Brock grateful for opportunity to coach for Manchester, Espeset

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

Josh Brock is approaching two years as lead assistant baseball coach at Manchester University, an NCAA Division III program in North Manchester, Ind.
Brock, 40, came back to the Spartans full-time in January 2021. He had been an assistant a different times since 2013. He played for Manchester for four years (2001-04).
“I feel extremely fortunate to be around someone like Coach (Rick) Espeset,” says Brock of the longtime head coach and director of athletics.
Playing four seasons for Espeset and then being on his staff has impressed Brock about how the coach thinks the game.
“He has a level of baseball savvy,” says Brock. “He’s also preparing players for life after baseball.”
Putting it in football terms, Brock describes himself as the Spartans’ offensive coordinator while Espeset is defensive coordinator.
“I do the majority of the hitting and baserunning and work with outfielders since I played that position,” says Brock. “Espy works with the defense and makes all the strategic decisions.”
Brock also does the bulk of the recruiting.
The summer (roughly mid-May through August) is where Manchester coaches spent most of their time on the road. There’s also digital resources and the coaching network.
“There are alums and people in the baseball world who know and respect Coach Espeset (that recommend potential recruits),” says Brock.
Fall and winter is the time recruits are encouraged to visit the campus and to follow up on referrals.
The team conducts four weeks of fall practice (basically the month of September).
“We assess players and get the new guys acclimated,” says Brock. “Guys have a baseline they can use to transition into the off-season.”
At the end of the fall, players meet individually with coaches to receive an assessment and guidance on how they can develop.
NCAA Division III rules limit the contact time for coaches and players so there is no practice until it gets closer to the spring season.
What separates Manchester from some D-III program is that the offseason is truly “off.”
“We’re hands-off,” says Brock. “(Players) can just be a student and not worried about baseball obligations.
“Some of our guys are going to be in the weight room and the indoor cages all winter long. Some don’t pick up a baseball or bat again until (after Jan. 1). That’s their decision to make.”
Josh grew up close enough to Wayne High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., to have his father — Jerry Brock — take him to Generals’ batting cage on a regular basis.
There he met Wayne head coach Dave Fireoved.
“I was in awe of him,” says Brock. “He was always so good to us and a high-character guy. He loved the game and he loved his players.
“I couldn’t wait to get to high school to play for him.”
One of the coach’s sons — Mitch Fireoved — was the same age as Brock.
After four seasons at Wayne (1997-2000), outfielder Brock chose to play college baseball at Manchester.
There was a buzz around Espeset and his program after the Spartans won 70 games in his second through fourth seasons (1998-2000) with a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament title in 1999.
Espeset and assistant Shawn Summe were regulars at Brock’s travel games. Two of his Fort Wayne Marlins teammates — Jared Kurtz (Fort Wayne South Side) and Brian Minix (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger) — signed with the Spartans as did Ryan Carr (Norwell) and Eric Screeton (New Haven) of the rival Fort Wayne Indians.
Kurtz went on to play in the San Francisco Giants organization. Screeton became a coach, including leading the program at Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind.
Brock’s last season as a player was 2004 — the year Manchester won a HCAC regular-season championship and advanced to the D-III World Series.
He earned a Business Administration and Management degree from Manchester in 2005 and entered the professional world.
Along the way, Brock decided to change career paths and got a Masters in English Literature from Indiana University Purdue University-Fort Wayne as well as a Transition to Secondary Education and Teaching certificate from Taylor University in Upland, Ind., in 2013.
It was also 2013 that Brock was junior varsity baseball coach for Steve Sotir at Homestead High School in Fort Wayne.
When Espeset needed help at Manchester, Brock served as lead assistant in 2014 and 2015 and was a volunteer in 2016 while teaching at Summit Middle School, a part of Southwest Allen Schools as is Homestead High.
In two of the next three years, Brock was an Homestead assistant to Nick Byall while taking one year off to focus on his studies. He earned a Masters in Educational Leadership and Administration from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., in 2019.
“I’m grateful for my experiences and the accreditations I’ve been able to achieve,” says Brock.
He is hopeful his schooling makes him a better coach, educator and person.
Brock began teaching at Norwell High School in Ossian, Ind., in the fall of 2019. He helped out with Manchester baseball in the spring of 2020 and taught at Norwell through the fall semester of 2020.
When a full-time position came up at Manchester, Brock went back to the school as a full-timer.
Always looking for new ideas and things that will help players, Brock appreciated going with Espeset to the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention (the 2023 event is Jan. 5-8 in Nashville).
“It’s Candyland for baseball coaches,” says Brock. “I enjoy talking to other coaches.
“The ABCA is very giving group. (Members) are very giving with their time.”
Last winter, Brock spoke about middle infield play for a coaches clinic hosted by the Summit City Sluggers.
Brock is not married and has no kids.
“I’m the cool uncle,” says Brock, whose niece and nephew live with older brother Jeremiah in Hawaii.
Their parents — Jerry and AeSun — live in Fort Wayne. AeSun Brock was born in South Korea.

Josh Brock. (Manchester University Photo)

Josh Brock (7). (Manchester University Photo)

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Penn alums Yoder, Kavadas cross paths on Virginia field

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

Mark Yoder thought he was done with umpiring for 2022.
His college slate wrapped up last week with an Atlantic-10 series and he was gearing up for rotator cuff and knee surgeries.
Then he gets a call to work one more game as a substitute in the Class-A Carolina League.
Yoder was the base umpire Tuesday, May 24 as the Fredericksburg (Va.) Nationals hosted the Salem (Va.) Red Sox.
In the pregame plate meeting he saw a familiar face from days gone by in Virginia baseball circles in Jake Lowery, who is now the FredNats manager.
This game was also rehab start for right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg (the 2019 World Series MVP).
But as Yoder, who worked in the 2021 NCAA Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took his spot on the field he began chatting with the Salem first baseman.
“His face looks really familiar to me but I just can’t place it,” says Yoder. “I ask him his name and he says, ‘Niko.’ There’s not that many guys named Niko.”
Yoder’s next question: “Where’d you play college ball?”
Niko Kavadas tells him: “Notre Dame.”
Come to find out Yoder (55) and Kavadas (23) both played at Penn High School — decades apart — for Greg Dikos. The latter was in his first season as Kingsmen junior varsity coach when Yoder met him.
So there they are in a professional game in Virginia.
Kavadas, who was selected in the 11th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Boston Red Sox, smacked a two-run double off Strasburg in the top of the third inning.
Strasburg wound up throwing 2 2/3 innings and giving up three runs (all earned) and throwing 61 pitches.
The lefty-swinging Kavadas is hitting .264 (29-of-110) with three home runs, one triple, 12 doubles, 19 runs batted and 16 runs scored in 34 games.
Shortly before the game was over, Yoder came to the slugger and fellow Penn alum.
Said Yoder, “I told Niko in the ninth inning: I can’t root for you tonight but I’m rooting for you the rest of the year and the rest of your career.”

Mark Yoder (NCAA Photo)

Niko Kavadas (Notre Dame Photo)

Rosen to begin evaluation process as new Rose-Hulman head coach

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

Adam Rosen has just arrived as the new head baseball coach at at Rose-Hulman Instittute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., and he knows how he will spend his fall.
The Fightin’ Engineers will start workouts Sept. 14, meeting Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays for four weeks at Art Nehf Field.
There will be 16 practice days in the fall for Rosen to evaluate his roster, introduce his way of doing things and setting expectations.
There will be a focus on player development.
Rosen, who spent the past six seasons as an assistant at Washington University in St. Louis, takes over for Jeff Jenkins who retired at the end of the 2021 campaign (23-14 overall and 23-12 in the Heartland Collegiate Conference) after 32 seasons in charge and served his last day as RHIT athletic director Aug. 31 after 19 years on the job.
Like Washington University, Rose-Hulman is an NCAA Division III school. Rosen has spent his entire college baseball career as a player and coach at D-III institutions.
“That’s all I’ve ever known,” says Rosen. “Every Division III school is different. But players are always their because of their love of the game because there is no (athletic) no scholarship attached to them.”
Rosen sees it as a best-of-both-worlds situation on the academic and athletic sides.
“They get a wold class education that sets these guys up for life,” says Rosen. “But there’s no compromising on the baseball experience. They can play for championships.”
Sean Bendel, who completed his 23rd season on the Fightin’ Engineers coaching staff in 2021, will be with Rosen until the end of December.
“He’s been a great resource for me,” says Rosen of Bendel. “He’s a great man and I have a lot of respect for him.”
Rosen says he will hire another full-time coach for the spring. That person will be his pitching coach. He also looks to hire part-time assistants.
“We’re looking for guys who want to get into the business and work really hard,” says Rosen.
Pat Bloom began his tenure as WashU head coach at the same time Rosen arrived in the Bears program.
“He’s very professional and a very intelligent and organized person,” says Rosen of Bloom, who took the team to the 2021 D-III World Series. “He ran the team like a business. He was very demanding.
“I learned a lot from him — things I’m taking with me as a head coach.”
In Rosen and Bloom’s first season at WUSL, their team met Rose-Hulman in regional play. Rosen’s first time at RHIT came during his previous coaching stop. He was an assistant for three season at Marietta (Ohio) College on the staff of Brian Brewer, who led the Pioneers to D-III national championships in 2006, 2011 and 2012
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with two of the best guys in Division III the last nine years,” says Rosen, referring to Brewer and Bloom.
Before that, Rosen assisted Mike Pritchard for one season at Centre College (Danville, Ky.) following two seasons under Ryan Grice at Capital University (Columbus, Ohio) and two years as a graduate assistant for Jim Peeples at Piedmont University (Demorest, Ga.).
Rosen saw in Pritchard a hard worker and a very-organized coach. He and Pritchard were the only baseball coaches at Centre at the time.
“It was a good opportunity for me,” says Rosen. “He turned me loose on some things. He gave me responsibility that helped my growth as a coach.”
At Capital, Rosen and Grice came in together.
“He was a young coach really hungry to have his own program,” says Rosen of Grice. “We were both trying to prove ourselves.”
Rosen gained a mentor in Peeples (now athletic director) at Piedmont.
“I couldn’t have walked into a better situation,” says Rosen, who also served with Lions assistants Justin Scali (now PU head coach) and Richard Dombrowsky (who went on to coach high school baseball in Georgia). “Those were three great men to learn from. It established my foundation as a coach.”
Rosen was born in West Palm Beach, Fla., and grew up in the Nashville, Tenn., area. He graduated from Hendersonville’s Beech High School in 2003. Mike Hayes was the Buccaneers head coach.
“He taught us discipline,” says Rosen of Hayes. “He had high standards for the program.
He taught us how to to work hard, set high goals for ourselves and compete in practice.”
Rosen played four seasons (2004-07) at Maryville (Tenn.) College — the first three for Eric Etchison and senior year for Daniel Washburn.
“Coach Etchison was a great man,” says Rosen, who was a second-team American Baseball Coaches Association All-America selection in 2007. “He had great values and he cared about the student-athletic experience. He ran a program that stood for the right things.
“Coach Washburn was very disciplined and organized. I enjoyed playing for both guys though they were very different.”
Rosen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Maryville in 2007 and received a Masters in Business Administration from Piedmont in 2009.
He has been a member of the ABCA for more than a decade and enjoys going to the national conventions as well as state association clinics.
“There’s the networking and seeing old friends, but I always go there to learn,” says Rosen. “It challenges you to understand why you coach the way you do.”
Rosen has been an instructor at camps hosted by Clemson, Notre Dame, Navy, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
Adam and Stacia Rosen have been married just over two years. They met at Marietta, where the former Stacia Shrider was then the head women’s basketball coach.

Adam Rosen (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Photo)

Penn grad Yoder assigned to D-III World Series as umpire

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Mark Yoder played for a state championship football team and was part of a competitive baseball program in high school. 

He was on a conference title-winning football team in college.

He served in the U.S. Army and is still attached as a civilian worker. 

Yoder knows about being part of a team. 

He also knows that there are more than two teams on the field or court for each game. 

There are the opponents and there are the game officials.

“Umpiring equates to playing sports and the military,” says Yoder. “On the field, you’re a team.”

Yoder, a 1985 graduate of Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., who lives in Powhatan, Va., and works at Fort Lee, has earned the right to umpire at the 2021 NCAA Division III World Series June 4-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

CWS games will be played at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium — home of the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the High-A Central League (formerly known as the Midwest League).

Yoder has umpired NCAA Division I and Division III colleges along the East Coast from Pennsylvania to North Carolina for 16 years. He works Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Mid-Atlantic Conference, Colonial Athletic Association and Atlantic 10 Conference games and has worked out-of-league Atlantic Coast Conference contests. 

In 2016, Yoder was a D-III regional alternate. He made it onto the field in the postseason in 2017 and 2018 and was a regional and super regional crew chief in 2019 — the year that D-III adopted the D-I postseason model of regional, super regional and College World Series.

Yoder had noticed that super regional crew chiefs tend to be assigned to the D-III CWS the next year. The COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2020 regular season early and took away the postseason.

This past week it was confirmed that Yoder is part of the D-III College World Series crew.

The son of Mishawaka residents Keith (who was on the Penn-Harris-Madison school board) and Virginia Yoder (who was a teacher) and brother of Granger’s Kevin Yoder, Mark was a youngster traveling with his father to basketball referee gigs when he got his first taste for athletic officiating.

At Penn, Mark Yoder was a tight end for Indiana Football Hall of Fame coach Chris Geesman and a junior on the Kingmen’s first state champion in 1983.

A football assistant and head football coach at Penn was Chuck Wegner, also an Indiana Football Hall of Famer.

“I love Geez,” says Yoder. “As a kid you don’t realize what you learn from your coaches. They just instilled such a mentality of teamwork and counting on each other.

“(Geesman) was hard, but he was always fair. I got to play because I worked hard or didn’t get to play because I didn’t work hard.”

Yoder remembers Wegner’s policy with game officials.

“He would never let us mouth off to an umpire,” says Yoder. “That was a huge no-no. He would never tolerate that. 

“Occasionally he would chirp about a pitch. But I don’t ever remember Chuck getting silly with officials.”

Current Penn head coach and Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Greg Dikos coached Yoder as a junior varsity player and then led the Kingsmen for much of his senior season while Wegner was away on medical leave.

Through it all, Yoder was able to apply criticism as an athlete and get better.

“It’s no different in umpiring,” says Yoder.

After graduating from Penn in 1985, Yoder played two football seasons at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., for RHIT Hall of Famer Scott Duncan. 

The Fightin’ Engineers won what is now the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1986. 

When an injury ended his gridiron playing career, Yoder transferred to Indiana State University in Terre Haute and earned his degree.

On an ROTC scholarship and commissioned to the Army, Yoder was an intramural basketball official for $10 a game at Rose-Hulman and also worked other sports at Rose and ISU.

Yoder took a hiatus from officiating while focusing on his military career. The last few years of active duty, he found himself in Germany and served Department of Defense high school baseball, basketball and volleyball.

When he arrived back in the U.S. and the Richmond, Va., area Yoder aligned with the Old Dominion Umpires Association — a group that trains and supports baseball officials. 

He contacted ODUA commissioner Greg Walls and was invited to work a fall scrimmage at the University of Richmond in the fall of 2008.

“I had no umpire gear (it was still on a boat coming from Germany,” says Yoder. “I showed up in shorts and a collared shirt.

“They were running three-man. I had never worked in the three-man system. We never did that in Europe.”

Yoder was made the third base umpire.

“I was a fish out of water,” says Yoder, who soon learned three-man mechanics with the help of a veteran umpire.

He also got to polish his two-man techniques at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va.

Yoder spent the winter of 2008-09 honing his skills and worked his first high school game in the spring at the Class 3A varsity level (the highest in Viriginia at the time).

He figured he has earned his way.

“If you have the skills, ability and game management you’re going to work,” says Yoder. “It’s not the good old boys club.

“You can’t hide a good umpire and you can’t hide a bad umpire. I had enough potential to keep an eye on.”

Walls was not only high school commissioner for the ODUA but supervisor of umpires for the D-III ODAC. 

In 2009 and 2010, Walls gave Yoder high school and American Legion ball assignments with umpires who did college baseball. At the same time, the Indiana native attended two-man camps as well as a three-man camp ran by Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Umpires.

Yoder worked junior college games in 2011 and 2012 and his first D-III game in 2013. By 2015 he was doing almost a full conference season. After that came some D-I assignments.

Yoder has four children all living in northern Indiana — Andrew (Southwest), Sarah (New Paris), Zac South Bend) and Matthew (Elkhart). Matthew Yoder just enlisted in the U.S. Army.

Umpires at the 2019 NCAA Division III Super Regional baseball tournament staged at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.: Greg Kiewitt (Baltimore), Jerry Buresh (Quinton, Va.), Dan Miller (Sebring, Fla.) and Mark Yoder (Powhatan, Va.). Yoder is a graduate of Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., and Indiana State University in Terre Haute and a U.S. Army veteran and current civilian worker

Mark Yoder, a graduate of Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., and Indiana State University in Terre Haute and a U.S. Army veteran, has been assigned as a baseball umpire at the 2021 NCAA Division III College World Series June 4-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Alum Wells returns to coach Cowan Blackhawks

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Aaron Wells grew up in the Delaware County, Ind., community of Cowan, just south of Muncie.

“I have always taken pride in the fact that I was raised in Cowan,” says Wells. “I honestly believe that it is has always been one of the closest-knit communities. Everybody knows everybody and would do anything to help a neighbor in need at anytime.”

Wells, 27, was recently named baseball head coach at his alma mater and is to join the teaching staff at Cowan Elementary School in January 2021. He is currently finishing his tenure in the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis at Rhoades Elementary.

Growing up, Wells played at what is now known as the Cowan Baseball and Softball League and then shined for four varsity baseball seasons as a catcher for Cowan Junior/Senior High School, playing his first three for Camden Parkhurst and his senior year for Seth Paul. As a senior in 2012, Wells was an all-state selection. 

“I was able to learn many aspects of the game from both coaches,” says Wells of Parkhurst and Paul. “I was able to learn how to actually ‘enjoy’ the game when I was playing with Camden. 

“During my first two years at Cowan, it was a very memorable time to be a Blackhawk baseball player. I was able to learn from some of the greatest players to ever come from the program during those years. Justin O’Conner, Jake O’Conner, Kirby Campbell, Cody Campbell, just to name a few. 

“I truly fell in love with the game of baseball when I was playing with those guys and playing underneath Camden. I learned how to compete at an extremely high level and also have fun at the same time. It is a mix that I still carry with me today.”

Paul taught Wells a different set of skills.

“We actually had a tendency to share some disagreements when I was playing underneath him,” says Wells. “He challenged me and pushed me mentally more than any coach had before. He made me not just love the game, but begin to understand it and what it takes to win. 

“Our team was not as skilled as the earlier Cowan teams my senior year, but we came together due to great chemistry and how well Seth prepared us. Being the (Hoosier Heritage Conference) champion in 2012 is still one of my favorite baseball memories. We did not win that conference title with skill alone, we won it with passion and hard work. It was a great year to exit as a Blackhawk.”

While in high school, Wells was with the Indiana Bulls and Indiana Mustangs as well as the Muncie American Legion Post 19 Chiefs.

Wells was at catcher/third baseman for two seasons (2013 and 2014) at Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind., for Rick Espeset. The 2013 Spartans went 39-7-1 and played in the program’s second NCAA Division III World Series.

“I learned so many things from Coach Espeset in the two years I was there,” says Wells. “The greatest part of coaching that I learned from Coach Espy was organization. 

“He was the most organized coach that I ever had the privilege of playing for. Every player knew exactly what to do and where to be every single day at practice and that was because of how well-oiled of a machine he created.”

Espeset posted daily practice plans that were down to the exact minute and he expected his players to follow that plan.

Another thing that got Wells’ attention is that Espeset had his seniors do the “grunt” work of baseball.

“It wasn’t the freshman carrying the bags to the buses or making sure the field was in perfect condition — it was the seniors,” says Wells. “This set a tone for me as a player because I knew the seniors were never getting out of the grunt work and that made me want to work even harder as a freshman.”

Wells also recalls an acronym that was a big part of the Manchester program — T.O.B.

That stands for “transfer of blame.”

“Teams that struggle to compete always have a ‘transfer of blame,’ which means they never take accountability for their own mistakes,” says Wells. “They want to transfer the blame to something or someone else. 

“I remember one instance where a player was late to practice and he came in and said, ‘my alarm didn’t go off’ and the whole dugout just responded T.O.B and that player knew that excuse wasn’t going to fly. 

“I only played two years at Manchester, but I learned so many things that I still carry with me today.”

Wells transferred to Ball State University in Muncie and received his Elementary Education degree in 2017.

In 2015 and 2016, Wells coached on Paul’s staff at Delta High School — also in Delaware County. 

“Seth and I are extremely competitive and I believe that was what helped us become successful together at Delta,” says Wells. “He knew my passion and knowledge of the game and allowed me to input my own philosophies and thoughts into the daily practices. 

“The experience with Seth allowed me to truly fall in love with the game as a coach rather than just a player. I started to experience the challenges of coaching that you never think of when you are just playing. He allowed me to observe him and shadow him to start to fully understand what it means to become a head coach.”

Another of Wells’ favorite baseball memories was when Delta won the 2016 IHSAA Class 3A Bellmont Regional and competed in the Kokomo Semistate.

Wells was an assistant at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers in 2019 and 2020. Royals head coach Jeremy Sassanella made him a junior varsity head coach.

“I gained so much knowledge of how to be a coach from Coach Sass,” says Wells. “We began to start working together in late February due to a coach leaving the program in early 2019. 

“I immediately picked up on his genuineness as a person. He honestly cares and loves every single player and staff member in his program. His greatest strength I believe is how well he communicates with his players, staff, and most importantly the parents in the program. 

“He treats every single player in his program the exact same way no matter if they are a freshmen just entering the program or the 4A state final starting pitcher. He expects every player to control two things: FOCUS and EFFORT. If you control those two things he will never be upset with you and I respected that as a staff member.”

Hamilton Southeastern reigned as IHSAA Class 4A state champions in 2019. Of course, the 2020 season was taken away by COVID-19.

Wells’ coaching resume all includes three summers with the Indiana Prospects (2018-20). He was head coach for 14U for two years and 15U for one.

“My experience with the Prospects organization was a great one,” says Wells. “I was able to meet great people while I was coaching with them such as Shane Stout, Chad Hinds and Ed Woolwine. 

“These connections let me get to know families in the Indianapolis area where I was able to open my own catching school at (Woolwine-owned) Fishers Sports Academy for local up-and-coming or high school players in the area. I am still currently working with my catching school and excited to start up lessons very soon.”

Aaron married the former Valorie Flick Sept. 5 and the couple resides in Noblesville, Ind. She is a 2016 Cowan graduate. As a volleyball libero she helped the Blackhawks to the first IHSAA state title in any team sport in the fall of 2012. She collected 26 digs in the Class 1A championship match against Loogootee. 

Valorie went on to a standout career at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne and completed her first season a head volleyball coach at Daleville Junior/Senior High School in Delaware County in 2020.

Aaron is the son of Indiana Wesleyan University graduates Steve and Karen Wells and the younger brother of Matt Wells (who works for a South Bend area law firm and has a toddler with wife Kristin).

Aaron Wells, a 2012 graduate of Cowan High School in Delaware County, Ind., has been named head baseball coach at his alma mater.

Western Michigan’s Piotrowicz gets hitters to develop routines

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

While you’ll only see Adam Piotrowicz donning one cap — usually a brown one with a gold “W” — he essentially wears three.

A member of the Western Michigan University baseball staff since the 2014 season, 2020 was the second for Piotrowicz as associate head coach. He also served as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator on a group led by Billy Gernon.

Piotrowicz, who played at John Glenn High School in Walkerton, Ind., and Manchester College (now Manchester University) in North Manchester, Ind., describes his associate head coach duties.

“I help out more with scheduling, budget and things of that nature,” says Piotrowicz. “I have more administrative responsibility.”

Piotrowicz guides the Broncos’ offense. In 2019, WMU hit the most home runs (32) since the BBCOR Bat era in 2010 and posted the second highest batting average (.287) since 2012. The team also scored the most runs per game (6.0) since 2008 and racked up the most stolen bases (50) since 2013.

When the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic brought Western Michigan’s 2020 season to a close after 15 games, the Broncos had belted seven homers with a .261 average, 8.6 runs per contest and 35 stolen bases.

“I’m a big believer in having a great two-strike approach and competing in the box,” says Piotrowicz. “It’s about our daily routine — whatever it is.

“Each guy’s different.”

Some hitters are focused on power and others are looking to get the most out of their speed.

It’s the routine that keeps hitters sane.

“This game will drive guy’s crazy,” says Piotrowicz. “Just focus on the day-to-day process. It gets you over the 0-of-10 slumps and keeps you grounded during the 10-for-10.”

It’s helpful to Piotorowicz to know the style of learning that suits hitters best — Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic — in order to best communicate and assist them with their approach, mechanics etc., while competing at all times.

“We want to be a tough out,” says Piotrowicz. “We want to make other team earn all 27 outs.”

Piotrowicz is also aware that all players do not respond to the same coaching techniques based on their personality. Calling a player out in front of his teammates may not be appropriate for one while another will respond well.

“Our center fielder (Blake Dunn), I can yell at him,” says Piotrowicz of a junior from Saugatuck, Mich., who he expects to go high in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. “He was a multi-sport athlete and football player. He needs that. He wants that hard coaching.”

The analogy that Piotrowicz favors is the mail. A package, whether sent first class air mail or standard third class will carry the same message and expectations regardless of delivery method.

Piotrowicz says Western’s recruiting territory is reflective of the 2020 WMU roster which features 19 players with hometowns in Michigan, nine from the Chicago area and three from Indiana high schools — junior Ryan Missal (Lowell), sophomore Bobby Dearing (Lafayette Harrison) and freshman Hayden Berg (Penn). The Broncos have received a commitment from Ryan Watt (Mishawaka).

Piotrowicz says the school has helped by making out-of-state tuition only $2,000 to $3,000 more than for in-state students.

Working with Gernon, Piotrowicz absorbs knowledge someone who has plenty of coaching experience. He was an assistant at Indiana University, helped Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne (now Purdue Fort Wayne) transition to NCAA Division I as assistant then head coach then was a Michigan State University assistant before his first season in charge in Kalamazoo in 2011.

In 2016, WMU won its first Mid-American Conference tournament. Jeffersonville (Ind.) High School graduate Gernon has 210 victories as Broncos skipper, including 104 in the MAC.

“I couldn’t ask for a more supportive boss,” says Piotrowicz of Gernon. “He’s given me a lot of freedom and responsibility.

“I learn something everyday.”

Prior to Western Michigan, Piotrowicz was an assistant for three seasons (2011-13) at Valparaiso (Ind.) University, where former big leaguer Tracy Woodson was head coach at current Crusaders head coach Brian Schmack was pitching coach.

“(Woodson) gave me a ton of freedom and a lot of trust,” says Piotrowicz, who go to work with hitters, infielders, catchers and outfielders while splitting strength and conditioning with Schmack.

In 2012, Valpo was regular season and tournament champions in the Horizon League and competed in the NCAA Gary Regional, losing to Purdue and Kentucky.

In 2013, the Crusaders won the HL tournament and took part in the Indiana Regional, losing to Indiana and Austin Peay but not before knocking out Florida.

Piotrowicz got his college coaching start with two seasons at NCAA Division III Heidelberg University (2009-10) in Tiffin, Ohio, where they won Ohio Athletic Conference Conference and regular-season titles both seasons. The 2010 team won the Mideast Regional and competed in the D-III World Series in Grand Chute, Wis., beating Johns Hopkins and Wisconsin-Stevens Points and losing to eventual champion Illinois Wesleyan and Linfield.

Though he was a graduate assistant, he worked like a full-time coach and had his perceptions of what a coach is shaped while developing head coach Matt Palm’s Student Princes. He aided hitters and catchers and shared in recruiting.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Matt Palm,” says Piotrowicz.

After a season at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind. (now Bethel University), Piotorowicz finished his playing days at Manchester.

Recruited to Bethel by Mike Hutcheon, Piotrowicz played one season for Pilots head coach Seth Zartman and assistants Dick Siler and Javier Jimenez.

“(Zartman) was a good guy,” says Piotrowicz. “He was very big on team culture.

“(Siler) was amazing. He was very, very knowledgable guy and a down-to-earth person. He worked with catchers and made sure I was in shape.

“(Jimenez) also brought a ton of knowledge.”

Rick Espeset was and still in head baseball coach and athletic director at Manchester. Given his workload and Espeset’s young family, Piotrowicz and his teammates marveled at how organized he was.

“Practices were always detailed,” says Piotrowicz. “He did a good job of teaching guys how to the win the game.”

Points of emphasis included baserunning, defense and playing the game hard and fast.

“You do that and winning will take care of itself,” says Piotrowicz. “We called (Espeset) the ‘Silent Assassin.’ He was a psychology major with a very dry sense of humor. The mental side of the game, that’s where he was the strongest.”

At Glenn, Piotrowicz played for John Nadolny aka “Nud.”

“I couldn’t ask for a better high school coach,” says Piotrowicz. “He coached us tough. He coached us fair.

“He was hard on you, but you know he had good intentions behind it. He wanted you to be better. Nud was great.”

The Glenn Falcons were 2002 Class 2A Jimtown Sectional champions, losing to Manchester in the Jimtown Regional championship game.

In 2003, Glenn won the sectional and regional at Jimtoiwn then lost to Frankton in the 2A State Semifinals.

The 2004 Falcons had a win-filled regular season then lost to Fairfield in the 2A Jimtown Sectional title game.

Piotrowicz, a catcher, had a backyard neighbor and best friend named Andy Groves.

“I caught him since Little League,” says Piotrowicz. “We had all kinds of fights over pitch selection.”

Right-hander Groves pitched four seasons at Purdue University (2004-07) and two in the Colorado Rockies organization (2007-08).

Adam and Heather Piotrowicz, a former Manchester basketball player, have two sons — Hunter (4) and Elliot (1).

A member of the Western Michigan University baseball staff since the 2014 season, 2020 was the second for Adam Piotrowicz as associate head coach. The graduate of John Glenn High School in Walkerton, Ind., and Manchester College (now Manchester University) in North Manchester, Ind., also served as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator on a group led by Billy Gernon. (Western Michigan University Photo)

 

Goal-setting, evaluation important to Bergman, Triton Central Tigers

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Justin Bergman wants to keep the lines of communication open with his Triton Central High School baseball team. He wants his Tigers to set and achieve goals.

To do this, he has set up some systems for his program based in Fairland, Ind.

“We really talk about three types of goals — Process, Performance and Outcome,” says Bergman, who is heading into his fifth season as Triton Central head coach in 2019.

Process goals revolve are controllable concepts such as working hard, attitude, hustle, mechanics and knowing your role.

Performance goals, which can be adjusted from week-to-week, include getting 60 to 65 percent first-pitch strokes, an on-base percentage of .400 or better, scoring eight runs a game, fielding at a .975 clip or better, having 75 percent Quality At-Bats and winning the “freebie war.”

Outcome goals are winning game at a time and ratchet up to being state-ranked, top four in the Indiana Crossroads Conference, winning the conference, sectional, regional, semistate and state titles.

Bergman also puts a lot of stock in evaluation.

“We want them to know their strengths and weaknesses,” says Bergman. “It’s something we as a coaching staff focus on.”

When he was head coach at Ohio Northern University (2006-11), Bergman hired Jeff Mercer (now head coach at Indiana University) as an assistant coach. The two worked out a system for evaluating players.

Justin Parker, now pitching coach at IU, was also on Bergman’s ONU staff.

At Triton Central, Bergman and his assistants meet with each athlete prior to the season to discuss where they rate and help them set goals.

Hitters, infielders, outfielders and catchers are all rated on a 1-to-5 scale in five categories. Pitchers are rated in six areas.

TC coaches look at hitters in terms of average, power, mechanics, approach and knowledge, infielders for hands, range, mechanics, arm strength and knowledge, outfielders for route, mechanics, speed, arm strength and knowledge and catchers for receiving, blocking, knowledge, athletic ability and arm strength. Pitchers are rate for mechanics, arm strength, mound presence, location, off-speed pitch and movement.

Bergman’s 2019 assistants are Travis Hensler, Scott Brown, Scott Lattimer and David Chapman. Hensler is in the paid position and handles hitting, operations and the junior varsity team. Brown is in charge of infielders, Latimer outfielders and Triton Cental graduate Chapman pitchers. Bergman works with catchers and helps with the other areas.

Numbers in the program have fluctuated between 15 and 24. This year, the Tigers have 12 seniors.

Triton Central (enrollment of about 475) plays each conference foe (Beech Grove, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Indianapolis Lutheran, Indianapolis Scecina Memorial, Monrovia, Park Tudor and Speedway) once each, typically on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Working with athletic director Bryan Graham and athletic secretary Barb Guhl, Bergman has built a non-conference schedule featuring Arsenal Tech, Decatur Central, Greenfield-Central, Greenwood, Heritage Christian, Rushville, Shelbyville, South Decatur and Traders Point.

“We really try to play some bigger schools,” says Bergman.

The Tigers are in an IHSAA Class 2A sectional pairing with Eastern Hancock, Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Howe, Indianapolis Scecina Memorial, Irvington Prep Academy and Knightstown. Triton Central has won three sectionals – the last in 2012. Triton Central won a 2A state championship in 2003.

Home games are contested on-campus.

“We’ve done a ton with the facility, painting, cleaning up and edging it,” says Bergman. “We take pride in the presentation of our field.”

Development is aided with the addition of a portable batting tunnel and access to a fieldhouse.

Feeding the high school program is a new Triton Central Middle School team (19 players participated in 2018) as well as Triton Central Tigers 10U and 12U travel teams. The Future Tigers Athletics is active. There is a T-ball league for ages 3-5 (48 kids played in 2018) and coach pitch for ages 6-8 (68 took part in 2018). A 9-10 division is being added for 2019.

There was an FTA Night at an Indianapolis Indians game and the camp last March drew 118.

“The growth and development has taken some time,” says Bergman. “It’s definitely going in the right direction.”

Bergman is a 1997 Rushville Consolidated High School graduate. With the Lions, he played baseball for head coach Jim Bush

“He was always positive,” says Bergman of Bush. “You never heard anything negative from Coach Bush.”

Bergman played football and baseball at Franklin (Ind.) College. He arrived at the school the same years as Lance Marshall, who was his receivers coach in the fall and head baseball coach in the spring. The Grizzlies struggled on the diamond the first spring. By 2001, Franklin was nationally-ranked.

“He showed a toughness and determination in building a program,” says Bergman of Marshall. “It’s the hard work he’s put in on the recruiting path.”

In 2005, Bergman was a full-time coach for Marshall.

“He let you do your thing as an assistant,” says Bergman, who sent Jordan Crouse from Triton Central to Franklin to study and play baseball.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in secondary education from Franklin in 2001, Bergman pursued his masters in business leadership at Manchester College (now Manchester University) and coached the 2002 to 2004 seasons on a Spartans staff headed by Rick Espeset.

“I was very fortunate,” says Bergman. “Espy gave me a ton of responsibility with recruiting, hitting and outfield play.

“Espy is a great leader. He gives suggestions, but he lets his assistants make

make it their own.”

Manchester had talented players during Bergman’s time there and the Spartans qualified for two regionals and the 2004 NCAA Division III World Series.

In the summer of 2002, Bergman was tapped to coach the Fort Wayne-based Indiana Dox collegiate team. Owned by future Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Famer Colin Lister, the Dox went 44-10 and earned a berth in the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series.

Besides coaching, Bergman works as an Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance agent in Shelbyville. Jeremy and wife Amber have two children — son Ty (8) and daughter Avery (4).

The Triton Central Tigers call Fairland in Shelby County, Ind., home.

Justin Bergman has been the head baseball coach at Triton Central High School in Fairland, Ind., since the 2015 season.

 

 

Plymouth’s Wolfe looks for players who are competitive, confident, comfortable

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Ryan Wolfe was fiery as a player. He got hot at the beginning of his coaching career.

The flame still flickers to the surface on occasion.

But the Plymouth High School head baseball coach has learned to control the flames a bit with time and experience.

Wolfe graduated from Hamilton High School in northeast Indiana in 2001. He was a four-year varsity player for the Marines, which won the IHSAA Class 1A Bethany Christian Sectional in 2000. He was an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association all-star as senior.

Jim Sanxter was the coach.

A pitcher, Wolfe went on to Manchester College (now Manchester University) and played three seasons for Rick Espeset. The Spartans placed seventh in the 2004 NCAA Division III World Series.

“They had two totally different styles of coaching and both were effective,” says Wolfe of Sanxter and Espeset. “(Sanxter) had a huge influence on me. He was tough. He definitely didn’t go for excuses. He would challenge you and push you and he was very sincere. The more I coach, the more I understand some of the things he did.”

Wolfe came to see in Sanxter a passion and purpose for coaching. Not a teacher, the it was a selflessness that drove the man who coached 30 years, including 18 with Hamilton baseball and passed away in 2014.

“It was how he said things, when he said things and how he reacted to things,” says Wolfe. “I’m humbled to realize I learned from somebody like that.”

A calm demeanor is what Wolfe saw when he observed Espeset, who has led the Manchester program since the 1997 season.

“He had a way of staying even-keeled,” says Wolfe. “I never saw Coach Espeset really get upset.

“You knew he meant business, but he didn’t say it in a brash way. It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.”

Espeset helped his players understand the intricacies of the game and also gave them freedom.

“He let us learn from failure,” says Wolfe. “That’s what I try to do here. We’re not going to win every ball game.”

Wolfe’s post-game remarks after a Pilgrims loss is very minimal. He doesn’t want to harp on the negative.

“We want to get the kids to understand that baseball is much bigger than wins and losses,” says Wolfe, whose first season at Plymouth was 2013 (he was an assistant to Brian Hooker at Rochester High School in 2012 and head coach at West Central High School 2006-11). “We want competitors.”

Even Pilgrims practices — which generally include all 35 to 40 players in the program — have a competitive component. Players must earn a chance to take batting practice on Bill Nixon Field.

“It’s been phenomenal,” says Wolfe, who began combining squads for practice in 2015. “It brings a sense of unity. Our whole purpose is the same — to develop great young men through the game of baseball.”

Practices are broken into stations and one is devoted to work on routines. That’s how important it is to the Pilgrims.

Taking the teaches of mental conditioning and sports psychology expert Brian Cain, Wolfe and his assistant coaches (Brent Corbett, Kevin Garrity, Brian Schuler and Mitch Bowers) tell the players to “get back to green.”

There are green dots on the bats — a visual device that helps them relax and focus.

“We talk about breathing a lot and keeping our heart rate down,” says Wolfe. “We’re constantly talking about confidence.

“We want them to know their routine because a routine breeds confidence because it makes you comfortable.”

While his assistants hone in on hitting, pitching and fielding skills, Wolfe sees his role to develop his players’ mental sides.

“It’s an aspect of the game that’s left out,” says Wolfe. “We take time out of our day and do that.”

“It’s taken awhile for our kids to understand it’s a part of baseball. They’re high school kids. They don’t know how to handle failure. Are we perfect at it? No way.”

Wolfe and his staff are not trying to cram every player into the same mold.

“We are not cookie cutter,” says Wolfe. “We don’t have every kid hit the same or pitch the same. It’s about learning who you are as a player and what works for you.

“We’re trying to get the kids to take ownership.”

Like many coaches, Wolfe has taken concepts he has learned at clinics and American Baseball Coaches Association conventions and adopted them to the needs of his program.

Justin Dehmer has won multiple state titles in Iowa and has shared his knowledge through his line of 1 Pitch Warrior materials. Plymouth tracks B.A.S.E.2 (Big Inning, Answer Back, Score First, Extend the Lead, Score with 2 Outs, Quality At-Bat System). Wolfe knows that doing three of the five things on the chart often leads to victory.

The Pilgrims are looking for a K.O. — knocking the starting pitcher out by the fourth inning.

Other incentives are the Hit Stick (one each for varsity and junior varsity) and MVP jersey, which players can earn from game to game following a victory. Get the jersey the most times during the season — as voted on by the team — and that player is the season MVP.

“We’ve got to win to get anything,” says Wofle. “There’s nothing if we lose.”

Wolfe and his staff have crunched the numbers and witness enough success to be believers in their methods.

“This stuff does work,” says Wolfe.

Plymouth plays a double round robin in the Northern Lakes Conference (which also includes Concord, Elkhart Memorial, Goshen, Northridge, NorthWood, Warsaw and Wawasee) with games played Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

NorthWood went 14-0 in 2017, taking a pair of 1-0 wins against the Pilgrims. The game at Plymouth pitted NWHS senior Drake Gongwer against PHS sophomore Cam Dennie and was a classic.

“That’s one of the best high school baseball games I’ve ever seen,” says Wofle. “(The NLC) is very competitive. I like the format. In my five years, I have not seem the same pitcher start both games very often.”

Dennie is already verbally committed to Arizona State University, something he did before the 2017 season after showing well in Prep Baseball Report underclassmen games.

Wolfe sees it as his responsibility to engage in the recruiting process.

“I try to make as many connections as I can with college coaches around the area,” says Wolfe. “But I’m going to be honest with (players, parents and college coaches).

“I teach kids there’s a lot of levels of college baseball. You’ve got to show initiative and work hard in the class room also.”

Indiana alone has 38 programs — nine in NCAA Division I, three in NCAA Division II, nine in NCAA Division III, 14 in NAIA and three in junior college.

Wolfe, who also teaches social studies at PHS, lets his players and coaches know what is being sought by college coaches. He wants them to closely assess their situation and pay attention to the intangibles. On-base percentage and pitching velocity are easy to gauge.

But can they handle the grind of college baseball?

What kind if student are they?

What kind of teammate are they?

“These are the kinds of things we want here,” says Wolfe. “I have some of the longest parent meetings of all-time. But I try to be upfront.

“I don’t want to discourage kids from having those aspirations. I want them to reach their own potential and not compare themselves to other kids. You are who you are. It goes back to taking ownership of what you can do to reach that potential.”

Money has been raised to upgrade the playing surface at Bill Nixon Field, a facility named for the IHSBCA Hall of Fame coach. Wolfe says that project is to go forward after the 2018 season.

Tyler Wolfe — Ryan’s brother — really excelled at D-III Manchester and holds school pitching records for career wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and complete games.

Ryan and wife Tara Wolfe have two boys — fifth grader Preston and fourth grader Parker.

Ryan Wolfe, a graduate of Hamilton High School and Manchester University, is entering his sixth season as head baseball coach at Plymouth High School.

 

Anderson U. alum Bair looks to build ‘culture of brotherhood’ for Ravens

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Reaching out to re-connect with its winning baseball past, Anderson University has hired alum Matt Bair as head coach.

Bair, a 2001 AU graduate, played for and coached with Dr. Don Brandon and participated in the NCAA Division III World Series as a Ravens player (1998) and assistant coach (2003).

“I’ve been able to connect with several alumni already that are excited in the vision we are putting forward with the baseball program,” says Bair, who had former Anderson player and assistant coach Brent Hoober as the best man in his wedding. “We’re trying to gain some of their energy and momentum back.”

Brandon, who is in the Anderson, American Baseball Coaches Association and Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association halls of fame after winning 1,100 games in 38 seasons, created what Bair calls a “culture of brotherhood” while competing at a high level.

With a foundation of respect, trust, loyalty, faith and fun, Bair is hoping to do the same.

“If you focus on the relationships, the wins will be the result,” says Bair. “Everybody is out there to win, but it can’t be the focus. It’s not the only piece of the puzzle. A lot of life lessons can be taught through the game. Coach Brandon was a master at that. He had a lot of wisdom. He gave us some great attributes that we could carry forward and be better men.

“I want players to have great memories of being loved by their coaches and teammates. I want to make this the best life experience possible for them.”

The 1996 Anderson High School graduate returns to campus after three high school head-coaching stops — one season at Cowan, three at Anderson Highland and one at Lapel plus an ongoing relationship with the Indiana Bulls travel baseball organization as a coach, instructor and board member.

Bair’s coaching staff includes Jim Hazen, Carlos Leyva, Jeff Freeman and Zach Barnes as assistants with J.D. Tammen as statistician, Brandon Schnepp as graduate assistant/baseball operations and Jacob Troxell as volunteer assistant. Leyva and Freeman were assistants to Bair at Anderson Highland.

AU coaches are on the recruiting trail — mostly around Indiana and the Midwest — looking for athletes who can help the Ravens compete in NCAA Division III baseball at a national level as well as in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. That means taking aim at some Division I-type talent.

“We want impact guys in our program,” says Bair. “We go after those big guys because sometimes our school is a good fit for them — academically, athletically and socially.”

Being a D-III school that gives no athletic scholarships, Bair says AU is “looking for kids who take a genuine interest in their academics.”

Besides the talent, Bair and company also look for the intangibles of coachability, competitiveness and caring. They are looking for someone who responds to instruction and is driven while being a good teammate.

Bair, the son of Debbie and Kevin Moore of Anderson and Glen Bair of Lapel, played at Anderson High for Terry Turner and Wally Winans. He was a shortstop on the 1995 Indians that reached the semistate.

“Both of them have a real love for the game and the kids that they coach,” says Bair of Turner and Winans, who were coaches in the 2017 IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series in Muncie. “They were good at the X’s and 0’s of the game, but they also had an impact on developing me as a person. They were always good to me. They helped me grow in the game.”

Matt and Brooke Bair have been married 15 years and have three sons — Landon (13), Isaac (12) and Hogan (9).

Besides recruiting, Bair and his staff have been getting prepared for Aug. 28 — the day that players report to campus, where they will be greeted by an upgraded Don Brandon Field (new sod, bullpens, game mound, batting cages and regular visits from Midwest Turf Management).

“I’m really excited about some of these things we’re doing with our facility,” says Bair. “We want create a showcase field.”

NCAA D-III rules allow 16 days of fall practice. Bair plans to use that time for evaluation through practice and an Orange and Black series.

David Pressley was AU head coach after Brandon’s retirement and served for five seasons (2011-15). Dustin Glant led the Ravens in 2016. Drew Brantley and Mark Calder were interim co-head coaches in 2017.

Matt Bair, a 2001 Anderson University graduate, has been named as head baseball coach of the Ravens.