Bickel’s baseball track takes him to Bismarck Bull Moose

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Jarrett Bickel just arrived with his third baseball team of summer 2020.

After splitting time with the Indiana Collegiate Summer Baseball League’s Mishawaka (Ind.) Brewers and the College Summer League at Grand Park’s Snakes, the middle infielder is with the Northwoods League’s Bismarck (N.D.) Bull Moose.

The Shawn Harper-managed Brewers lost this week to the Jackers in the tournament finals and the Grand Park league wrapped last week. Snakes manager Jake Martin and the rest of the team witnessed a home run by righty-swinging Bickel that TrackMan measured at 436 feet with a 103 mph exit velocity.

“I feel like I can do everything well on the baseball field,” says Bickel, a 2018 graduate of Marian High School in Mishawaka, Ind., and a member of the Palm Beach (Fla.) State College squad. “I hit for power. I have speed. I am smooth in the field with a strong arm.”

“It all comes back to my work ethic and how hard I train.”

Bickel, who is primarily a shortstop but can play second base or third base, got to North Dakota’s capital city after a 14-hour drive from South Bend. He reached out to Bull Moose manager Mitchell Gallagher, sent video and stayed in-touch with the Xavier University assistant.

“He brought me aboard when they had a need for an infielder,” says Bickel, who joins a team that is 6-26 playing in the COVID-19-induced pod system. The North Dakota Region consists of three teams all playing at Bismarck’s Dakota Community Bank & Trust Field — the Bull Moose, Larks and Mandan Flickertails. Players are housed in a hotel two-to-a-room. The season is to continue until Sept. 1.

“Hopefully, I can put up so good numbers here since I won’t get much exposure this fall,” says Bickel, alluding to the fact that junior college baseball canceled its fall season, meaning the loss of more than 20 games at the Palm Beach State Pro Day. 

Online classes for the Business Management major begin Aug. 31. The school is closed until January, meaning Bickel will come home to South Bend after his time in North Dakota. Bickel’s 21st birthday is Jan. 21, 2021.

Born and raised in South Bend, Bickel got his organized baseball start at Chet Waggoner Little League, where he played until 9.

At 10 and 11, he played travel ball for the Michiana Scrappers — first for Andy Biskupski and then Bill Petty.

After that came two summers with the Brian West-coached South Bend Baseball Factory. 

Longshots Baseball — based in Downers Grove, Ill. — was Bickel’s baseball home away from home. He played with that Rob Rooney-led organization in fall (weekday games and weekend doubleheaders).

Bickel was a three-year varsity player at Marian, playing for Knights head coach Joe Turnock — 2015, 2016 and 2018. 

His junior year, Bickel played in the Hitters/Prep Baseball Report Spring League in Kenosha, Wis.

His collegiate career began at San Jacinto College in Texas. After the fall semester, he transferred to Miami Dade College in Florida.

He struggled at the plate with the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Sharks and opted to take off 2019-20 to re-tool his swing. Bickel was offered a scholarship by head coach Kyle Forbes to join the Palm Beach State program. The Panthers are NJCAA D-I members and part of the Florida College System Activities Association. 

Jarrett, 20, is the middle child of Joe and Megan Bickel. Joe owns a lawn care service. Tyler Bickel is 23. Xavier Bickel is 17.

Jarrett Bickel, a 2018 graduate of Marian High School in Mishawaka, Ind., swings the bat in 2019 for Miami Dade College in Florida. He is now on the baseball roster at Palm Beach (Fla.) State College. (Miami Dade College Photo)

Jarrett Bickel (left) takes a throw while playing for Miami Dade during the 2019 baseball season. The 2018 graduate of Marian High School in Mishawaka, Ind., is now on the roster at Palm Beach (Fla.) State College. (Miami Dade College Photo)

Jarrett Bickel, a 2018 graduate of Marian High School in Mishawaka, Ind., played baseball at Miami Dade College in Florida in 2019 and is now on the roster of Palm Beach (Fla.) State College. (Miami Dade College Photo)

Shortstop Jarrett Bickel, a 2018 graduate of Marian High School in Mishawaka, Ind., played at Miami Dade College in 2019 and is now on the baseball roster at Palm Beach (Fla.) State College. This summer, he has played for the Mishawaka Brewers and Snakes of the College Summer League at Grand Park and just joined the Northwoods League’s Bismarck (N.D.) Bull Moose. (Miami Dade College Photo)

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‘Late bloomer’ Cantleberry pitching in Dodgers system

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Jacob Cantleberry was well into his teens before he became serious about baseball.

Now it’s his profession.

Cantleberry was born in Indianapolis and grew up in Greenwood, Ind., and was more into golf and basketball.

Baseball?

“I was a late bloomer,” says Cantleberry, who is now a 6-foot-1, 180-pound left-handed pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. “I was pretty athletic and thought, ‘maybe I can do this?’ I started out as an outfielder. I got into pitching when I couldn’t hit anything above 86 (mph).”

Cantleberry was a Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All-American in 2015, a two-time Daily Journal Player of the Year under the guidance of head coach Keith Hatfield at Center Grove High School, graduating in 2016.

As a senior, Cantleberry was ranked as Perfect Game’s No. 3 left-handed pitcher and No. 11 recruit as well as a PG Central Regional Preseason All-American. He became an all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference honoree and the Johnson County Player of the Year. He traveled two summers as a high schooler for the Indiana Bulls.

After high school, two seasons were spent at San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas, where he learned from head coach Tom Arrington and pitching coach Eric Weaver and one at the University of Missouri, where Steve Bieser was head coach and Fred Corral pitching coach.

Cantleberry was surrounded by many future pros at San Jacinto.

“(Arrington and Weaver) taught me how to compete,” says Cantleberry. “They were very good with basic stuff, like how to work hitters.”

As a San Jacinto freshman in 2017, National Junior College Athletic Association All-American Cantleberry made 16 starts and was 11-1 with a 1.73 earned run average, 89 strikeouts in 78 innings. The Gators, which have made 25 NJCAA World Series appearances, were national runners-up.

In 2018, Cantleberry made 16 starts and was 12-3 with a 3.32 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 76 innings.

At Missouri, Cantleberry became a Friday night starter and went against Southeastern Conference batsmen.

“They have studs — 1 through 9 — in every single lineup,” says Cantleberry of the SEC, which had 91 players chosen in the MLB draft in 2019.

“I had a really good time and I learned a ton,” says Cantleberry of his experience at Mizzou. “The SEC is the best amateur baseball conference in the country.

“There was a big learning curve, but (Bieser and Corral) were accommodating.”

Cantleberry says his coaches insisted that their players did the little things right.

“They were very detail-oriented,” says Cantleberry. “That’s going to help me a lot to further my career.”

Every bullpen session at Mizzou, a chart was kept with a point system to track what pitches landed and in what counts.

“It would give you that performance grade afterward,” says Cantleberry. “There was focus and intent on every single pitch I threw — even in practice.”

The southpaw made 16 appearances (12 starts) for the Tigers and was 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA. In 72 1/3 innings, he racked up 97 strikeouts and 31 walks.

After a two-inning stint Aug. 26 in which he got the win for the Pioneer League’s Ogden (Utah) Raptors, Cantleberry has made 15 mound appearances (all in relief) and is 2-1 with a 1.25 ERA between Ogden and the Arizona League Mota Dodgers. In 21 2/3 innings, he has 28 K’s and eight walks.

The regular season ends Sept. 2. Ogden has made the playoffs. At the end of that run, Cantleberry will head to Glendale, Ariz., for fall instructional league. Since has already logged plenty of innings between college and pro in 2019, he will go there to work out.

After spending sometime back in Greenwood, Cantleberry says he will decide where he will spent the off-season getting ready for 2020.

The middle child of Rick and Connie Cantleberry, Jacob has two sisters. Devin is older and Riquel is younger.

Jacob is one year away from finishing a degree in rehabilitative health science. He is focusing on baseball for now.

Jacob Cantleberry is a left-handed pitcher for the Ogden (Utah) Raptors in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. He is a graduate of Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., and San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas, and pitched one season at the University of Missouri. (Ogden Raptors Photo)

Jacob Cantleberry shows the left-handed pitching form that got him selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A former Center Grove High School, San Jacinto College and University of Missouri pitcher, he is now with the Ogden (Utah) Raptors. (Ogden Raptors Photo)

 

Scott has uptempo Cardinal Ritter in first state championship game

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

While Major League Baseball has been accused of sometimes proceeding at a glacial pace, that’s not the way they Raiders of Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter High School like to play the game.

“We want to work at a quick tempo,” says fourth-year Ritter head coach Dave Scott as he prepares his team for the IHSAA Class 2A state championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 16 at Victory Field in Indianapolis. “(The players), the umpires, the fans are more into the game.

“This is the greatest game int he world. Let’s go play.”

Bolstered by the pitching of senior right-handers Blake Malatestnic (an Eastern Illinois University commit) and Brian Bacon, strong defense anchored by senior shortstop Alex Vela and a specific offensive approach, Ritter (27-3) will make its first State Finals appearance against Wapahani (19-11), which is making a third trip to Victory Field (those Raiders reigned in 2A in 2014).

Malatestnic has an earned run average below 1.00. Scott says Vela makes a “web gem” fielding play every game that fires up the rest of the team.

Scott, who played at St. Vincent de Paul High School and the College of Marin in California before coming to Indianapolis to be an all-conference and all-district catcher at Marian College (now Marian University), has his Ritter hitters taking a “West Coast” approach.

“Early in the count. we’re looking for one spot and location (for the pitch) only,” says Scott. “If it’s not there, we have confidence the pitcher is eventually going to throw it right there.”

Failing that, the Raiders are prepared to hit with two strikes.

“Pitchers get frustrated when you start hitting balls with two strikes,” says Scott, who notes that only one “hitter’s pitch” may come in each big league at-bat, but that number goes up in college and — certainly — in high school.

“It’s not easy to throw it exactly where you want it,” says Scott. “We believe in on-base percentage and OPS. We want runners on and put pressure on defenses that way.”

Ritter has outscored opponents 268-65 with 16 games of nine or more runs, including 10 by the mercy rule.

The Raiders have won a sectional in each of Scott’s four seasons, including the 2017 Park Tudor Sectional in which the Raiders topped Covenant Christian, Indianapolis Scecina and Cascade. They went on to best Southmont and Heritage Christian in the Park Tudor Regional and Providence in the Plainfield Semistate.

Ritter plays its home games at a church-owned field next to Eagledale Little League on the northwest side of Indy.

Scott’s coaching staff features Mike DeChant, Scott Leverenz, David Scott Sr., Nate Mills, Greg Gough and Fred Sheats.

Dechant handles statistics and is a bench coach. Leverenz handles pitchers and first base coaching duties. David Scott, a Carmel graduate, gives feedback to his son the head coach and keeps spirits high. Volunteer Mills works with infielders and hitter. Gough leads the junior varsity squad. Sheats guides the freshmen and also handles outfield positioning during the varsity postseason.

Dave Scott not only handles offensive philosophy, the cousin of Indianapolis Cathedral pitching coach Brad Pearson calls pitches for the Raiders.

As a player, Scott learned much baseball from a number of men. There was St. Vincent de Paul head coach Steve Berringer (now head coach at College of Marin), SVDP assistant and later College of Marin assistant Matt Markovich (now athletic director at Santa Rosa Junior College in California), COM head coach Tom Arrington (now head coach at San Jacinto College in Texas), Marian head coach Kurt Guldner and assistants Kip McWilliams (now head coach at Indiana Tech) and Toby Rogers (now assistant at Park Tudor, who Ritter faces in Indiana Crossroads Conference play).

These folks are more are the reasons Scott became an educator and coach.

“I want to give back,” says Scott. “It’s not fair to learn something and not want to give it to other people. That’s why I do what I do.”

Before coming to Ritter, Scott spent eight seasons at George Washington Community High School in Indianapolis — one as assistant coach and seven as head coach. He was a special education teacher at the school until this academic year when he became an assistant AD and weightlifting teacher at Ritter.

Scott, 37, also plays for the LMB (Love My Brother) fast pitch softball team. One of his teammates is broadcaster and former Indiana University basketball player and coach Dan Dakich.

Three generations of Scotts celebrate a Cardinal Ritter baseball sectional title in 2017. From left, there’s Drew Scott, assistant coach David Scott Sr., David Scott III and head coach Dave Scott. The Raiders are in the IHSAA Class 2A state title game Friday, June 16. (Ritter Photo)