a 2.84 earned run average, 98 strikeouts and 26 walks in 73 innings for IU this spring, Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Year Saalfrank was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

So far, the southpaw has pitched three of one-inning stints — one for the rookie-level Arizona League Diamondbacks and two for the short-season Class-A Northwest League’s Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops and is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA, three strikeouts and one walk. Since he pitched so many innings in the spring, the D-backs are limited his load this summer.

As of now, the next steps up the ladder for the Diamondbacks are at Low-A Kane County (Ill.), Advanced-A Visalia (Calif.), Double-A Jackson (Tenn.) and Triple-A Reno (Nev.).

Delivering from a three-quarter overhand arm slot, Saalfrank uses a two-seam fastball, curveball and change-up in games. His fastball has been between 89 and 93 mph. His curve is 83 to 84 and usually has more of a vertical plane. His change-up his been especially sharp this summer. In the bullpen, he has been tinkering with a four-seam fastball and working on a slider.

It’s not just his left arm that has gotten Saalfrank to this point.

“A lot of stuff can go wrong in the game and it doesn’t bother me often,” says Saalfrank. “There’s such a large mental aspect to the game.

“Sometimes you don’t have the greatest physical talent. Playing college ball helps you deal with different situations. You’re good enough. You tell yourself that and deal with the situation that’s thrown at you.”

Saalfrank’s training at Indiana was focused on getting ready for pro ball and now he’s here.

With academic and college time restrictions out of the way, he can put his time into baseball.

“I don’t sleep in too late,” says Saalfrank. “I wake up at 8:30 or 9 everyday.”

That gives him time to relax, grab a meal and head to the stadium, where he will spend up to eight hours for a Hillsboro home game. Stretching begins about three hours before first pitch. On many days, there is weightlifting before or after the game.

“The time commitment is the difference,” says Saalfrank. “It’s fun. I’m getting paid to do what I wanted to do for a living.

“I’m lucky enough to do it.”

Saalfrank was born in Fort Wayne and grew up in Hoagland, Ind. Father Doug Saalfrank is a supervisor at B.F. Goodrich. Mother Heidi Saalfrank is a sales representative for Heritage Food Services. Older sister Abby Saalfrank was also an NCAA Division I athlete, playing volleyball at Eastern Illinois University.

Heidi Saalfrank’s brother and sister — Jason Richman (baseball) and Tiffany (Richman) Bennett (volleyball) — both played at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (now Purdue Fort Wayne) and influenced Andrew and Abby.

“We were always spending time with them and playing sports in the back yard,” says Andrew.

His organized baseball days began in the youth leagues in Hoagland and New Haven. He played for a number of travel teams, including the Indiana Outlaws at the end of his high school days.

Saalfrank took pitching instruction from Rich Dunno for about eight years.

“He played a big part,” says Saalfrank of Dunno, the Fort Wayne-based inventor of the King of the Hill ground force trainer.

At Heritage, Saalfrank was an all-stater as a junior and senior and a four-time all-Allen County Athletic Conference selection. His career mark was 26-7 with a 1.67 ERA and school-record 429 strikeouts and 218 1/3 innings. He was 10-1 with a 1.07 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings in 2015 and followed that up with a 2.15 ERA and 87 K’s in 45 2/3 innings in 2016.

Dean Lehrman was Patriots head coach. Saalfrank credits Lehrman for his emphasis on the mental and emotional aspects of baseball.

“Respect the game,” says Saalfrank. “Respect your teammates. Play for the school name on your chest.”

Saalfrank was recruited to IU by Chris Lemonis (now at Mississippi State University) and worked with Lemonis and pitching coach Kyle Bunn (now at Middle Tennessee State University) for his first two collegiate seasons.

“(Bunn) pushes you,” says Saalfrank. “He expects a lot out of every player. He gets the most out of you. He uses tough love sometimes.”

In Saalfrank’s junior year, Jeff Mercer became the head coach and Justin Parker the pitching coach for the Hoosiers.

“It was a really smooth transition for everybody,” says Saalfrank. “They have a pro style to development.

“It was on me to figure out what I like best and establish a routine to transition into pro ball.

“I learned about handling adversity and finding the positives out of failure.”

The minor league regular season goes through Labor Day then comes the playoffs. Saalfrank plans to return to Indiana in the fall to train and finish his sports management degree. He is just nine credits shy.

Left-hander Andrew Saalfrank pitches for Indiana University.

Andrew Saalfrank is a product of Heritage Junior/Senior High School in Indiana and worked for years with pitching instructor Rich Dunno.

Andrew Saalfrank, a former Heritage Junior/Senior High school and Indiana University left-hander, is now pitching in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. (Hillsboro Hops Photo)

 

Knight teaching Clarksville Generals tradition, respect for the game

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Clarksville (Ind.) High School sports a robust baseball past.

The Generals earned plenty of IHSAA hardware in the 39 seasons that Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Wayne Stock was head coach.

Besides a State Finals appearance in 1971, Stock’s teams won 744 games with 20 Mid-Southern Conference titles, 12 sectional championships, five regional crowns and one semistate trophy.

Clarksville appears all over the IHSBCA record book.

The Generals hold single-season team marks in batting with 241 walks and pitching with 32 complete games — both in 1971.

The 1973 pitching staff racked up 428 strikeouts and posted a 0.73 earned run average, accomplishments which rank second and third, respectively. The 1968 team hurled 16 shutouts, which ranks tied for fifth.

Dan Gibson set a record for at-bats with 152 in 1971.

Joe McMahel (1995-98) had the most career at-bats with 459 while Matt James (1994-97) ranks fifth. McMahel and James (1994-97) are tied for 10th in career hits with 173 apiece.

D.J. Dewees stole 60 bases in 1992, the third-most in single-season state history.

Brad Turner (1993-96) enjoyed quite the Clarksville pitching career. He is second in starts (52), third in complete games (420), fourth in innings (356) and tied for fifth in shutouts (14).

Guy Finch (1975-78) is third in career shutouts (17), tied for fifth in career wins (43), tied for sixth in single-season strikeouts (199 in 1977) and eighth in career strikeouts (524).

Gary Melson (1968-71) is tied for seventh in career shutouts (13). The right-hander played at Middle Tennessee State University and was selected in the 15th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Cleveland Indians. He pitched in the minors through 1981, spending part or all of three seasons in Triple-A.

Jeff Lentz (1965-68) is tied for seventh in career complete games (34).

Turning to defense, Rob Stockdale (1977-80) ranks first in putouts for a career (952) and single season (360 in 1977).

Steve Hartley (1984-87) is sixth in career infield putouts and assists excluding a first baseman (391).

Kelly Allen (1995-98) is ninth in career putouts (712).

Shayne Stock, Wayne’s son, used to be head coach at Hanover (Ind.) College. Wayne Stock once counted Chris McIntyre (New Albany High School head coach) as an assistant and Eric Stotts (Borden High School head coach) as a player.

Jamie Knight, who has coached at various levels since he was 18, is heading into his sixth season as head coach at his alma mater. The 1983 Clarksville graduate played for Stock and is trying to restore an expectation of excellence if not in quite the same old-school way that his coach did.

“He was definitely an influence on me,” says Knight. “He was a cross between Johnny Carson and Bobby Knight.

“He was a funny guy, but he’d certainly tell you when you weren’t doing things right.”

Knight founded the Floyds Knobs (Ind.) American Legion Post 42 baseball program and credits that experience, working with Ricky Romans (who is also head coach at Charlestown High School) for showing him how to handle the current generation of ballplayer.

After serving one season as junior varsity coach at Floyd Central, Knight took the reins at Clarksville for the 2014 season. The Generals had just 12 players in the entire program that first spring.

By the next year, participation had doubled and Knight re-established a JV team and the varsity earned the school’s first sectional title since 2003.

“Clarksville has been a strong baseball school,” says Knight. “When I got here it resembled nothing like that. I’ve tried to to bring that back — the respect for the game, tradition and doing things the right way.

“I’m a strong believer that if you do things the right way, act the right way and show respect for the game that will translate into wins and success

“The hardest part was to get the kids to believe they could reach that level again.”

Another sectional championship was claimed in 2018, beating Eastern (Pekin) in the Class 2A final at Clarksville’s Wayne Stock Field. The Generals’ season ended with a semifinal loss to North Posey at the Austin Regional.

Senior Dee Shelton, a lefty-swinging center fielder and righty-throwing pitcher, has committed to play baseball at Trine University.

Recent Clarksville graduates to move on to the college diamond include Ethan Cummings (Vincennes University), Seth Hamilton (Manchester University for baseball and football) and Nick Jones (Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg, Ill.).

Clarksville is in a sectional grouping with Crawford County, Eastern (Pekin), Henryville, Lanesville and Paoli. The IHSAA success factor has moved Providence to 3A while Lanesville came up from 1A.

With an enrollment around 490, Clarksville is the second-smallest school in the Mid-Southern Conference (Austin is smallest at around 375). Other MSC members include Brownstown Central, Charlestown, Corydon Central, Eastern (Pekin), North Harrison, Salem, Scottsburg and Silver Creek.

Knight’s 2019 assistants are Joel DeMoss (fourth season) and Nathan Kane (first season). His first two years at Clarksville, Knight took two former Indiana University Southeast players — Zach Adams and Carter Sibley — as assistants on the recommendation of Grenadiers head coach Ben Reel.

“I like having young coaches coming right from playing in college,” says Knight. “They bring knew drills and they can throw lots of batting practice.”

Adams went on to coach at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., while Sibley went to coach at Campbellsville (Ky.) University.

Clarksville Little League develops some players that will wind up at Clarksville. Others go to Jeffersonville, Providence or Silver Creek.

Former Generals base stealer Dewees is a regional director for the Clarksville/Louisville portion of the Rawlings Tigers travel organization.

Knight spent 25 years with Louisville Metro Police.

“This is kind of my second career,” says Knight of serving as head baseball coach and assistant to athletic director Levi Carmichael at Clarksville.

Knight signed out of high school to play tennis and baseball at Franklin College. When the men’s tennis season was moved from the fall to the spring, he stayed on the court instead of the diamond. He transferred to the University of Louisville and earned a degree in police administration.

Jamie and wife Debbie reside in Floyds Knobs and have been married almost 20 years. She is an occupational therapist.

“She’s fantastic,” says Jamie. “She allows me to coach.”

Jamie’s two sons are both former baseball players at Floyd Central.

Ryan Knight (28) played baseball and tennis for the Highlanders then signed at Franklin College. An injury kept him from playing. He is now a Sellersburg, Ind., police officer.

Patrick Knight (26) was a left-handed pitcher for two seasons at Ancilla College in Donaldson, Ind.

Jamie Knight, a 1983 Clarksville (Ind.) High School graduate, is the head baseball coach at his alma mater.

 

LHP Herrin goes from South Vigo to IU to Indians system

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Just a few years ago, he was throwing touchdown passes in the fall.

This year, he’s going to college classes and looking back on his first professional baseball season.

Tim Herrin Jr. — he answers to Timmy — was an all-state quarterback at Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High School where father Tim Herrin Sr. is a dean and head football coach.

Timmy helped the Braves win IHSAA Class 5A sectional and Conference Indiana titles in his final prep football season (2014).

Herrin was a three-sport athlete at South Vigo, earning four letters in baseball, three in football and two in basketball.

A left-handed pitcher, Herrin helped the Braves win the 2013 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball championship.

In the midst of Herrin’s prep career, there was a change from the MIC to Conference Indiana. He was an all-CI and all-Wabash Valley selection as a senior as he went 6-2 with one save and a 2.33 ERA. He fanned 50 batters in 42 innings while playing for head coach Kyle Kraemer.

A first-team all-stater and Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star for South Vigo in 1986, Kraemer went on to play at Purdue. He was the Boilermakers team captain and home run leader (10) as a senior.

After graduation, he began passing along his knowledge as a coach.

“It was good to have a high school coach who had an idea of what it took to make it to the next level,” says Herrin of Kraemer. “He prepared us for that.”

Herrin was attracted to Indiana University by former Hoosiers head coach Chris Lemonis (now head coach at Mississippi State) and worked closely with former IU pitching coach Kyle Bunn (now associate head coach and pitching coach at Middle Tennessee State).

The southpaw appreciated that Lemonis was a straight shooter during the recruiting process.

“He was straight up,” says Herrin of Lemonis. “Other coaches tell you what you want to hear.

“He did a good job of telling it how it is. You saw how genuine of a guy he is. I wanted to come play for him. I knew I could trust him.”

Herrin credits Bunn for molding him as a moundsman.

(Bunn) helped me focus on what makes somebody a pitcher,” says Herrin. “I was really raw coming into school. I had never focused on one specific sport. Until the end of my junior year, I did not think about playing college baseball. I was not recruited.

“I became a more mature pitcher faster (with Bunn). It was how he would explain things.”

In three seasons in Cream and Crimson (2016-18), Herrin made 41 mound appearances (23 as a starter) with a combined 3.44 earned run average. In 120 innings, he struck out 80 and walked 46.

He also played two summers in wood bat leagues — Amsterdam (N.Y.) Mohawks (Perfect Game League) in 2016 and Harwich (Mass.) Mariners (Cape Cod Baseball League) in 2017.

Herrin, a 6-foot-5, 225-pounder, was selected in the 29th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Cleveland Indians.

Assigned to the Arizona League Indians 1 team (college signees), the lefty got into 13 games (all in relief) with the rookie-level Arizona League Indians 1 squad and went 0-1 with a 6.16 ERA. In 19 innings, he struck out 22 and walked eight. His manager was Larry Day. His pitching coach was Joel Mangrum.

Herrin throws a fastball (mostly two-seamers with a few four-seamers mixed in), slider and “circle” change-up. During the summer, he touched 95 mph a few times and sat at 90 to 92 with his heater.

During the college season, he lowered his three-quarter overhand arm angle.

“The ball comes out easier,” says Herrin of the adjustment.

He might have gone to fall instructional camp or a developmental camp in November, but Herrin is back at IU taking classes toward his sports management and marketing degree. After this term, he will be just six major credits and an internship from completion.

Herrin does plan to attend a month of camp in Goodyear, Ariz., in January. He will come back to Terre Haute for a few weeks then return for spring training.

The next stops on the Indians minor league circuit are Mahoning Valley (Short Season Class-A), Lake County (Low-A), Lynchburg (High-A), Akron (Double-A) and Columbus (Triple-A).

Born in Munster, Ind., Herrin moved to Terre Haute as a toddler. His parents — Tim and Cathy — met as students at Indiana State University.  His mother is a family consumer science teacher at West Vigo High School in West Terre Haute.

Timmy has three younger brothers. Carter Herrin is a freshman football player at Indiana State. Trey Herrin is a freshman footballer at South Vigo. Christopher Herrin is a sixth grader who plays football, basketball and baseball.

Travis Herrin, a Lebanon (Ind.) High School graduate who is now a pitcher in the Los Angeles Angels organization, is no relation.

The Cal Ripken Baseball-aligned Riley Recreation League in Terre Haute is where Timmy played his first organized baseball. He began playing for travel teams around 11. In high school, he was part of the Wayne Newton American Legion Post 346 program.

Timmy Herrin, a Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High School graduate, played for three seasons with Indiana University before going into pro baseball. (Indiana University Photo)

Timmy Herrin, a 2015 Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High School graduate who pitched three seasons at Indiana University, gets set to throw a pitch during the 2018 season for the Arizona League Indians. Herrin was selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Cleveland Indians. (Arizona League Indians Photo)

 

‘Walking medical phenomenon’ Barrett on quest to return to Nationals staff

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Aaron Barrett still has a hard time believing that he broke his humerus — that long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow — while pitching a baseball.

Barrett, an Evansville native and Washington Nationals reliever, was on his way back from Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his elbow (Sept. 3, 2015 by Dr. James Andrews). Things seemed to be progressing well 11 months after the procedure.

The power right-hander was one week from being sent on a rehab assignment in 2016 when snap! — his arm broke on the 11th pitch of a 20-toss simulated game.

“I went into shock,” says Barrett of the painful moment. “It’s crazy the amount of force and torque I used to break that major bone.

“I must’ve thrown that one pitch very hard.”

Doctors told Barrett that he is the first to break the humerus after Tommy John surgery.

“I’m a walking medical phenomenon,” says Barrett, who debuted in the big leagues with Washington in 2014 and made his last MLB appearance in 2015.

And now he’s working to make a comeback.

Turned from a starter to a reliever in his first professional season (2010), Barrett made the big league team out of 2014 spring training and appeared in 50 games and was 3-0 with a 2.66 earned run average, 49 strikeouts and 20 walks in 40 2/3 innings while also pitching in 10 games and 10 innings at Triple-A Syracuse.

In 2015, Barrett made 40 MLB appearances and was 3-3 with a 4.60 ERA. He fanned 35 and walked seven in 29 innings, but landed on the 15-day disabled list with a right biceps strain in both June and August.

“I was pitching nearly everyday and I was in pain for two or three weeks before I went on the DL,” says Barrett, who was soon transferred to the 60-day list. “Being a reliever, throwing everyday is part of the grind.”

Along the way, it was discovered that Barrett had a 90-percent tear in his Ulnar Collateral Ligament and so he underwent the reconstruction then he had his next setback.

But Barrett, signed to a two-year contract by the Nationals to rehab, began throwing again last summer and has worked hard at the club’s training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He now finds himself close to getting closer to the road back to the majors.

Barrett and other players rehabbing injuries have been competing in extended spring training camp games against other organizations along the Space Coast.

“I’m building arm strength and knocking the rust off,” says Barrett. “I hope to go north on a rehab assignment the next few weeks.”

Washington has full-season affiliates in Hagerstown (Low Single-A), Potomac (High Single-A), Harrisburg (Double-A) and Syracuse (Triple-A) and Barrett expects that his assignments will come as a progression.

Barrett — aka “The Bear” — has stayed connected to his buddies in the big leagues and watches the broadcast of nearly every Nationals game.

“I still have many close friends on the team, guys I came up in the farm system with,” says Barrett.

The 6-foot-4 righty holds the distinction of being selected four times in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft — in the 44th round in 2006 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the 20th round in 2008 by the Minnesota Twins, in the 27th round in 2009 by the Texas Rangers and in the ninth round in 2010 by the Nationals.

Barrett explains why he kept going back into the draft.

“The money was not enough for me to turn away from college,” says Barrett. “I wanted to finish my (liberal arts) degree (three minors — history, sociology and park and recreational management — equals a major). “I  was a ninth-round senior. That’s pretty good. It all worked out.”

Barrett is a 2006 graduate of Evansville Central High School, where he played for coach Jason Engelbrecht. He played two seasons at Wabash Valley College (2007, 2008) in Mount Carmel, Ill., for coach Rob Fournier and two seasons at the University of Mississippi (2009, 2010) for coach Mike Bianco.

Using Barrett some out of the bullpen, Bianco discovered that his stuff played up and he was able to let it go in shorter mound stints.

After turning pro, Barrett developed the mindset of throwing several times a week.

“With the intensity of the later innings, I thrived,” says Barrett.

In 2012, he broke out while pitching in Low-A, High-A and the Arizona Fall League. He was in Double-A and in 2013 and then got the call from Triple-A to the majors in 2014.

The middle son of Dave and Jackie Barrett, Aaron played at Golfmoor Little League on Evansville’s west side before his family moved to the north side where he took to the diamonds of the Highland Baseball Club.

As a 13-year-old, Barrett was on a team that went to Nebraska and won a national championship. Among his teammates was Preston Mattingly, son of Don Mattingly and still one of Aaron’s best friends, and Adam Champion.

Preston Mattingly was a first-round MLB draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006 and played in the minor until 2011.

Champion played four years at the University Arkansas-Little Rock and then two years in the minors and two in independent baseball.

Ryan Barrett, Aaron’s older brother, graduated form Evansville Central in 2003 and played shortstop for four years at the University of Evansville.

Younger brother Drew Barrett was a left-handed-hitting infielder who played two years at Wabash Valley and two at Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, Ky.).

Two cousins — Evansville Central graduate Jason Barrett and Evansville Reitz Memorial graduate Zach Barrett — also went on college baseball — Jason at Ball State and Zach at Olney (Ill.) Central College and Middle Tennessee State University.

“Evansville is such a good baseball town,” says Barrett. “The state of Indiana doesn’t give it enough credit for how good of a baseball town it is.”

While working on the baseball field to make his hometown proud, Aaron is also spending quality time with wife Kendyl and 7-month-old daughter Kollyns.

Aaron Barrett, an Evansville native, is working to get back to the big leagues with the Washington Nationals after breaking his humerus while rehabbing from Tommy John elbow surgery. (Washington Nationals Photo)