BY STEVE KRAH
Phil Webster coached baseball each season from 1984-2022.
He led the Decatur Central High School program in Indianapolis for 27 springs and won 528 games as the Hawks field boss through 2011.
The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer (Class of 2015) with 50-plus years as an educator also had head coaching stints at North Putnam High School in Roachdale, Ind., and Southport High School in Indianapolis and served as an assistant at Franklin (Ind.) College, Mooresville (Ind.) High School and Perry Meridian High School and Pike High School (twice) — the latter two in Indy.
Both times at Pike he was helping son and Red Devils head coach Todd Webster.
As the 2022 season was coming to a close, Phil Webster announced that he had identified some other pursuits and stepped away from baseball and did not coach in 2023.
Then the diamond came calling again.
“I found out that when I was doing other things I really missed the game,” says Webster, 82. “(Martinsville, Ind., High School athletic director/head boys basketball coach Kip Staggs) took a chance on me. We’ll see what happens.”
Webster took over the Artesians program in the summer and has been able to lead some players in IHSAA Limited Contact Period activities in the fall and winter (two days per week of practice and one day of conditioning), though many have been occupied in other sports.
“We have an awful lot of people that we haven’t seen yet,” says Webster. “We have yet to assemble all the people we anticipate will be playing the spring.
“I have spent quite a bit of time with some of them. Little by little, we’re beginning to blend.”
Among the returnees is right-handed pitcher and University of Notre Dame verbal commit Rhys Wolf (Martinsville Class of 2026).
Since the 2017 season, the IHSAA has had pitch count rules ( to 35 pitches requires 0 days rest; 36 to 60 requires 1 day; 61 to 80 requires 2 days; 81 to 100 requires 3 days; and 101 to 120 requires 4 days).
“You may need to teach everybody on your team the pitching fundamentals because you may need them,” says Webster. “We need more pitchers.”
Webster has noticed many lopsided scores in recent seasons — 25-0, 13-run innings etc.
“That can’t be good for the game,” says Webster.
At the same time, he is no fan of the 10-run or “mercy” rule.
“Here’s why I don’t like it: Back in the old days if you had kids sitting on the bench who don’t get to play very much, that’s when we would put that kid in there,” says Webster. “Now he gets a chance to maybe get a couple of base hits and impress the coach. Now you cut the game off and the kid that works hard in practice everyday loses his one chance to play.
“Those kids get robbed of an opportunity.”
Among recent graduates moving on to college baseball, left-hander Kevin Reed (MHS Class of 2023) is now at the University of Evansville.
Webster says he expects to have about 30 players for varsity and junior varsity teams. His coaching staff includes Tom Kitchen, Levi Floyd and wife Lorrie Webster (who is also director of operations) at the varsity level and Matt Long with the JV. A search is on for another JV coach.
Martinsville (enrollment around 1,330) is a member of the Mid-State Conference (with Decatur Central, Franklin Community, Greenwood Community, Mooresville, Perry Meridian, Plainfield and Whiteland Community).
The Artesians are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Center Grove, Greenwood Community and Mooresville. Martinsville has won 15 sectional titles — the last in 2019.
Tutterow Field — home of Martinsville baseball — has been upgraded. A turf surface and a new scoreboard, fencing and lights have been added. A fieldhouse where the Artesians can practice inside was opened in the fall of 2021.
“They’re doing everything they can do to give the coach and the kids opportunities to succeed,” says Webster. “The athletic director is a wonderful guy and it’s fun to work for him.
“There are a lot of positives. The negatives are ones a good coach should be able to overcome. I’m pleased with the way things are going.”
Martinsville is scheduled to play on the new carpet for the first time in the 2024 season opener March 26 against Pike. After that father vs. son contest, the Artesians are to host Franklin Central March 29. The Flashes feature Nevan Tutterow (grandson of IHSBCA Hall of Famer, 39-year Artesians head coach and the man for whom the field is named, Bill Tutterow).
There is a trend toward high schools going to turf. Bishop Chatard in Indianapolis got it years ago. Beech Grove was among the first public schools in central Indiana to install it.
“Within five years a regular baseball field with dirt and grass will be the exception rather than the rule,” says Webster. “You probably pick up 30 practices outdoors because you have the turf field.
“I can remember times when we started the season and we’d only been outside three times. It wasn’t because it was too cold. It was because the field was too muddy. Turf is a godsend to high school baseball in the state of Indiana in my opinion.”
Another change that Webster would like to see involves start times for weekday games.
“With Daylight Savings Time if they would just move the start time back an hour (to 6 p.m.) you would see the fan base rapidly increase,” says Webster, who notes that starting earlier makes it tough — if not impossible — for umpires to get off their day jobs, get through traffic and to the ball park on-time.
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