By STEVE KRAH
Ethan Lengfelder is scheduled to make his sixth appearance and fourth start for the Elkhart County County Miracle today (June 21 at 7:10 p.m. CDT) against the Northwest Indiana Oilmen at Oil City Stadium in Whiting, Ind.
The last time the 22-year-old right-hander pitched he threw a nine-inning no-hitter — the first in the Northern League since 2014, fifth in league history and only the third one that was not combined.
Lengfelder held the Lake County CornDogs hitless in a 6-1 win for a first-year franchise at the NorthWood High School Field of Dreams Complex in Nappanee, Ind. — the Elkhart County Miracle’s home diamond. He faced 31 batters, striking out three, walking three and hitting one. The last out was a strike out of clean-up hitter Ray Hilbrich, who socked three home runs in Week 1, after falling behind 3-0 in the count.
For the second time in the first three weeks of the season, Lengfelder was selected Pitcher of the Week — this time unanimously.
Self-described as “too quirky,” Lengfelder showed up late the day of his no-no after his daytime construction job with Doug Walls (Walls by Walls in Niles, Mich.) and was scolded by Elkhart County manager Wilson Valera.
Then Lengfelder took off his Crocs and began chasing fly balls barefoot on the NorthWood turf.
“Closer to game time I zone in a little bit,” says Lengfelder.
Once the game started — even though he had a no-hitter going — Lengfelter was on the steps of the dugout and yelling at everyone.
While others won’t talk to anyone on their start day, that’s not Lengfelder’s way.
“As Wilson says: I’m loco,” says Lengfelder. “I’m crazy.”
He also noticed how his Miracle teammates backed him up.
“My defense played behind me amazingly,” says Lengfelter, noting that shortstop Dawson Willis was especially good and catcher Javier Guevara called a fine game.
After almost surrendering an early home run, Lengfelder settled in. When he walked a couple batters in the fourth inning, he came back to the dugout, walked into a storage closet known as the “Rage Room,” got his frustration out and was fine again.
Lengfelder, who is 6-foot-1 1/2 and 204 pounds and pitched at Bethel University in Mishawaka, Ind., in the spring of 2023, began the season at the back of the Miracle’s bullpen. He used 20 pitches to record six outings in his first two outings of the summer and is now 2-1 with a 2.45 earned run average, 12 strikeouts and 11 walks in 22 innings.
Last summer, Lengfelder was with the Omaha, Neb.-based Corn Belt League’s Royal Blue Dogs. Eli MacDonald, an infielder going into his third year at Bethel, was a teammate.
By November, they were reunited with the Pilots when Lengfelder who had moved from Iowa Western to Williston (N.D.) State Community College.
Head coach Seth Zartman and pitching coach Kiel Boynton welcomed Lengfelder to Bethel and began helping with his development.
“Both of them have been very big in the process of getting me where I am today,” says Lengfelder. “When I got to Bethel I was very raw. I had no pitching coach for two years. I had a lot of potential. I was very robotic and not fluid.
“I can’t thank them enough.”
He pitched in nine games (eight in relief) for Bethel in the spring, going 0-1 with eight strikeouts and six walks in 11 2/3 innings.
This summer, Lengfelder is living with Bethel volunteer assistant Rob Bjorkland.
By reaching out to recruiting coordinator Evan Sharpley, Lengfelder found his way to the Miracle, where he gets to work with pitching coach Pedro Valera.
“He doesn’t know very much English, but he knows the game very well,” says Lengfelder.
So how do you do better after a no-hitter? Lengfelder says the goal is to throw a maximum of 12 pitches an inning.
Once a high-velocity hurler, the right-hander had to become a different kind of hurler after a shoulder injury.
“I dropped all the way down from 87 (mph) to 75,” says Lengfelder. “I recovered all the way back up to 84.
“Mentally, I changed how I pitch. I knew couldn’t blow it past people anymore.”
Instead, he pitches to contact as a command/ground ball pitcher — something that works well for big leaguer Kyle Hendricks.
“I make guys pound it into the ground or pop up,” says Lengfelder. “I’ve been told since I was 12 that I throw a very heavy ball.”
Throwing from a “2 o’clock” arm slot, Lengfelder mixes five pitches — a two-seamer, knuckle curve, splitter, ghost fork and Vulcan change-up.
He learned some of those grips on Twitter from the Pitching Ninja (Rob Friedman).
When not pitching, Lengfelder has also developed the habit of heading for the press box in the second inning to chat on-air with the Miracle play-by-play man — especially when it’s Preston Andrews (NorthWood Class of 2024). Team founder Craig Wallin is a veteran broadcaster.
“I love talking and I like bringing guys up,” says Lengfelder. “Our broadcast/booth team is amazing.”
When Lengfelder began college he wanted to be a sports writer.
“I figured out I hate writing,” says Lengfelder, who is now a Criminal Justice major with minors in Psychology and Forensic Science and has the goal of police chief or detective.
He has two years of remaining college eligibility and plans to use at least one to complete his undergraduate degree and may go a second year for a masters.
Born Omaha and raised in Missouri City, Iowa, Lengfelder played baseball and hockey — he was a goaltender and roots for the Boston Bruins — around the area.
He pitched in a few varsity games as an eighth grader in 2015 and then logged four full varsity seasons — two at Logan (Iowa)-Magnolia High School, one for Treynor (Iowa) High School (while attending Heartland Christian which did have a team) and the last one at Missouri Valley High School.
High school baseball is mostly a summer sport in Iowa with the regular season generally beginning around May 15.
After high school, Lengfelder first went to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs — a school that is now closed — before transferring to Williston State.
He suffered a slight labrum and rotator cuff tear and took year off baseball.
“I wasn’t good mentally,” says Lengfelder. “I wasn’t good physically.”
Instead of surgery, he went back to workout coach William Roden.
“He’s been a very big part of my life,” says Lengfelder. “He taught me it’s OK to not be your best. He’s been a person in my life since I was 18.”
The youngest of a blended brood, Ethan has four siblings — sisters Heather, Carlye and Cara and brother Chase.
Chris Lengfelder — Ethan’s father — taught him to always keep working until a job is complete.
His no-hitter came just a few days before Father’s Day.
“Everything stems back to my father — my hard work,” says Ethan. “He’s always that cornerstone.
“It gets me a little emotional.”
Dad also gets the credit for helping Ethan choose his walk-up song — “Detroit Rock City” by KISS.
Ethan’s mother — Jolene Weinrich Lengfelder — teaches special education in Omaha.
“I gained a lot of my caring personality from her,” says Ethan. “I try to help as many people as I can. The best way to help people is to just be there for them.
“It’s super hard for people to understand that, which is weird because it takes nothing to care. It takes nothing to smile and be nice.”
Lengfelder makes sure to great the little kids at the field and has even been stopped for autographs at the gas station.
“It’s awesome. The whole community has been good to us.”
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