Indiana 10-0 at The Bart; Purdue’s Toetz HR count 8

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

Home may be ever so humble and where the heart is, but it’s also were the victories lie for some teams early in the 2023 college baseball season.
With a three-game sweep of Morehead State NCAA Division I Indiana is 10-0 so far at Bart Kauffman Field. The Hoosiers are to host Indiana at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.
After besting Purdue twice at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium, Evansville 8-1 at home.
A three-game sweep of Toledo at Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark Complex makes Ball State 5-1 at home.
NCAA Division II Indianapolis is 11-2 in games played at Greyhound Park/Bill Bright Field and 0-2 at Grand Park in Westfield. UIndy’s first road game is scheduled for Friday, March 24 at Illinois-Springfield.
NAIA Indiana Wesleyan is 4-0 at Wildcat Field.
Bethel is 2-0 at Dick Patterson Field at Jenkins Stadium and 2-0 in a designated home game at Championship Park in Kokomo.
Indiana Tech is 4-0 at Warrior Field.
Oakland City is 12-1 at Gil Hodges Field in Princeton and 3-5 at League Stadium in Huntingburg.
Huntington is 10-2 at Forest Glen Park.
Taylor is 9-2 at Winterholter Field.
While we’re talking about home, how about home runs? Here is a list of mashers so far in 2023 (three bombs or more through March 19 of games posted):
Paul Toetz (Purdue) 8
Jacob Daftari (Indiana Tech) 7
Satchell Wilson (Huntington) 7
Luke Barnes (IU-Kokomo) 6
T.J. Bass (Taylor) 6
Braedon Blackford (Purdue Fort Wayne) 6
Lucas Goodin (Indiana Wesleyan) 6
Ryan Peltier (Ball State) 6
Kade Vander Molen (Taylor) 6
Xander Willis (Oakland City) 6
Alex Christie (Hanover) 5
Chase Hug (Evansville) 5
Brayden Manning (Taylor) 5
Sam Pesa (Saint Francis) 5
A.J. Reid (Wabash) 5
Eric Roberts (Evansville) 5
Jenner Rodammer (Goshen) 5
Parker Bates (Indiana Tech) 4
Blake Bevis (Ball State) 4
Mason David (Taylor) 4
Tucker Ebest (Southern Indiana ) 4
Kip Fougerousse (Evansville) 4
Langston Ginder (Huntington) 4
Jake Jarvis (Purdue) 4
Ben Kalbaugh (Taylor) 4
Treven Madden (Oakland City) 4
Jordan Malott (Huntington) 4
Christian Mojica (Indiana Tech) 4
Jeff Morton (Indiana Wesleyan) 4
Sam Newkirk (Grace) 4
Luke Picchiotti (Taylor) 4
Matthew Rivera (Ball State) 4
Kyle Schmack (Valparaiso) 4
Mike Sears (Indiana State) 4
Sean Sullivan (Franklin) 4
Joey Urban (Butler) 4
Nick Wiley (Indiana Wesleyan) 4
Brenden Bell (IU South Bend) 3
Jared Bujdos (Indianapolis) 3
Trevor Campbell (IU Southeast) 3
Garrett Causey (Oakland City) 3
Gabe Cortez (IU South Bend) 3
Hunter Dobbins (Ball State) 3
Colton Evans (Vincennes) 3
Kaleb Farnham (IU South Bend) 3
Ben Fricke (IUPU-Columbus) 3
Sam Gladd (Taylor) 3
Danny Glimco (DePauw) 3
Trevor Goodwin (IU Southeast) 3
Grant Hartley (Grace) 3
Ray Hilbrich (Purdue Northwest) 3
Brendan Hord (Evansville) 3
Hunter Jessee (Indiana) 3
John Joyce (Grace) 3
Kaleb Kolpein (Taylor) 3
Josh Ledgard (Marian’s Ancilla) 3
David Miller (Saint Francis) 3
Jeff Pawlik (Grace) 3
Jack Penney (Notre Dame) 3
Sam Pinckert (Oakland City) 3
Adam Pottinger (Indiana State) 3
Carter Putz (Notre Dame) 3
Evan Salmon (Indiana Wesleyan) 3
Brett Sikorski (IU South Bend) 3
Tyler Smitherman (Anderson) 3
Tyler Stahl (Indiana Tech) 3
Aidan Stevens (Manchester) 3
Alex Stout (Bethel) 3
Brice Stultz (Indiana Tech) 3
Devin Taylor (Indiana) 3
Nolan Tucker (Valparaiso) 3
Brady Ware (Indianapolis) 3
Matt Wolff (Huntington) 3
Hanover’s Christie has three circuit clouts in the last three games.
On the pitching side, here are the strikeout leaders:
Tyler Papenbrock (Huntington) 51
Frank Plesac (Bethel) 48
Damien Wallace (Marian) 44
Lucas Letsinger (IU-Kokomo) 43
Seth Spencer (Indianapolis) 42
Drue Young (Indiana Wesleyan) 42
Graham Kollen (Huntington) 39
Luke Sinnard (Indiana) 39
Gehrig Tenhumberg (Oakland City) 38

Alec Holcomb (Taylor) 37
Cory Bosecker (Butler) 36
Ryan Brown (Ball State) 35
Evan Fry (Indiana Wesleyan) 35
Nick Smith (Evansville) 35
Evan Etchison (Grace) 32
Trevor O’Donnell (Ball State) 32
Eric Pettipiece (Goshen) 32
Luke Schafer (IU Southeast) 31
Landen Southern (Anderson) 29
Matt Jachec (Indiana State) 28
Gabel Pentecost (Taylor) 28
Andrew Davenport (Calumet of St. Joseph) 27
Tommy Johnson (Oakland City) 27
Jonathan Blackwell (Purdue) 26
Matt Dutkowski (Taylor) 26
Marcus Goodpaster (Hanover) 26
Ben Harris (IU-Kokomo) 26
Josh Hoogewerf (Trine) 26
Donovan Schultz (Evansville) 26
Ben Simmons (Oakland City) 26
Jake Stuteville (Vincennes) 26
Zach Zaborowski (Indiana Tech) 26
Jack Findlay (Notre Dame) 25
Matthew Johnson (Franklin) 25
Blaine McRae (Saint Francis) 25
Jared Spencer (Indiana State) 25

Below are season records, weekly results and links to web pages, schedules and statistics for all of Indiana’s 39 collegiate programs.

INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL
Records Through March 19
NCAA D-I
Ball State 13-6 (5-1 MAC)
Indiana 13-7 (0-0 Big Ten)
Evansville 12-7 (0-0 MVC)
Notre Dame 9-8 (2-4 ACC)
Purdue 9-9 (0-0 Big Ten)
Indiana State 8-10 (0-0 MVC)
Valparaiso 7-6 (0-0 MVC)
Southern Indiana 7-13 (0-0 OVC)
Purdue Fort Wayne 4-16 (1-2 Horizon)
Butler 2-15 (0-0 Big East)

Schedule Links
Ball State
Butler
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Indiana
Valparaiso

Stat Links
Ball State
Butler
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Indiana
Valparaiso

NCAA D-II
Indianapolis 11-4 (0-4 GLVC)
Purdue Northwest 4-10 (0-0 GLIAC)

Schedule Links
Indianapolis
Purdue Northwest

Stat Links
Indianapolis
Purdue Northwest

NCAA D-III
Wabash 11-6 (0-0 NCAC)
Anderson 8-5 (0-0 HCAC)
Manchester 8-3 (0-0 HCAC)
Earlham 8-5 (0-0 HCAC)
Franklin 7-5 (0-0 HCAC)
Rose-Hulman 7-5 (0-0 HCAC)
Trine 6-6 (0-0 MIAA)
Hanover 6-7 (0-0 HCAC)
DePauw 4-7 (0-0 NCAC)

Schedule Links
Anderson
DePauw
Earlham
Franklin
Hanover
Manchester
Rose-Hulman
Trine
Wabash

Stat Links
Anderson
DePauw
Earlham
Franklin
Hanover
Manchester
Rose-Hulman
Trine
Wabash

NAIA
Oakland City 19-8 (3-5 RSC)
Taylor 17-9 (10-2 CL)
Huntington 16-7 (10-2 CL)
IU-Kokomo 14-9 (6-2 RSC)
Indiana Wesleyan 12-9-1 (6-2 CL)
Bethel 12-10 (5-5 CL)
Indiana Tech 11-3 (0-0 WHAC)
Marian 11-11 (5-5 CL)
Grace 9-10 (1-7 CL)
Calumet of St. Joseph 9-16 (1-3 CCAC)
IU Southeast 8-13 (5-4 RSC)
Saint Francis 8-14 (3-8 CL)
IU South Bend 6-14 (2-1 CCAC)
Goshen 6-15 (2-7 CL)
IUPU-Columbus 1-24

Schedule Links
Bethel
Calumet of St. Joseph
Goshen
Grace
Huntington
IU-Kokomo
IUPU-Columbus
IU South Bend
IU Southeast
Indiana Tech
Indiana Wesleyan
Marian
Oakland City
Saint Francis
Taylor

Stat Links
Bethel
Calumet of St. Joseph
Goshen
Grace
Huntington
IU-Kokomo
IUPU-Columbus
IU South Bend
IU Southeast
Indiana Tech
Indiana Wesleyan
Marian
Oakland City
Saint Francis
Taylor

Junior College
Vincennes 10-11 (0-0 MWAC)
Ivy Tech Northeast 7-9
Marian’s Ancilla 1-17 (0-0 MCCAA)

Schedule Links
Ivy Tech Northeast
Marian’s Ancilla
Vincennes

Stat Links
Ivy Tech Northeast
Marian’s Ancilla
Vincennes

Through March 19
NCAA D-I
Tuesday, March 14
Kentucky 12, Indiana 2 (7 inn.)
Notre Dame 6, Saint Joseph’s 3
Southern Indiana 10, Saint Louis 2

Wednesday, March 15
Evansville 14, Bellarmine 2
Indiana 6, Morehead State 5 (10 inn.)
Indiana State 7, Illinois 3
Notre Dame 10, Saint Joseph’s 9
Purdue 14, Northern Illinois 5
Southern Illinois 16, Southern Indiana 9

Thursday, March 16
Indiana 23, Morehead State 5

Friday, March 17
Ball State 14, Toledo 2
Evansville 5, Purdue 2
Indiana 5, Morehead State 4
Purdue Fort Wayne 12, Wright State 10
Wright State 6, Purdue Fort Wayne 2
Murray State 15, Southern Indiana 1

Saturday, March 18
Wake Forest 4, Notre Dame 1
Wake Forest 12, Notre Dame 3
Murray State 11, Southern Indiana 4

Sunday, March 19
Ball State 19, Toledo 16 (13 inn.)
Ball State 7, Toledo 4
Northwestern 5, Butler 1
Evansville 6, Purdue 4
Michigan State 8, Indiana State 2
Michigan State 10, Indiana State 7
Notre Dame 3, Wake Forest 1
Wright State 13, Purdue Fort Wayne 4
Murray State 13, Southern 3

NCAA D-II
Tuesday, March 14
Saint Leo 8, Purdue Northwest 3
Eckerd 4, Purdue Northwest 3

Wednesday, March 15
Purdue Northwest 9, Embry-Riddle 8 (7 inn.)
Embry-Riddle 9, Purdue Northwest 1 (7 inn.)

Friday, March 17
Maryville 12, Indianapolis 6
Maryville 5, Indianapolis 3

Sunday, March 19
Maryville 12, Indianapolis 1
Maryville 13, Indianapolis 3

NCAA D-III
Tuesday, March 14
Anderson 15, Stockton 4

Wednesday, March 15
Anderson 10, Ramapo 0
Earlham 11, Mount Saint Vincent 0
Wilmington 14, Franklin 11

Thursday, March 16
Anderson 8, Greenville 5
Earlham 17, Franciscan 9
Franciscan 8, Earlham 0

Saturday, March 18
Hanover 9, Wabash 6

Sunday, March 19
Franklin 7, Trine 6
Hanover 7, Wabash 6
Wabash 5, Hanover 4
Wisconsin-Osh Kosh 4, Rose-Hulman 0
Wisconsin-Osh Kosh 12, Rose-Hulman 0

NAIA
Monday, March 13
Oakland City 14, Baptist Bible 13

Tuesday, March 14
Thomas More 14, IUPU-Columbus 3
Indiana Tech 7, Mid-America Christian 5

Wednesday, March 15
Calumet of St. Joseph 1, Trinity Christian 0
Trinity Christian 5, Calumet of St. Joseph 4
Grace 4, Taylor 1
Taylor 6, Grace 0
Mount Vernon Nazarene 7, Huntington 6
Huntington 9, Mount Vernon Nazarene 2
Indiana Wesleyan 16, IUPU-Columbus 5
IU-South Bend 9, Judson 5 (7 inn.)
Judson 10, IU-South Bend 5
Baptist Bible 13, Oakland City 11

Thursday, March 16
Saint Francis 5, Bethel 4
Saint Francis 10, Bethel 3 (7 inn.)
Indiana Wesleyan 14, Goshen 4 (8 inn.)
Taylor 27, Grace 5
Taylor 13, Grace 0
Huntington 14, Mount Vernon Nazarene 13
Huntington 11, Mount Vernon Nazarene 0
IU-Kokomo 17, Alice Lloyd 5
IU-Kokomo 11, Alice Lloyd 0
Ohio Christian 7, IU Southeast 6
IU Southeast 4, Ohio Christian 2
Marian 8, Spring Arbor 7
Spring Arbor 11, Marian 8

Friday, March 17
IU Southeast 25, Ohio Christian 1

Sunday, March 19
Olivet Nazarene 16, Calumet of St. Joseph 6
Olivet Nazarene 9, Calumet of St. Joseph 5
Miami-Hamilton 5, IUPU-Columbus 4
Miami-Hamilton 19, IUPU-Columbus 4
IU-South Bend 5, Saint Xavier 1
Oakland City 9, Rio Grande 5
Oakland City 7, Rio Grando 1

Junior College
Wednesday, March 15
Ivy Tech Northeast 15, Glen Oaks 9

Thursday, March 16
Kellogg 8, Ivy Tech Northeast 7

Sunday, March 19
Morton 17, Marian’s Ancilla 1
Morton 22, Marian’s Ancilla 0

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New head coach Murray emphasizing athletic development for Mount Vernon Wildcats

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

Dustin Murray was hired this summer as the new head baseball coach at Mt. Vernon (Ind.) High School.
His focus for the Wildcats this fall and winter is adding muscle and being in-shape.
“The biggest thing that I’m going to bring is off-season expectations in the weight room,” says Murray, who is a certified strength and conditioning coach and a first-year Physical Education and Health teacher at Mt. Vernon Junior High School. “This is the part of the year where we’re going to get stronger.
“We want to have accountability when it comes to athletic development.”
Lifting at 6:15 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays have been drawing 25 athletes per session.
“What we’re doing is baseball-specific,” says Murray. “But it’s helpful for all sports.”
Murray has been facility director for 13 years at Athletic Republic Evansville, a sports performance training center.
A few years ago, Murray did some volunteer work for Mt. Vernon head coach Paul Quinzer and takes over after Quinzer retired following the 2022 season after leading the program since 2002.
Mt. Vernon (enrollment around 625) is a member of the Pocket Athletic Conference (with Boonville, Forest Park, Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, North Posey, Pike Central, Princeton, Southridge, South Spencer, Tecumseh, Tell City and Washington).
The Wildcats were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping in 2022 with Boonville, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Memorial and Heritage Hills. Mt. Vernon has won 17 sectional titles — the last in 2015.
Murray’s coaching staff includes Luke Harris and Derek Foncannon. Another assistant may be added.
A exciting addition at Mt. Vernon is an indoor training facility near the football field. There will be batting cages that will benefit both baseball and softball.
Construction on the building began a few weeks ago and could be available in late spring or early summer of 2023.
Murray says there has also been discussion of adding a turf infield on the Athletic Park diamond.
Mt. Vernon Cub Baseball offers playing time for eight graders and seventh graders in the spring.
Murray was an assistant to Steve Ricketts at Evansville Mater Dei in 2019 and 2020.
In 2018, he coached for Norris City-Omaha-Enfield in Illinois. He lives in Carmi, Ill., with wife Brittany, daughter Taytem (7) and son Jagger (1).
Prior to his Norris City-Omaha-Enfield stint, he was involved strength and conditioning at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville from 2010-18 after coaching baseball 2006-10. He landed with the Screaming Eagles when following Tracy Archuleta.
A native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Murray graduated from Bishop James Mahoney High School in 2000. He attended Prairie Baseball Academy while going to Lethbridge Community College. After two years, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside where Archeluta was the coach. An “international” rule allowed him to play five years of college baseball, including three at UWP. He also helped coach the Rangers after his playing days.
“I’ve never seen him have an ‘off’ day,” says Murray of Archuleta, who has won three NCAA Division II national titles at USI and is leading the Screaming Eagles into NCAA Division I status. “Every time he stepped on the field in was with intent.
“He is always looking to better his program. He’s always high energy and ready to go in everything he does.”
As the part of honored teams, Murray is in athletic halls of fame at both the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (2016) and the University of Southern Indiana (2020).

Dustin Murray.

The Murrays (left from): Jagger, Brittany, Jagger and Dustin.

Hall of Famer Hodges may have I-69 bridge named in his honor

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

Indiana native Gil Hodges has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and he may be getting another posthumous honor.
Hodges was born in Princeton in 1924 and grew in Petersburg in southern Indiana. He attended Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and Bronze Star recipient as a part of the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II. He was involved in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
He was a slugging first baseman for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers before managing the “Miracle Mets” to the World Series title in 1969 and dying of a heart attack in 1972.
In his 35 looks on a Hall of Fame ballot, Hodges obtained the necessary 75 percent of the vote from the Golden Days Period committee for enshrinement in Cooperstown. The induction ceremony is slated for July 24.
Hodges was in the inaugural class of Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame inductees in 1979.
A water-crossing structure in Columbus, Ind., might be among his next recognition.
A resolution passed through both chambers of the Indiana House to ask the Indiana Department of Transportation to ponder renaming the passageway on I-69 over the East Fork of the White River the “Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.” The bridge section is in Columbus.
The resolution was co-sponsored by State Representatives Cindy Ledbetter (R-Newburgh) and Shane Lindauer (R-Jasper).
“Resolutions don’t need to be signed by the governor,” says Adam Aasen, press secretary for Indiana House Republicans. “The bridge isn’t automatically renamed yet, although INDOT often takes these resolutions into strong consideration.”
The famed son of Indiana already has several places bearing his name:
• A bridge spanning the East Fork of the White River in northern Pike County on S.R. 57 is named for Hodges.
• Princeton Community High School plays on Gil Hodges Field.
• The diamond at Saint Joseph’s College, which closed in 2017, is also named for Hodges.
• A large mural of Hodges stands at the corner of S.R. 57 and S.R. 61 in Petersburg.
• There already is a Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and Gil Hodges Way in New York.
• Randy’s Americana Cafe’ in Petersburg has a huge Hodges memorabilia display. A baseball-style lunch is planned in Gil’s honor on April, which would have been his 98th birthday.
• Hodges wore 14. Both the Mets and Dodgers have retired that number.

Indiana native Gil Hodges has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted posthumously in 2022.

Both chambers of the Indiana House have passed a resolution asking the Indiana Department of Transportation to name a span on the I-69 bridge the “Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.”

Gil Hodges Field in Princeton, Ind.

Gil Hodges Field at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind. SJC closed in 2017.

The Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in New York.

A New York street honoring Indiana native Gil Hodges.

A mural in Petersburg, Ind., for Gil Hodges.

‘Eye’ on the prize for Fischer’s Heritage Hills Patriots

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Andy Fischer has a simple formula for baseball success as head coach at Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Ind.

“We we try to be as fundamentally-sound as possible,” says Fischer. “We spend a lot of times on those techniques.

“We keep it as simple as possible. We try to minimize (the game) to 21 outs.”

A 1998 Heritage Hills graduate, Fischer was a Patriots assistant for nine years before taking the program’s reins. The 2021 season will be his fourth in that role.

The COVID-19 pandemic took away the 2020 slate statewide. It hit hard at Heritage Hills where expectations were high.

“It’s pretty aggravating,” says Fischer. “We were going to have eight seniors. We were going to have a very experienced pitching staff coming back and a handful of three-year starters.

“It was disappointing not being able to see what they were going to do.”

In 2019, the Patriots won 22 games and were runners-up in the Pocket Athletic Conference and IHSAA Class 3A Evansville Bosse Sectional.

The PAC has expanded from eight to 12 schools in 2020-21. Boonville, Mount Vernon (Posey), Princeton and Washington have joined Heritage Hills, Forest Park, Gibson Southern, North Posey, Pike Central, South Spencer, Tecumseh and Tell City. Each team will meet each other once during the conference season.

Heritage Hills (enrollment around 600) is part of a 3A sectional grouping with Boonville, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Memorial, Gibson Southern and Mount Vernon (Posey). The Patriots last won a sectional crown in 2011. 

Fischer, who counts Mike Guth and Brad Fella as assistant coaches and is looking to fill a couple vacancies, expects to have around 25 in the program next spring to fill varsity and junior varsity rosters.

Simon Scherry, a member of the Heritage Hills Class of 2020, is now a freshman infielder at the NCAA Division I University of Evansville. Other recent graduates in the collegiate baseball ranks include sophomore infielder Mitchel Becher (NCAA Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis) and junior infielder Sam Pinckert (NCAA Division III Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio).

Heritage Hill’s home field is on its campus. About a decade ago, the infield was changed to have cut-out areas around home plate and the bases with grass in the other areas.

“It helps with drainage,” says Fischer. “We very rarely have rain-out games now.

“It plays just like a turf field.”

Another unique feature is a batter’s eye 375 feet from the plate in center field.

“It’s the only one I know of in southern Indiana,” says Fischer of the structure made of green barn metal that is 60 feet wide and 24 feet tall and topped by the same yellow capping as the rest of the fence. 

Much of the outfield is surrounded by woods. 

“Before leaves are on the trees it’s really hard to pick up a baseball,” says Fischer, who built the batter’s eye based on a design created by his Heritage Hills engineering students.

Fischer earned an Elementary Education degree with a Mathematics minor at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, where he briefly played baseball. 

He earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Oakland City (Ind.) University and an Engineering Accreditation for teaching at the University of Kentucky.

Besides teaching and coaching baseball, Fischer is the head girls soccer coach at Heritage Hills. The Patriots won the 2020 2A Bosse Sectional then fell in the Jasper Regional championship match. The team was without senior Haley Osborne during the tournament because of COVID-19 quarantine.

With most baseball players in football, soccer and cross county in the fall and Fischer coaching girls soccer, Heritage Hills did not meet during the fall Limited Contact Period for baseball.

When the next window opens in December, plans call for station work in the school’s fieldhouse.

“We’ll do a lot of hitting and arm exercises to get our pitchers ready,” says Fischer.

Feeder systems for Patriots include the various parks in the North Spencer Little League (T-ball through age 12) and the Heritage Hills Cub program (seventh and eighth graders with varsity and JV teams).

Andy and wife Rachael have three children ages 12, 9 and 6.

Heritage Hills High School’s baseball field with its distinctive batter’s eye.

Andy Fischer, a 1998 graduate of Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Ind., is heading into his fourth season as the Patriots head baseball coach in 2021.

Kahre applying experiences as Vincennes Lincoln assistant, Rangers associate scout

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Shawn Kahre’s baseball odyssey has come full circle.

The 2011 Vincennes (Ind.) Lincoln High School graduate served as an assistant coach for the Alices in 2020. The 27-year-old is also an associate scout for the Texas Rangers.

Born in Japan in 1992, Shawn is the son of Steven and Kimiko Kahre and the older brother of Ken Kahre (23). The family moved to Terre Haute when he was a toddler, went back to Japan then moved to Vincennes when Shawn was 7.

Kahre ((pronounced CAR-ee) was a three-year starter in the outfielder for head coach Brandon Pfoff and assistant Tim Hutchison (who is now head coach) during his Lincoln playing days. He was the team MVP in 2010 and hit .423 as a senior. He pitched a little on the junior varsity as a sophomore.

“(Pfoff) was a good coach,” says Kahre of the man he led Vincennes to an IHSAA Class 3A state title in 2002. “He always pushed his players to be the best. He was always enthusiastic and made me a better player overall.”

After high school, Kahre played and coached for several teams.

As a righty-swinging 6-foot-4 outfielder, Kahre took the diamond in 2012 and 2013 for Vincennes University.

“(Trailblazers head coach Chris Barney) gave me the chance to play college baseball,” says Kahre. “He’s very positive and let me do my own thing.”

Ryan Anderson was VU’s assistant at the time as was also helpful to Kahre, who hit .270 as a Blazers freshman and .283 as a sophomore.

The summer of 2013 saw Kahre suit up for the Owensboro (Ky.) Oilers of the Ohio Valley League. The manager of the collegiate squad was Aaron Biddle (then head coach at Brescia University).

Near the end of the season, with the Oilers short on pitchers and Owensboro down by several runs, Biddle put Kahre into a game on the mound.

Now a college pitcher, he threw from different angles including submarine style and experimented with pitches.

“It’s something I developed,” says Kahre. “It started as a joke and turned into reality.”

When he arrived at Kentucky Wesleyan College — also in Owensboro — that fall to play for head coach Todd Lillpop and pitching coach Paxton Gardner, Kahre was a two-way player. He was used in the outfield and as a relief pitcher.

In the summer of 2014, Kahre was a pitcher for the Prospect League’s Terre Haute Rex, which was managed by Bobby Segal with Matt Antos as pitching coach.

“It got better with more repetition,” says Kahre. “I got to face a lot of great (NCAA) D-I hitters.”

Kahre was strictly a reliever in his senior year at Kentucky Wesleyan in 2015. He had six mound appearances in 2014 with a 4.70 earned run average and one strikeout in 7 2/3 innings. In 2015, he was 1-0 with 3.09 ERA with four K’s in 11 2/3 innings over seven games.

The Carolina Virginia Collegiate League was able to have a couple graduated seniors on each roster and Kahre (who earned a fitness and sports management degree at KWC) along with KWC teammate Matt Pobereyko pitched for the Catawba Valley Stars in the summer of 2015.

The spring of 2016 saw Kahre back in Charlotte, N.C., playing for College of Faith and coach Thomas Eaton. This postgraduate academy helped him stay in game shape for the summer.

Marvin Speaks, Catawba Valley’s manager and general manager of the independent Pecos League’s White Sands Pupfish, and was impressed enough with Kahre to invite him to play for club managed by his son, Mickey Speaks, in Alamogordo, N.M.

The Pecos League had pitchers released from affiliated minor league baseball that threw in the low to mid 90s. Playing by National League rules, pitchers got to hit and Kahre batted .417 (5-of-12) while pitching 20 innings and going 0-1.

Looking for his next baseball opportunity, Kahre went to the California Winter League in January and February of 2017. He did not get signed by a team and decided to retire as a player.

In the summer of 2017, Kahre became an assistant coach at Vincennes U., and served the Trailblazers as pitching coach during the 2018 season.

His philosophy?

“Throw as much as possible,” says Kahre. “Every guy is different.”

Kahre favored long toss when he was a pitcher for how it helped him build arm strength.

In the fall of 2017, Kahre was hired as an associate scout with the New York Mets. In that role, he would file reports with an area scout if he ran across a player who he thought had pro potential.

Needing a pitching coach, the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League brought Kahre aboard for the 2018 summer collegiate season.

“I had an amazing experience there,” says Kahre. “I learned a lot.”

He got to see some of the best players in the country and worked on a staff with Andrew Fabian as manager and Reggie Lawson and Marcus Davis as assistant.

Fabian (now a Cincinnati Reds area scout) also worked with the pitchers. Lawson (who played in the Seattle Mariners system and is now a Tampa Bay Rays area scout) and Davis (who played at Florida State University and in the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres organizations) share hitting coach duties.

Kahre kept track of pitches and bullpen sessions and monitored the programs that hurlers had been assigned by their respective schools.

Travis Akre was manager of the Northwoods League’s Lakeshore Chinooks (Mequon, Wis.) in 2018. Also head coach at Ellsworth Community College (Iowa Falls, Iowa), Akre hired Kahre to be the Panthers pitching coach for the 2019 season.

When Akre left Ellsworth, Kahre came back to Vincennes, got a full-time job at Toyota in Princeton, Ind., and became an assistant to Hutchison at Lincoln.

“(Hutchison) also saw potential in me,” says Kahre. “He is another guy who gave me confidence. He’s a hard worker. He’s always studying the game.

“I’m looking forward to next season.”

The 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.

While there are no live games to see, Kahre has used the quarantine time to get better as a scout.

“I’m working on making my reports better,” says Kahre, who sends his findings to area scout Mike Medici. “I’m getting more organized and changing my format. I’m learning better terminology when describing players.”

Kahre is viewing video and finding out about different types of players.

Shawn Kahre delivers a pitch for the Terre Haute (Ind.) Rex during Prospect League play in the summer of 2014. Kahre is a graduate of Vincennes Lincoln High School, Vincennes University and Kentucky Wesleyan University and now an assistant baseball coach at Lincoln and an associate scout for the Texas Rangers. (Terre Haute Rex Photo)

Shawn Kahre was a baseball player and an assistant coach at Vincennes (Ind.) University. He is a 2011 graduate of Vincennes Lincoln High School, where he is now an baseball assistant coach. He is also an associate coach for the Texas Rangers. (Vincennes University Photo)

Frye expects commitment from himself, Logansport Berries

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Giving it everything he had each time he stepped on the diamond.

That’s what Dan Frye did as a player and that’s what he does as a coach.

Frye was a baseball assistant at his alma mater — Logansport (Ind.) High School. After being away for five seasons, he is now head coach for the Berries.

The 1988 LHS graduate expects his players to share in a sense of commitment.

“The kids should get the same out of me that I expect out of them and that’s being there everyday,” says Frye, who takes over a program that was led for the past 22 seasons by Jim Turner Jr.

Frye was a middle infielder for the Berries when Jim Turner Sr., an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, was head coach.

“Both are pretty laid-back guys,” says Frye of the Turners. “It takes a lot to get them excited. They wanted the accountability to be on the players and leave it up to the players to get the job done.”

Frye considers both Turners great baseball minds.

“It’s how they think about the game and situations throughout the game,” says Frye. “We’ll continue to work on situations.

“You should be practicing the way you anticipate playing. I practiced as hard as I played. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

Three Frye brothers were standouts at Logansport and then at Indiana State University of Hall of Fame coach Bob Warn. Older brother Paul Frye played on the 1986 College World Series team and was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 11th round of that year’s Major League Baseball First Year Draft. The outfielder/infielder played four seasons in the minors.

Twins Dan and Dennis started at ISU in 1989.

“My decision was pretty easy,” says Dan Frye. “That’s where I wanted to go. I wanted a part of it.

“Bob Warn was a great coach and it was great to be around him.”

Mitch Hannahs (who is now Indiana State head coach) was a senior shortstop at ISU when Frye was a freshman second baseman.

“I don’t think Indiana State could be in better hands,” says Frye of Hannahs.

Playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Frye brothers got to play against several future big leaguers.

“The competition was phenomenal,” says Frye, who counted Mike Farrell (who is now a baseball scout) as a teammate at Logansport and Indiana State.

Among the opponents during Dan and Dennis’ time were 6-foot-5 right-hander Tyler Green, catcher Doug Mirabelli, right-hander Greg Brummett, shortstop Pat Meares, second baseman Mike Lansing, infielder P.J. Forbes and catcher and future big league manager/college head coach Eric Wedge at Wichita State University. IHSBCA Hall of Famer Wedge is now the head coach at WSU.

The Sycamores beat the Shockers 4-of-6 the year Wichita State won the national championship (1989).

“Each level of competition prepared me for the next level,” says Frye. “I was not in shock about seeing a fastball.

“Everybody (in the North Central Conference) threw hard. It was not odd.”

Dan and Dennis were drafted in 1988 by the Los Angeles Dodgers after high school — infielder/outfielder Dan Frye in the 56th round and first baseman/outfielder Dennis Frye in the 57th — but opted for college.

Dan Frye was selected in the 20th round of the 1992 draft by the Cincinnati Reds and played four seasons in the minors.

That first year he played in Princeton, W.Va., and he later began his coaching coach at Princeton High School.

With two small children, Frye moved back to Logansport in 1999 to be closer to family.

A few years later, he began coaching Little League and Babe Ruth baseball around town.

He was hired by the Logansport Police Department in 2002 and worked his way up from patrolman to assistant chief. He spent nearly four years on the narcotics unit. While coaching at Logansport High School, he also served as school resource officer.

There are now three lawmen on the Berries coaching staff — Dan Frye, Clayton Frye (his son and a Logansport detective) and Chris Jones (a Cass County sheriff’s deputy) — plus other former LHS players Brad Platt, Brian Gleitz, Ron Kinnaman and Cooper Kinnaman. Clayton Frye and Gleitz will work with pitchers, Jones with catcher and Platt with outfielders. The Kinnamans and Jones are assigned to the junior varsity team.

Frye looks to have a young first squad in 2020. At this point, there are three seniors — Matt Foutz, C.J. Hallam and Drake McLochlin.

During the fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period, Frye and up to a dozen players got together for workouts.

“I saw some kids field, swing bats and throw,” says Frye. “The numbers weren’t always there to run a legitimate full practice. I was able to see what kids can and can’t do and start working on development stuff with ones who were there.”

Frye is catching up on the pitch count rule (1 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), which was not in place the last time he was coaching high school ball.

“I agree with it,” says Frye. “It’s a good rule. It’s about the safety for the kids.

“We have to develop more pitching.

“It’ll be interesting to see how people coach a little differently with the pitch count and all that. I’m sure I’m going to learn some valuable lessons from coaches around here”

With the pitch limit, strike-throwing has become extra important.

“How many pitches can you waste anymore?,” says Frye. “When I played, I didn’t want to stand around taking pitches. One pitch and we’re headed around the base paths. I wanted to hit.”

He recalls hitting the first pitch of a game against Marion out of the park during his sophomore season.

“Walks put runners on base and I see it differently now.”

Logansport (enrollment around 1,250) is a member of the North Central Conference (with Anderson, Harrison of West Lafayette, Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, Kokomo, Lafayette Jeff, Marion, McCutcheon, Muncie Central and Richmond).

The NCC tends to play Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Saturday doubleheaders.

The Berries are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Harrison (West Lafayette), Kokomo, Lafayette Jeff and McCutcheon. Logansport won its 29th sectional crown in 2019. The Berries have been in the State Finals 10 times with state championships in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1991 and a state runner-up finish in 1989.

Logansport plays on an artificial turf surface. Jim Turner Field has been covered since the 2016 season.

Dan Frye, 49, is married to Cynthia and has four adult children — Clayton Frye and Krista Frye in Logansport, Dustin Clements in Nashville, Tenn., and Katie Clements in Denver, Colo.

Cynthia and Dan Frye are surrounded by children (from left) Katie Clements, Krista Frye, Dustin Clements, KyLeigh Frye (daughter-in-law) and Clayton Frye. Dan Frye is the head baseball coach at his alma mater — Logansport (Ind,) High School.

Brownlee jumping into challenge of new role with ABCA

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Ryan Brownlee has always enjoyed a challenge.

As a baseball player, he appreciated being pushed.

The new assistant executive director for the American Baseball Coaches Association played for hard-nosed coaches. There was Quentin Merkel at Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville, Ind., then his father and brother, Jim Brownlee and Tim Brownlee, at the University of Evansville.

“They were not the easiest people in the world to play for,” says Ryan Brownlee, 45. “But they would keep you accountable.

“I’m in a way better position because of the way I was handled in youth sports.”

Memorial lost in the first round of the 1992 IHSAA State Finals to finish 29-1 and sent many players on to college baseball. That was Ryan Brownlee’s junior year.

“I owe (Merkel) a lot,” says Brownlee. “Over the summer, I read a book on the mental aspects of baseball and that changed my playing career.

“I looked at myself in the mirror. Coach Merkel didn’t need to change. I was the one who needed to change.”

In 1993, Memorial went 36-2 and reigned as state champions (Tim Brownlee was part of a state championship team as a Memorial senior in 1989) with team leaders John Ambrose and John Sartore trading duties on the mound and at third base.

“Quentin was very organized (using the same signs at each level from freshmen to varsity),” says Brownlee. “He doesn’t get the credit, but he was very forward-thinking.

“We were doing breathing techniques back then. He saw it as a way to change mentally.”

In 2017, Brownlee wrote a blog post entitled, “Just Breath.”

Playing for Jim and Tim, Ryan was motivated to be a four-year starter for the Purple Aces and twice earned all-conference honors and was an ABCA All-Region selection.

“You just never got a break,” says Brownlee. “I needed someone to push me.

“There’s always things you needed to improve on. I didn’t need to get complacent.”

Brownlee moved to Evansville in 1979 when his dad went from a teacher and coach at Princeton (Ill.) High School and manager for five summers of the Galesburg Pioneers of the old Central Illinois Collegiate League to head coach at UE. Young Ryan got to see the Evansville Triplets, managed by Jim Leyland, and spend lots of time at one of the country’s historic ballparks.

“I fell in love with the game at Bosse Field,” says Brownlee, who played there as Memorial Tiger, Evansville Purple Ace and then for one summer (1997) as a professional with the Greg Taggert-managed Evansville Otters.

“The first half we were terrible,” says Brownlee. “Our bus broke down in Johnstown (Pa.) and we bonded as a team.”

The Otters got hot in the second half and ended up losing in the independent Frontier League finals to the Canton (Ohio) Crocodiles.

Brownlee’s resume includes 22 seasons as college baseball coach — seven as head coach at Western Illinois University (2013-19) plus assistant gigs of nine at the University of Iowa (2004-12), four at James Madison University (2000-03) and two at the University of Evansville (1998-99).

Brownlee worked on the staffs of Jack Dahm at Iowa, Spanky McFarland at James Madison and his father at Evansville.

The UE staff included Tim Brownlee (now owner/president of Diamond Sports Promotions), Jeff Leystra (a student assistant who played with Ryan Brownlee on the Otters) and Ryan Barrett (who played with Ryan from age 9 through college).

After 18 years in the Pocket City, Ryan moved nine hours to Harrisonburg, Va., to join McFarland at James Madison.

“(McFarland) was at complete opposite end of the spectrum (from Quentin Merkel, Jim Brownlee and Tim Brownlee),” says Ryan Brownlee. “He had a low pulse and was very laid-back with a dry sense of humor. You could be yourself.

“Spanky is one of the best pitching minds in the world (he’s coached future big league pitchers Kevin Brown, Dan Meyer, Ryan Reid and Brian Schmack, the current Valparaiso University head coach, among others during his career).”

Brownlee also learned much from James Madison assistant Chuck Bartlett. He had batted No. 4 in a Mississippi State University lineup surrounded by Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro and is now a New York Yankees scout.

Being in a new area also challenged Brownlee to get out of his comfort zone. While at JMU, he earned his masters degree in athletic administration. The Dukes were good enough during Brownlee’s time there (averaging 36 wins per game) that he got his foot in the door at Iowa.

Brownlee helped Dahm stabilize a program that had fallen on hard times. He saw Dahm’s personality somewhere between his father’s and McFarland’s.

“He’s just a really good person,” says Brownlee of Dahm, who later hired Jim Brownlee as Hawkeyes pitching coach after the elder Brownlee was head coach at Illinois State University. “We had to do some heavy lifting in nine years to get that thing built up. I wouldn’t be in the position I am now if not for him.”

In 2012, Brownlee addressed the ABCA Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on the “10 Rules of Recovery.”

It was a time management planner that he continued while at Western Illinois and plans to share his values on personal development during speaking engagements with the ABCA.

“If you can manage yourself away from your working environment that carries into your working environment,” says Brownlee. “Hopefully, that makes you productive. The most successful people can handle a lot more. They can balance things. They don’t seem as rushed.

“I guarantee those people are taking some times for themselves, too. It can’t be all work and it can’t be all free time. You have to have that mix.”

While leading the Western Illinois Leathernecks program presented its challenges because of facilities and school size, Brownlee thoroughly enjoyed his time there because of the people he met.

“For me it was about the relationships with the guys,” says Brownlee, who slept in his office his first year at WIU. “That needed to be our niche. That was an enjoyable experience for me. The coaches were great and the kids were great.

“The opportunity with the ABCA was going to be great.”

Brownlee arrived in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday (Oct. 23) and his first full day at the office was Thursday (Oct. 24).

“It’s similar to coaching,” says Brownlee of his ABCA role. “You wear a lot of different hats.”

This fall, he helped host ABCA Barnstormers Regional Coaches Clinics across the country (he took 10 and Jim Richardson took 10). He also lines up the youth speakers and helps with the hot stoves at the national convention (which is Jan. 2-5, 2020 in Nashville). He assists the ABCA’s youth and travel baseball committees and is a liaison for NCAA Division II. After the New Year, he will be part of the ABCA podcast.

“My dad was an ABCA member. I’ve been an ABCA member for 22 years. This is an opportunity. It’s a great company. It’s been around since 1945. The ABCA has always been there to help coaches. Hopefully, that helps players.”

Ryan has been married to Henderson, Ky., native Aimee for 17 years. The Brownlees have two children — Jackson (16) and Norah (14). Ryan says the plans plan is to have the rest of the family move to North Carolina at the end of the school year.

Ryan Brownlee (right) shares a moment with daughter Norah. Ryan Brownlee, who played high school, college and pro baseball in Evansville, Ind., and was a college coach for 22 (the last seven at Western Illinois University) has become an assistant executive director for the American Baseball Coaches Association.

 

Quinzer pushes work ethic for Mount Vernon Wildcats baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Paul Quinzer instructs students about rocks and athletes about playing hard.

Quinzer is a teacher of earth space science, integrated chemistry and physics at Mount Vernon (Ind.) High School.

He is also the head baseball coach at the Posey County school, a position he has held since the 2002 season.

“My philosophy is to work hard and play hard,” says Quinzer. “When we practice I’m always on them about working hard. If they work hard, we’ll have fun.

“We set goals and we try to achieve those goals. I want to get the boys into some kind of work ethic, not only for baseball but later in life.”

Quinzer is a 1982 graduate of Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., where he was a four-sport athlete (baseball, track, basketball and football).

His baseball coach was Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Famer Al Rabe.

“He believed in what I could do,” says Quinzer of Rabe. “He allowed let me try new things. He did the best he could to help me learn how to pitch.”

Quinzer played in the 1986 College World Series with Indiana State University and graduated that year with a geology degree.

ISU Hall of Famer Bob Warn was the Sycamores head coach when Quinzer was playing in Terre Haute.

“He really recruited me hard,” says Quinzer of Warn. “He made me feel like he really wanted me.”

Right-hander Quinzer was selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft — 1982 by the Montreal Expos (12th round) and 1986 by the San Diego Padres (10th round). His professional playing career went until 1990 when he played at Triple-A Las Vegas.

When he was done playing, Quinzer looked for a job in geology, wound up getting his teaching license and began at Mount Vernon in the fall of 1993. The first of eight seasons as an assistant to Dave Bell came in the spring of 1994. Bell led the Wildcats for 22 years for his retirement.

Mount Vernon (enrollment around 610) is a member of the Big Eight Conference (with Boonville, Jasper, Mount Carmel of Illinois, Princeton Community, Vincennes Lincoln and Washington).

Each team plays one another once to determine the conference champion.

“We are spread out big time,” says Quinzer. “The closest conference team — Boonville or Princeton — is an hour drive.

“We drive a lot at our school.”

The Wildcats have won the Big Eight seven times since Quinzer has been head coach.

Non-conference opponents include Carmi White County (Ill.), Castle, Evansville Central, Evansville Mater Dei, Evansville Memorial, Evansville North, Evansville Reitz, Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, Henderson County (Ky.), Linton-Stockton, North Posey, Tecumseh and Webster County (Ky.).

This year will mark the first in a dozen that Mount Vernon does not play in the Braves Bash at Terre Haute South Vigo. The Wildcats will go to Webster County during spring break. Quinzer says he hopes the team can go to Nashville, Tenn., during break in the future.

The Wildcats are part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping with Boonville, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Memorial and Heritage Hills. Mount Vernon has won 17 sectional crowns (five with Quinzer on the MV coaching staff and four with him as head coach) — the last in 2015.

Quinzer has his largest coaching staff to date with Nathan Groeninger, John Schelhorn, Mark Wezet and Ron Upshaw. Wezet is the pitching coach.

Former assistant Kevin Krizan, who played at the University of Evansville, was with Quinzer for 15 years.

Krizan stepped away a few years ago to follow his sons — senior right-hander Austin Krizan and sophomore center fielder Bryce Krizan — on the diamond at the University of Southern Indiana.

Other recent Mount Vernon graduates that moved on to college baseball are Drake McNamara (USI), Clay Ford (Oakland City University), Troy Paris (Kentucky Wesleyan College) and Walker Paris (Vincennes University).

Two other alums — Cody Mobley and catcher Logan Brown — are playing pro ball. Mobley was selected in the eighth round of the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Seattle Mariners and Brown was chosen in the 35th round of the 2018 draft by the Atlanta Braves.

MV graduates also taken in the draft include catcher Ryan Spilman (Cleveland Indians, 15th round in 2003), left-hander Bryan Rueger (New York Yankees, 20th round in 2005) and right-hander Matt Huff (San Diego Padres, 27th round in 2006).

Mount Vernon plans to field three teams in 2019 —  varsity, junior varsity and freshmen/C-team.

“We want to get as many games as possible for those younger kids,” says Quinzer. “The more games they can play, the better they’re going to be.”

A year ago, there were 38 players in the program. There are 30 this year, including 12 freshmen. Half that number are expected to play for the varsity.

The Wildcats play at Athletic Park. The on-campus field features a center field fence that is 417 feet from home plate.

“Since we went to the BBCORs, we don’t hit too many home runs,” says Quinzer.

Over the years, the facility has added new backstop — netting with bricks at the bottom. The next project is batting cages with turf.

“It’s a a little of this and little of that,” says Quinzer.

Paul and Cindy Quinzer have three children. Alexandria Quinzer is a senior nursing student at USI. Savannah Quinzer is a sophomore education major at USI. Bronson Quinzer is a junior shortstop at Mount Vernon. He hit .405 as a sophomore.

Paul Quinzer is head baseball coach at Mount Vernon (Ind.) High School.

Paul Quinzer is a teacher of earth space science, integrated chemistry and physics and head baseball coach at Mount Vernon (Ind.) High School.

McCrary makes baseball strides at tiny Vincennes Rivet

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Brian McCrary does not have a deep roster or abundant resources, but the head coach is working to make his athletes better at Rivet Middle/High School in Vincennes, Ind.

McCrary enters his third season in charge of the Patriots in 2019 after years in the travel baseball world.

In each of his first two seasons at the Catholic school, McCrary has had to find enough players to field a team. With just two seniors on a team made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores, Rivet won two games in 2017.

“We took some lumps,” says McCrary. “Working on mentality alone was a challenge.

“We got run-ruled left and right.”

The win total tripled in 2018.

“We were improving with basically the same team,” says McCrary. “It is a process at Rivet. You get a leadership class of two or three kids then what do you have after that?

“If you have numbers, you have options. We don’t have numbers. We get the most out of them. We’ve made tremendous strides.”

Ten players — three are seniors, three juniors, four sophomores — are back for 2019 on a roster of 11. All but two play basketball.

The seniors are McCaine Claycomb, Colton Mouzin and Austin Thomas. Claycomb was the Vincennes Sun-Commercial Player of the Year. Mouzin is an all-area baseball and soccer player. The Patriots were impacted last year when catcher Thomas got hurt and left the lineup.

Rivet (enrollment around 80 for Grades 9-12 with less than 30 boys) is a member of the Blue Chip Athletic Conference (with Barr-Reeve, Loogootee, North Knox, Northeast Dubois, Shoals, South Knox, Washington Catholic and Wood Memorial).

Non-conference opponents include Dugger, Evansville Bosse, Evansville Memorial, Jasper, Lawrenceville (Ill.), Linton-Stockton, Mount Carmel (Ill.), North Central (Farmersburg), Olney (Ill.) and Princeton. In the past, the Patriots have played Lincoln and Sullivan.

Rivet is part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping with Barr-Reeve, Loogootee, North Daviess and Shoals. The Patriots have won nine sectional titles — the last two in 2013 and 2014. The Patriots were 1A state runners-up to Lafayette Central Catholic in both 2009 and 2013.

McCrary constantly educates himself about the game by attending clinics and talking with experts.

“I’ve learned a lot,” says McCrary. “Expanding my knowledge to pass on to these kids is my job.” He was at the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association State Clinic in January. He has also learned from Mike Rodgers, who pitched for the University of Mississippi, the independent Evansville Otters and runs the The Inside Korner training facility in Olney, Ill., which is about 30 miles west of Vincennes.

McCrary met Rodgers at a travel ball clinic. McCrary and his two oldest sons — Colton (a senior at Vincennes Lincoln High School) and Cayden (a seventh grader at Clark Middle School) — have been affiliated with the Vincennes Green Monsters. Brian and Chelsea McCrary’s other two children are first-grade son Ryker and and 2-year-old daughter Oakley.

Rivet players get attention from a coaching staff that includes assistants Conner Eck, Curt Hunkler, Mike Mayles, Curt McCrary and Landon Robbins. Eck, Hunkler and Robbins all played at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill. Hunker, Mayles and Robbins are Rivet graduates. Curt McCrary is Brian’s cousin.

“We have classroom work — chalkboard and video — and turn it over to drills,” says McCrary, who has figured out that his team is made up of individuals with differing outlooks and ways of learning.

“Not every kid’s the same,” says McCrary. “Kids today are nowhere near kids of old. Kids’ styles and demeanors have changed completely.

“You have to be willing to change with these kids a little bit to make it work.”

Like other coaches of spring sports, McCrary has to contend with the fact that athletes are sometimes ready for a break by the time their season roles around.

“Baseball suffers because it’s at the end of the school year,” says McCrary. He notes that spring break this year coincides with the beginning of preseason practice (March 11).

The Rivet campus is located on Barnett Street. The school plays its home baseball games on a field about three miles away near Lincoln High and St. Vincent Rectory on Hart Street. The grounds also has an indoor facility known as “The Butch” in honor of late supporter Butch Thomas.

Chad Thomas had the building built in his father’s honor and also helps attend to the maintenance of the diamond.

The team is responsible for the upkeep of the field and the funding of the program.

“We buy our baseballs, uniforms, dirt and chalk,” says McCrary. “Our kids respect what they have.”

Established in 1958, Vincennes Cub League offers baseball for kids as young as 4. The organization hosted the 10U Cal Ripken World Series in 2018. Also last year, a Babe Ruth League was added for ages 13-15.

McCrary says he would like to see more of an emphasis on fundamentals at the Cub level.

A 1996 Vincennes Lincoln graduate, McCrary played baseball for the Alices until his junior year then put all of his energy into another sport as a senior.

“I fell in love with wrestling,” says McCrary, who went on to start the Vincennes Grapplers Club.

It was on the mat in high school that he had an experience that he shares with his young athletes today.

McCrary was competing in the semistate needing to win his second aka “ticket” round match to qualify for the IHSAA State Finals. He was ahead 5-1 in the final period when his opponent rallied to beat him 6-5.

“Just because you’re supposed to be there doesn’t mean you’re going to get there,” says McCrary. “It takes work.”

With a renewed interest in baseball, McCrary attend a 1998 Cincinnati Reds tryout camp at Bosse Field in Evansville. He made the first two day of cuts then decided not to attend the third day. His wife, Chelsea, was closer to completing her degree at Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne then he was at Vincennes University and they had a son on the way so Brian went into the work world. He is now employed by Vincennes Water Utilities.

“I regret everyday not going back to that third day of tryouts,” says McCrary. “But life is full of what if’s.

“I try to coach with a little bit of life lessons. Challenge yourself to win for the team today. Ask yourself, ‘did you cheat your team?’”

Brian McCrary (center) poses with two of his sons — Xxx (left) and Xxx (right) — during a Vincennes Green Monsters travel baseball tournament.

The 2019 baseball season will be the third for Brian McCrary at head coach at Rivet Midde/High School in Vincennes, Ind.

Vincennes Rivet baseball coach Brian McCrary visits at the mound with Colton Mouzin, McCaine Claycomb and Austin Thomas. All three players return for their senior year with the Patriots in 2019.

First-year coach Mirizzi has Indian Creek Braves setting their baseball goals high

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball expectations have risen at Indian Creek High School.

After a sectional championship drought of 43 years, the Braves earned sectional crowns in 2016 and 2017 at Danville.

Indian Creek lost to eventual state champion Northview in the finals of the 2016 Crawfordsville Regional and Tri-West Hendricks in the semifinals of the 2017 Brebeuf Regional.

With a new head coach, new sectional site and seven returning starters, the Braves are aiming high in 2018.

“We have some lofty goals we want to accomplish when the state tournament rolls around,” says Steven Mirizzi, who takes over the Indian Creek program after five seasons as a Danville assistant. “We have a deep pitching staff. If we can get it going offensively, I really like our chances.

“We’re hungry for something bigger and better.”

Top Braves arms include junior right-handers Trevor Ankney, Dustin Sprong and Wyatt Phillips and senior right-hander Jared DeHart.

Ankney is a Purdue University commit. Sprong and Phillips are receiving attention from NCAA D-I schools. DeHart is one of the Braves’ captains. Junior Devin Parr is a soft-tossing left-hander.

Senior third baseman/right-hander Dawson Read is a Kalamazoo College commit.

Indian Creek, located in the Johnson County town of Trafalgar, moves to a 2018 IHSAA Class 3A sectional hosted by Bishop Chatard and also featuring Beech Grove, Herron, Indianapolis Broad Ripple and Indianapolis Manual.

The Braves lost to the Sullivan in the 2017 Western Indiana Conference crossover championship game.

A WIC title is on the IC 2018 goals list. The rotation goes back to the East Division this year, meaning the Braves would host the conference championship game if they get there.

Besides Indian Creek, the WIC East includes Brown County, Cascade, Cloverdale, Edgewood and Owen Valley.

The WIC West consists of Greencastle, North Putnam, Northview, South Putnam, Sullivan and West Vigo.

The Braves are to open the season this weekend in Evansville with games against Martinsville, Evansville North and Decatur Central either at North or historic Bosse Field.

The Indian Creek slate also features a spot in the Northview Invitational. Depending on WIC crossovers, the Braves could play as many as 12 games against Class 4A opponents.

“That will benefit us later in the season and at tournament time,” says Mirizzi.

His last season at Danville, Mirizzi served on a staff led by Pat O’Neil.

“He’s a very knowledgable coach,” says Mirzzi of O’Neil, who played for and coached with 13-time Hall of Famer Ken Schreiber at LaPorte High School. “He’s really good with pitchers and very good with situational management

“He motivates you want to be better and do your game the right way.”

Before landing at Danville, Mirizzi spent two seasons on the coaching staff at Princeton Community. Austin Rhoads, who was an assistant at Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati, when Mirizzi played there, was head coach of the Tigers. Rhoads has since become athletic director at Springboro (Ohio) High School.

Mirizzi was a four-year starter at Lakota West, helping the Firebirds to the regional finals in his sophomore and senior seasons (2004 and 2006).

Lakota West, coached by former Cincinnati Reds minor league catcher Bill Dreisbach, won an Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state championship in 2007.

A district split into two high schools in 1999 also saw Lakota East win a Division I state baseball crown in 2011.

Mirizzi remembers Dreisbach for his professionalism and ability to motivate.

“He wanted his guys to buy in and commit,” says Mirzzi. “He had a good way of getting that out of us.

“He pushed us to be better than we really were.”

In that 2004 season, Lakota West lost to what Dreisbach considered a lesser opponent and conducted a post-game practice that lasted well into the night. The Firebirds went on a 15-game win streak that took them into the regional.

“He got our attention,” says Mirizzi. “He knew we were better than we were playing.”

The 2004 Lakota West team lost to eventual state champion Cincinnati Moeller, a team featuring two future big league pitchers.

Right-hander Andrew Brackman was was Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft first-round selection by the New York Yankees in 2007 and left-hander Eric Surkamp a sixth-round choice of the San Francisco Giants in 2008.

Like Mirizzi — who treks daily from Avon to Trafalgar — Dreisbach way from the high school.

After high school, Mirizzi played two seasons each at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill., and at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Mitch Hannahs, who is now head coach at Indiana State University, was leading the Lincoln Trail program when Mirizzi was there and taught the future coach about the mental side and how to manage a game.

Mirizzi has assembled a coaching staff of Curtis VanDeVenter and Craig Hoskins at the varsity level and Donovan Britt with the junior varsity. VanDeVenter, a former University of Indianapolis catcher, and Britt are Whiteland High School graduates. Hoskins went to Brown County.

There are 33 players in the program with 17 currently on the varsity roster. Mirizzi expects some to swing between varsity and JV depending upon need and performance.

Indian Creek plays its games on-campus.

While it is still in the planning stages, Mirizzi says upgrades to the athletic facilities could bring a new or renovated baseball field, new football field and a fieldhouse to the campus in the next few years.

First-year athletic director Derek Perry is in the middle of this process.

Mirizzi is very busy with baseball away from his duties at Indian Creek. He and former Danville assistant and personal trainer Nick Runiyon are partners at Hoosier Performance Factory in Indianapolis.

Based out of the facility is a travel baseball organization — the Indiana Braves. This year, they plan to field teams ages 12U through 18U.

Mirizzi and fiancee Tiffany Herr also do network marketing. The couple have two children — Jackson Mirzzi (4) and Mackenzie Mirizzi (15 months).

Steven Mirizzi is in his first season as head baseball coach at Indian Creek High School. Mirizzi went to high school in Ohio and played college baseball in Illinois and Arkansas. He comes to the Indians off an assistant stint at Danville. (Daily Journal Photo)