Western, Kokomo Post 6 has super supporter in Rutherford

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

Bob Rutherford has been a supporter of youth sports for the majority of his 84 years.
One can find him at all sorts of events involving athletes from Western High School in Russiaville, Ind.
One of eight in the 1957 WHS graduating class and a 10-letterwinner (track, basketball and baseball), Rutherford carries a shiny lifetime pass that allows him to cheer on the Panthers at home contests.
At baseball games he can be found behind home plate between the scoreboard and the backstop. He also has his favorite locations to view basketball, football and more.
What is now Russiaville Youth Baseball League purchased land from Rutherford and expanded while he and wife Anna Mae moved to New London — which is two miles due north of Russiaville and 10 miles southwest of Kokomo.
There is a baseball diamond in the back yard and batting cages in his garage at New London.
“The minor league team needed a place to practice and we had 2.75 acres so we just built us a ball diamond out back,” says Rutherford, who was a volunteer Little League umpire for 14 years.
Bob and Anna Mae have been married 56 years. They had three daughters (one died at 42).
Rutherford goes all over the region — Championship Park (Kokomo), Kokomo Municipal Stadium, Grand Park (Westfield) and more — and is a fixture at Kokomo Post 6 games.
When Post 6 is at home as it is this weekend for the regional tournament against Lafayette Post 11, he can be found in his favorite spot high in the third base side bleachers at CFD Investment Stadium at Highland Park.
“I attend as many as I can,” says Rutherford. “I don’t miss any home games.”
To say he is a loyal customer is an understatement.
“I love the game,” says Rutherford. “I played it and I love it.”
Though he never played at Highland Park, he did attend a tryout there for the Kokomo Dodgers following high school. He recalls seeing future Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda when he was the the minor league team.
“That’s where he used to hit his home runs,” says Rutherford while pointing to a house beyond the Highland Park fence.
After the Dodgers, the Kokomo Highlanders attracted baseball fans — including Rutherford — to Highland Park.
Purdue standout Dennis Brady and Del Harris (who went on to coach in the NBA and go into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame) was were Highlanders in the late 1960’s.
Rutherford played in front of large crowds during his fast pitch softball days at Foster Park. He worked at Delco in Kokomo.
He served in the U.S. Navy from 1958-62 and belong to Kokomo Post 6, which is celebrating its centennial in 2022.
Harold Rutherford — one of Bob’s four siblings — was the president of the first class at Western (a consolation of the New London Quakers, Russiaville Cossacks and West Middleton Broncos).
In 1985, Rutherford helped start the Russiaville American Legion Post 412 Cubs. The team traveled far and wide and made some noise in a tournament in Pueblo, Colo.
“They wanted to know where Russiaville, Ind., was,” says Rutherford of a team that drew players from Western, Northwestern and Clinton Central high schools. “Eventually they started coming up here and play ball. We’d roast a hog. They really enjoyed it.”
Russiaville hosted wooden bat classic every year in July with teams coming from places like Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota and Ontario.
“The kids really enjoyed what we tried to build out there,” says Rutherford. “You get to see them expand. That’s why I like Legion ball.
“These kids are developing to the next step.”

Bob Rutherford (Steve Krah Photo)

Bob Rutherford’s lifetime pass to Western High School sports.

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Driven Mills takes advice from many baseball mentors

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

What drives Patrick Mills as a baseball player?
“My passion for the game is definitely No. 1,” says Mills, a 22-year-old outfielder/first baseman for Indiana University-Kokomo. “Every day I get up out of bed the one thing I want to do is go play some baseball.
“That’s the reason I keep playing. I enjoy the game. Everything else will follow. I will do everything I can to get better and keep playing it. It comes down to passion and discipline.”
Mills, a 2018 graduate of Western High School in Russiaville, Ind., spent two years at Olney (Ill.) Central College and the past two years at IUK. He plans to use his extra year of COVID-19 eligibility with the Cougars in 2022-23 while completing his Computer Science degree.
A lefty thrower and batter, Mills hit .374 (65-of-174) in 2022 while helping IUK go 26-22 overall and 16-7 in the NAIA River States Conference. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder belted 15 home runs, four triples and 16 doubles while driving in 44 runs and scoring 51 — all team-leading totals. His on-base percentage was .453.
“I make sure I stay balanced in my body and my mind,” says Mills of his approach at the plate. “I learn what the pitcher is throwing and try to hit the ball hard.
“When you hit the ball hard good things happen.”
Mills has had many mentors besides father Eric.
“It’s not just one person in particular,” says Mills. “It’s a collective of everybody I’ve met in the game.
“It’s little bit of advice here and there. I’ve put it together like a puzzle.”
Jeremy Honaker coached Cougar outfielders and hitters in 2022.
Mills credits him with helping him with the mental side of the game and bringing out his full potential during games.
“There were little snippets for me to think about during (batting practice),” says Mills. “They were more mental notes than actual physical cues.”
A lot was achieved during the fall and winter.
“All that work built up,” says Mills. “By the time the season came around it was second nature.”
Mills has head coaches at IUK with different styles. Matt Howard was intense and Drew Brantley is more laid-back.
“(Howard) lent a level of excitement and discipline,” says Mills of the man who is now a Kokomo police officer. “He wanted us to compete to the best of our abilities every single day. He wanted to make his players as tough as possible and he definitely did.
“(Brantley) has created an environment where we’re not afraid to fail. If we can control what we need to control, the results will follow. Follow the process and try to get better everyday. That philosophy — in my opinion — worked very well. Next spring it will be even better.”
Mills was born in Kokomo and got his formal baseball start at what is now Russiaville Youth Baseball League.
He played travel ball with the Westfield-based Stonecutters then went with the Indiana Eagles for his 14U to 17U summers.
“(Eagles coach) Jamie Roudebush gave us a platform to work on our skills and get better everyday during those years,” says Mills.
At Western, Mills played two years each for Quentin Brown then Ryan Berryman.
“(Brown) was all about passion when playing the game. He once jokingly said to me, ‘you care about this game too much. If you keep your passion like that you’ll go wherever you want to go.”
Mills and the Western Panthers were 2016 IHSAA Class 3A state runners-up.
“Playing for (Berryman) was a different experience from Brown,” says Mills. “He brought the intensity level, but also the technicalities of baseball. He challenged me to become better fundamentally. It was the mechanics and more than just the mental side.”
Mike Shirley, who at the time was a Chicago White Sox area scout and is now that organization’s director of amateur scouting, ran a fall league for high schoolers in Pendleton, Ind., in which Mills participated.
“He gave us a lot of information and where we need to improve,” says Mills of Shirley. “He was challenging us mentally and physically. It was a great experience.”
Mills played for Don Andrews-managed Kokomo American Legion Post 6 the summers before and after his first year of college.
“He was always supported me since I played for him,” says Mills of Andrews. “He was very similar to how Drew Brantley goes about his business. He’s calm and collected.
“Back then I was very intense and wild and wanted to do everything with one swing. He taught me how to handle my emotions. It went over my head then but I eventually learned from his teachings.”
At Olney Central, Mills played for veteran coach Dennis Conley.
“He definitely pushed his players to the limit and got the most out of them,” said Mills of Conley, who has been in charge of the Blue Knights program for 42 years and has a record of 1,530-773. “Junior college tests your love of the game. Do you really love the game or kind of like it?”
Mills was with the Portland (Ind.) Rockets during the COVID summer of 2020. One of his teammates was former Yorktown High School, Lincoln Trail College, Wright State University and independent pro player Zach Tanner.
“He took me under his wing and taught me about the mental game,” says Mills of Tanner.
Last summer he played for the Prospect League’s West Virginia Miners and manager Tim Epling.
The summer of 2022 sees Mills with the Northwoods League’s Battle Creek (Mich.) Battle Jacks. The team is managed by Caleb Long.
In 28 games with Battle Creek, Mills is hitting .360 (41-of-114) with two homers, 27 RBIs and 21 runs.
Eric and Sundai Mills have three children — Jaymee (Mills) Birky (28), Hayley Mills (24) and Patrick.
Jaymee is married and living in Madison, Wis. (where Battle Creek recently played the Madison Mallards), and competition in swimming, softball and track at Western. She also was part of a state championship marching band. Hayley nows teaches elementary school in Raleigh, N.C. She was in volleyball, basketball, swimming and softball during her school days.

Patrick Mills (Indiana University-Kokomo Photo)

Patrick Mills (Battle Creek Battle Jacks Photo)

Patrick Mills (Indiana University-Kokomo Photo)

Patrick Mills (15) (Battle Creek Battle Jacks Photo)

Patrick Mills (Indiana University-Kokomo Photo)

Patrick Mills (Battle Creek Battle Jacks Photo)

Patrick Mills (Indiana University-Kokomo Photo)

Patrick Mills (Battle Creek Battle Jacks Photo)

Brantley promotes total student-athlete experience at Indiana University Kokomo

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

Just over a month after being named head baseball coach at Indiana University Kokomo, Drew Brantley is busy laying the foundation for the Cougars system.
Classes began Aug. 23. Brantley is overseeing two weeks of open field workouts before fall practice officially begins Labor Day (Sept. 6). There will be sessions six days a week for eight weeks culminating Oct. 30. Then the NAIA member Cougars move into the weight room and begin the build-up to the spring. There will be no games against outside competition this fall. There will be three scrimmages per week at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
“It’ll be heavy on individual development as a baseball player,” says Brantley. “We’ll compete in a game-like situations.”
As the Cougars ready themselves for the River States Conference race, they will open the 2022 season with trips to play Louisiana State University Shreveport and Truett McConnelll University (Cleveland, Ga.).
Brantley, who has been on staff the past three seasons including the last two as associate head coach, knows what he desires in an IU Kokomo player.
“I want to get good people into the program,” says Brantley, who turned 29 on Aug. 22. “We want them to have the total student-athlete experience — athletically, academically and socially.”
The idea is to achieve on the field and in the classroom and build friendships and contacts that will last long beyond the college years.
Brantley’s staff includes Jeremy Honaker, Nick Floyd and Justin Reed. Honaker, who was volunteer assistant at the University of Indianapolis in 2020-21, will serve as a positional coach and also help with hitting and baserunning. Former Ball State University and independent professional right-hander Floyd is the Cougars’ pitching coach. Former IU Kokomo player Reed is a graduate assistant and assistant pitching coach. He will work toward his Masters of Business Administration, help in athletic communications and with the baseball team.
Prior to coming to IUK to serve on head coach Matt Howard’s staff, Brantley was an assistant to head coach Rich Benjamin at Indiana Wesleyan University.
“I worked with infielders and baserunners and assisted with hitters,” says Brantley. “My time at Indiana Wesleyan was awesome. The integrity of the program is held very highly there. I learned how you hold people accountable and how things are supposed to be done.”
Brantley assisted at his alma mater Anderson (Ind.) University for five seasons with a stint as interim coach. Medical issues mean that he was only able to play his freshmen season for David Pressley before becoming a student assistant.
“He was an awesome guy and a great role model,” says Brantley of Pressley, who followed American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Don Brandon as the man in charge at AU. “A large part of my coaching philosophy comes from (Anderson).”
Dustin Glant later took over a Anderson Ravens head coach and was helped by Brantley.
“I was able to learn a lot under Dustin,” says Brantley. “He showed me the ropes and what its like to conduct yourself professionally. It’s not just about baseball.
“A lot of the success I’ve had has been because of the things he’s showed me and the advice he’s given me.”
Glant is now pitching coach at Indiana University.
At 22, Brantley was named interim coach at Anderson, where he earned his Secondary Education and Teaching degree in 2015 and MBA in 2017.
Says Brantley, “Everyday I was doing the best I knew how.”
The same applies in his current position.
“It’s pretty neat being in this seat,” says Brantley, who guides a program in the town where he was born.
Brantley grew up in Russiaville, Ind., and played T-ball through age 12 at what is now Russiaville Youth Baseball League. After that came travel ball with the Central Indiana Kings then three summers with Don Andrews-managed Kokomo American Legion Post 6.
His coach at Western High School in Russiaville was Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Ty Calloway.
After becoming a coach himself, Brantley came to learn how Calloway “coached ‘em up the right way.”
“As a player, he held us to a really high standard,” says Brantley. “He was always on us in practice. Whatever we were doing that day we were going to give our best effort.”
Brantley played three seasons for the Panthers, sitting out his junior year to recuperate from cardiac arrest. In his senior year of 2011, he was an IHSBCA Class 3A first-team all-state second baseman.
“I have an incredible support system,” says Drew, who is the son of Chrysler employee Ron and dental receptionist Angie and younger brother of Alaina. Ron Brantley has been coaching baseball since he was 20 and will help out this fall at IU Kokomo.
Brantley’s first experience as a baseball coach came with a Howard County travel team called the Indiana Flyers. He was with that team from the fall of 2012 through the summer of 2015.
There was also a stint working for Chris Estep as a hitting and defensive instructor at RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield, Ind.
“He gave me an opportunity to work with younger kids and allowed me to fail a lot,” says Brantley. “Being at RoundTripper was awesome.”

Drew Brantley (Indiana University Kokomo Photo)

Baseball coaching career now has Western grad Reida rolling with Alabama Crimson Tide

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana native Matt Reida has landed back in SEC territory.

This time as an volunteer assistant baseball coach at the University of Alabama.

The 2010 graduate of Western High School in Russiaville, Ind., played four baseball seasons at the University of Kentucky — a Southeastern Conference member — concluding in 2014.

Lefty-swinging infielder Reida (pronounced Ray-da) was selected in the 47th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox. He did not sign and went to college.

The MLB came calling again in 2014. Reida signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays and played 42 games for the Gulf Coast League Rays after one contest with the independent River City Rascals.

With the help of then-UK assistant and current Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, Reida began his coaching career in 2016 on the Indiana University staff then led by Chris Lemonis (who is now head coach at SEC member Mississippi State University).

“I love Coach Bo,” says Reida, 26. “I have the utmost respect for what he does.

“He’s been a mentor for me for years.”

What is Reida doing with the Crimson Tide?

“A little bit of everything,” says Reida. “I’m now helping with the infielders and helping Coach (Jerry) Zulli with hitters. We have coaches (Bohannon, Zulli, Jason Jackson) that have done things at a high level. We all have our hands in a lot of different areas.

“Coach Bohannon is great at empowering his coaches. I’ll help with recruiting.”

While at UK, Bohannon was honored as the 2015 American Baseball Coaches Association/Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year.

Lemonis won the same award in 2013 while at the University of Louisville where he served for six seasons (2009-14) then spent four campaigns in charge at Indiana (2015-18).

Reida reflects on his two seasons (2016-17) with Lemonis at IU.

“It was my first experience in college coaching,” says Reida. “I didn’t realize what all went into the job.

“(Lemonis) has the reputation as a recruiter. I saw the see the hours he would spend and his level of commitment, how he would build relationships.”

In 2018, Reida was an assistant at Xavier University. His boss is Cincinnati was former IU player Billy O’Conner, who was in his first season as Musketeers head coach.

“Billy was great because he gave all of his coaches complete freedom,” says Reida. “There was a level of trust.

“He’s going to do a phenomenal job at Xavier. He gets more out of what he has around him.”

O’Conner, who at 31 is one of the younger coaches in NCAA Division baseball, leads from the front.

“He’s out their working on the field. He takes his turn to do laundry. Nothing is beneath him. As the head coach, he jumps in and makes things happen.”

Reida played at Kentucky for Gary Henderson, who led Mississippi State to the College World Series and was named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Coach of the Year in 2018.

Teaching the mental side of baseball was a strength Reida saw in Henderson.

“He really thought the game at a different level,” says Reida. “He talked about routine a ton and the thought process. He talked about how to handle emotion and adversity and play the game one pitch at a time.

“I also learned from Hendu about personal responsibility. If it is to be, it’s up to me. Ownership was definitely a cornerstone of his program.”

Reida was a teammate of Terre Haute’s A.J. Reed when he won the Golden Spikes Award as D-I baseball’s top player in 2014.

“He’s an extraordinary person and a player,” says Reida of Reed. “I watched him grow for three years. It was neat to be a part of. He was someone that was driven.”

Read has played 48 games in the big leagues with the Houston Astros and slugged 123 home runs in the minors.

Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Ty Calloway was Reida’s coach at Western.

Calloway finished his 36-year coaching career with a 663-310 record with 18 seasons of 20 or more victories and an IHSAA Class 3A state title in 2012.

“I learned a ton from Coach Calloway,” says Reida. “One thing that stuck out with me was his level of commitment to the game and level of preparation.

“You could tell how much baseball meant to him and how passionate he was.”

Born in Kokomo, Reida grew up in nearby Russiaville and winning the city title with his Russiaville Youth Baseball League team against Kokomo area squad at 12 is still one of his baseball highlights.

Among the talented ballplayers of that era were future collegians Nolan Sanburn (Arkansas), Colton Summers (Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne), Seth Vautaw (Ball State) and T.J. Weir (Ball State).

“It’s great area for baseball,” says Reida. “It really is.”

Travel ball included the Central Indiana Kings (a Kokomo area team organized by Matt’s father Chad Reida and Tim Weir), Indiana Bulls and Midland (Ohio) Redskins. T.J. Weir, Tim’s son, pitches in the San Diego Padres organization.

Midland won two Connie Mack World Series championships with Matt Reida on the roster. Along the way, the Redskins had to best teams featuring Manny Machado, Archie Bradley, Dylan Bundy and Mark Appel.

Chad and Shelly Reida have two other children — Tad and Tiffany.

Tad Reida, who is six years older than Matt, played at Western, Wichita State University (2004-05) and Indiana University (2006) and coached at West Virginia University (2009-10) and Air Force Academy (2011). He now is attached to a travel ball organization — CageRat Baseball — in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Tiffany Reida played basketball at Indiana State University.

Matt Reida holds a communications degree from Kentucky, where he graduated Cum Laude in 2014 with a 3.69 grade-point average.

Matt Reida, a graduate of Western High School in Russiaville, Ind., and the University of Indiana, is now a volunteer assistant baseball coach at the University of Alabama. (University of Alabama Photo)

 

 

Berryman getting Western ready for ‘next’ baseball move

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

They’ve got a good thing going at Western High School.

The Panthers have enjoyed plenty of baseball success, taking 18 sectionals, seven regionals, two semistates, one Class 3A state championship (2012) and one 3A state runner-up finish (2016).

Ty Calloway, an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association and Howard County Sports hall of famer, led the program for 36 seasons and Quentin Brown (now with Indiana Primetime Sports) for the past three.

Ryan Berryman is now the man in charge. As a 1994 Western graduate, former WHS athletic director and head coach at county rival Northwestern, he is very aware of the winning tradition in Russiaville.

“We’re a baseball community,” says Berryman. “The expectations are high.”

Berryman, who returned to the classroom after serving as AD from 2011-13, has continued to coach baseball in the summer with the Indiana Bulls travel organization (he will lead a 16U squad this summer).

In 11 seasons at Northwestern, Berryman’s teams won 226 games, four sectionals and took the Tigers to a 2005 Class 2A State Finals. Future big leaguer Brandon Beachy was part of that team.

At Western, Berryman is greeted by 15 returnees from the 2016 state runners-up.

“We’ve got a much deeper pitching staff,” says Berryman, a big believer in mound depth with two-thirds of the players in his program being able to pitch. “It’ll be disappointing for all these guys if they don’t make a run.”

Not that Berryman wants the Panthers to get ahead of themselves.

“We don’t get caught up in anything too small,” says Berryman. “We don’t get caught up in anything too big. We just focus in on play by play, pitch by pitch.

“We want to keep it as simple as possible. There’s nothing magical to the success I’ve had as a coach.”

Berryman, whose coaching staff features Cody Shipley, Colton Summers, Devon Eaker and Dwight Singer at the varsity level as well as Luke Waitt and Michael Rocchio with the junior varsity, wants his players to have that “next” mentality — Next at-bat. Next pitch. Next inning.

His daily request is to be on-time and work hard.

“I only have two hours a day with these guys,” says Berryman. “After that, it’s on them.

“It’s a tough game. Find a way to work through your mistakes and get better and don’t dwell on the negative things.”

After playing for Calloway at Western, Berryman took the field for Indiana Wesleyan University and Northern Kentucky University as did twin brother Scott. Ryan pitched for the Lafayette Leopards of the independent professional Heartland League in 1998.

Berryman, who was head coach for the IHSBCA North-South All-Star Series in 2011 and is a past association president, would like to see an increase in the time coaches can work with athletes out-of-season — a change that would help not only baseball but other high school sports.

“I realize that these kids are student-athletes and academics come first and there are coaches that want to be with the kids too much,” says Berryman. “But, at the same time, we shouldn’t take opportunities away for kids to fully develop.

“Now, they can’t work with their baseball coach until a certain date has passed. It’s about kids and opportunities.”

Western competes in the 10-team Hoosier Conference. Teams play Tuesday-Wednesday home-and-home series within their divisions with seeded crossover games at the end of the season. Western, Cass, Hamilton Heights , Northwestern and Tipton are in the East. Benton Central, Lafayette Central Catholic, Rensselaer Central, Twin Lakes and West Lafayette are in the West.

Feeder systems for Western baseball are Russiaville Youth Baseball League and the Russiaville Rams travel team.

High school players participating with several travel teams in the summer, including the Indiana Bulls, Indiana Mustangs, Indiana Nitro, Indiana Pony Express and Indiana Prospects.

Ryan Berryman, a 1994 Western High School graduate, is in his first season as the Panthers head baseball coach. He coached Northwestern to the 2005 IHSAA Class 2A State Finals and is a summer coach with the Indiana Bulls travel organization.