Contributing to team success is driving force for U. of Cincinnati’s Cross

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

Kerrington Cross produced strong numbers the first chance he got to play collegiate baseball.
After not seeing action for the University of Cincinnati in 2021, Cross played in 52 games (50 starts) and hit .291 (57-of-196) with nine home runs, five triples, nine doubles, 30 runs batted in, 44 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 2022.
The 2020 Brownsburg (Ind.) High School graduate led the American Athletic Conference in three-baggers and his team in bases pilfered.
In the last game of the 2022 season, Bearcats head coach Scott Googins started Cross at third base and in the lead-off spot in the batting order. The 6-foot, 200-pound athlete began the campaign at second base and hit from many different slots throughout the spring.
The coach holds his players accountable.
“(Googins) likes really gritty players and talks about us being a brotherhood,” says Cross. “He pushes us. He likes people to grow from their failures.”
Cross, 20, enjoyed a productive season with the 2021 Great Summer League Collegiate League’s Cincinnati Steam where the righty swinger wielded a wood bat and hit .419 (52-of-124), four homers, 23 RBIs, 31 runs and 14 steals.
But stats or any of the five tools of baseball are not what drives Cross.
“I’d rather not think about that,” says Cross. “What does this team need? That’s what I’m focused on.
“I apply myself to the team more than thinking about my skill set.”
Helping him hone his skills and more is Cincinnati assistant Kyle Sprague, who guides baserunners, hitters and infielders.
“He’s at the field three hours longer than the players setting up all the drills,” says Cross of Sprague. “He puts his heart and soul into the game.
“I have a weird class schedule so we’ve done a lot of 1-on-1.”
As a student in UC’s five-year Chemical Engineering program, Cross revolves class work with cooperatives. He is getting practical experience on a co-op this summer.
He played in seven games for the 2022 Steam, but the schedule of working from 7:30 to 4 p.m. and then “show and go” every game was not helping him.
“I decided to develop on my own,” says Cross.
Looking at his best athletic qualities, Cross cites brainpower.
“On the field, it’s my I.Q.,” says Cross. “It ties into my major. I’m considered a nerd, I guess. In high school, I was really good with numbers, really good at science and had a good memory.”
To put even more in his tool box, Cross plans to add a Master of Business Administration (MBA) to his resume.
Born in Honolulu, Cross moved to Brownsburg about the time he was starting school.
He played at Brownsburg Little League and then went to travel ball with the Indiana Bulls from 13U to 17U.
Denied a senior high school season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cross went with the Westfield, Ind.-based College Summer League at Grand Park’s A-Team before going to Cincinnati.
In three years of varsity seasons for the Brownsburg Bulldogs, Cross played one year for head coach Eric Mattingly and two for Dan Roman.
“Both are great guys,” says Cross. “Mattingly gave me an opportunity. He opened my eyes that I could take it to a new level.
“Roman pushed me to be better. He knew I had the potential. We bonded about more than just baseball and stay in-touch. He’s a really good friend of mine.”
Kerrington has an older brother (Kasey) and sister (Clarice). Their parents are Harold and Miki Cross. He is from Illinois and she from Japan. They met in Hawaii. Harold Cross runs a Hometown Mini Donuts cart and Miki Cross is a translator (English to Japanese and vice versa).

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Image)

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Image)

Kerrington Cross (University of Cincinnati Photo)

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Lebanon alum Harker hurling for Harwich in Cape Cod Baseball League

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

A year ago at this time, 2021 Lebanon (Ind.) High School graduate Garrett Harker suited up for the North in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series.
In the summer of 2022, the right-handed pitcher is in the high-profile Cape Cod Baseball League with the Harwich Mariners, managed since 2003 by Steve Englert.
In his first two outings covering 3 2/3 relief innings, Harker has allowed no runs and two hits while striking out seven and walking none.
“It’s the best league you can play in,” says Harker, 19. “I’m blessed to be here and have this experience. I’m probably one of the youngest guys.
“I’m just trying to get some innings and throw in front of as many people as I can.”
During his freshmen season at the University of Cincinnati this spring, 6-foot, 200-pound Harker appeared in 16 games (six starts) and went 4-3 with one save and one save and a 7.08 earned run average. He produced 38 strikeouts and 22 walks in 48 1/3 innings.
The UC Bearcats head coach is Scott Googins. Harker works closely with pitching coach JD Heilmann.
It’s been competitiveness that Heilmann has emphasized with Harker.
“Go at the hitter and be the competitor you’ve been,” says Harker. “I’m not the biggest, fastest, strongest guy out there. I’m going to give you 100 percent no matter what I do.”
Born in Indianapolis, Harker grew up in Lebanon. He played at Lebanon Little League until about 9 then played for various travel ball teams, including the Lebanon Thunder, Indiana Baseball Club, Indiana Elite, Indiana Outlaws, Indiana Bulls and Team Indiana (fall ball).
With the 2020 prep season canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harker played three seasons at Lebanon High School for Rick Cosgray.
“He’s a players’ coach for sure,” says Harker of Cosgray. “He’ll go to battle for you as long as you give 100 percent.”
In 81 high school games, Harker hit .431 (113-of-262) with 13 home runs, 56 runs batted in and 89 runs scored. As a pitcher, he went 19-7 with two saves and a 1.44 ERA. He whiffed 264 and walked 42 in 156 innings. As a senior in 2021, he was 8-0 with one save, a 0.67 ERA, 111 K’s and eight walks in 52 1/3 innings.
He was the IHSBCA District K Player of the Year and was the on the Prep Baseball Report Indiana All-State Team and All-USA Central Indiana Postseason Super Team.
Harker, who turns 20 on July 23, says it was during his junior year of high school that he really learned how to pitch.
The righty throws from a high three-quarter arm angle.
“I figured I needed to get on top of the ball and get more spin rate and spin efficiency — all that stuff,” says Harker.
He mixes a four-seam fastball that has been clocked as high as 95 mph, a sinking two-seam fastball, “circle” change-up (usually delivered around 80 mph), a traditional slider (with horizontal movement and vertical depth).
Harker’s 2020 summer was spent with the 17U Indiana Bulls. In 2021, he got in a few outings with the PRP Baseball Mambas and had workouts for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
Besides baseball, Harker played four years of football (three years as starting quarterback) and one year of basketball at Lebanon. During his gridiron days, he passed for 4,399 yards and 43 touchdowns, including 2,028 and 21 as a junior in 2019.
Garrett is the youngest of Larry and Teri Harker’s four children — all former Lebanon athletes. Former Tigers basketball and softball player Kalyn Harker (Class of 2011) is the oldest, followed by former football, basketball and baseball player Isaac Harker (Class of 2014), former volleyball, basketball and softball player Tori Harker (2018) and Garrett Harker.
Kalyn played softball at Southern Illinois University. Isaac played quarterback at Indiana State University and Colorado School of Mines and been in the Canadian Football League. Tori played volleyball at Indiana University East.
Larry Harker works for Cincinnati Bell Technology Services. Teri Harker is a stay-at-home mom.

Garrett Harker (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Harker (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Former Northrop, Cincinnati lefty Schoenle signs as free agent with Chicago White Sox organization

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

Garrett Schoenle was a very good passer during his football days at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Northrop High School.
On the strength of Schoenle’s left arm, head coach Jason Doerffler had his Bruins go to the air often.
“We spread it out and threw 40 passes a game,” says Schoenle. “I was baseball player who could throw it and we tried to use that to our advantage.”
When the 2017 Northrop graduate left the program he was the all-time leader in passing yards and completions.
Heading into his junior baseball season, Schoenle had gotten no offers for the diamond. But some bigger schools were interested in him for the gridiron.
Schoenle, who also played two years of high school basketball, really began attracting college baseball teams in the spring of 2016 when he was the News-Sentinel Player of the Year and on the American Family Insurance/All-Indiana Team. He helped Northrop go 20-5 overall and 14-0 in the Summit Athletic Conference while winning the IHSAA Class 4A Fort Wayne Carroll Sectional.
Southpaw Schoenle was the 2017 Gatorade Indiana High School Baseball Player of the Year and an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North-South All-Star.
The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 30th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but Schoenle was offered the chance to pitch at the University of Cincinnati by then-Bearcats head coach Ty Neal and went the college route.
By the time the hurler arrived on-campus Scott Googins had taken over as UC head coach with J.D. Heilman as pitching coach.
“They gave me a platform to showcase my skills at the Division I level,” says Schoenle of Googins and Heilman.
In four seasons (2018-21), Schoenle made 37 mound appearances (30 starts) and went 11-5 with two saves and 5.13 earned run average. In 152 2/3 innings, he produced 174 strikeouts and 98 walks.
Making 15 starts in 2021, Schoenle posted a 6-3 mark with one complete game and a 4.18 ERA. He fanned 89 and walked 24 in 75 1/3 innings.
He at the front of the weekend rotation as a senior.
“I tried to step up and be a leader,” says Schoenle, who was American Athletic Conference member Cincinnati’s “Sunday” starter as a sophomore in the pre-COVID-19 season of 2019.
As a freshman in 2018, Schoenle learned in January that he had a torn labrum. Wanting to avoid surgery at all costs, he rehabbed, got stronger and made his collegiate debut in April.
In the summer of 2019, Schoenele was with the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Vermont Mountaineers (Montpelier, Vt.). He used the summer of 2020 to make himself better and to fine-tune.
After the 2021 spring season, Schoenle played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Niles, Ohio) in the new MLB Draft League. He signed this week with the Chicago White Sox as an undrafted free agent.
“They way I perceived it (the MLB Draft League) had the same talent as Cape Cod, but with older draft-eligible guys,” says Schoenle, 23. “I came out of the pen and got a few starts before the draft and came home (to Fort Wayne) after that,”
About 45 minutes after the draft concluded on July 13, White Sox area scout Phil Gulley called.
Was Schoenle interested in going with Chicago’s American League team?
“Of course,” says Schoenle, who is now at a mini-camp for draftees and signees in Birmingham, Ala. After that some will be sent to Glendale, Ariz., and assigned to a minor league affiliate and others will be kept in camp.
The top four farm clubs in the White Sox system are the Low Class-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers, High Class-A Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash, Double-A Birmingham Barons and Triple-A Charlotte (N.C.) Knights.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Schoenle throws five pitches from a three-quarter overhand arm slot — four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, curveball, change-up and splitter. His four-seamer sits at 91 to 94 mph and was up to 96 in the spring. He describes the action of curveball to be somewhere between a curve and a slider.
Schoenle tosses a “circle” change and the splitter — which drops — was added to his repertoire this past season.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Schoenle played his first organized baseball at New Haven Baseball Association from age 4 to 12. His 12U to 14U seasons were spent with the traveling New Haven Bulldogs and his father — Jeff — was the coach. Jeff Schoenle was a shortstop while at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.
Garrett competed in the Midwest Big League at Saint Joe Little League from 15 to 18, even playing a few times as a lefty-throwing shortstop.
“Being left-handed, that’s opened a lot of doors for me in my career,” says Schoenle, who throws and hits from the left side but punted a football with his right toe. “I’m also an ultra-competitor and that helped me to where I am.”
As a teen, Schoenle went to morning football workouts and 7-on-7 camps and also honed his baseball skills.
“I spent my time during the summer trying to be the best athlete I could,” says Schoenle.
As a Northrop baseball player, Schoenle played for Bruins head coach Matt Brumbaugh and pitching coach Dan O’Reilly.
“Brum is one of the most influential people in my baseball career,” says Schoenle. “There’s a lot of people to thank in my journey and he’s definitely one of them.”
O’Reilly pitched at Iowa State University and then in pro ball.
“Having some people who had been there is big when you have those dreams yourself,” says Schoenle.
With an interest in education and coaching, Schoenle pursued a History degree at Cincinnati and graduated last semester.
“I always want to get into teaching,” says Schoenle. “My dad’s a teacher (of Social Studies at Fort Wayne’s Jefferson Middle School).
“I want to have an opportunity to teach and coach and spread my knowledge to youth one day.”
Garrett is the oldest of Jeff and Parkview Mental Health counselor Kim Schoenle’s four children.
Gavin Schoenle (21) is a student at Indiana University. He was on many of the same teams as Garrett and played one football season at Ohio Dominican University.
Gradyn Schoenle (17) plays football and baseball and is heading into his junior year at Northrop.
Gabbey Schoenle (13) runs cross country. She is going into the eighth grade Jefferson Middle School.

WANE-TV video on Garrett Schoenle’s signing with the Chicago White Sox.

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Hard work, trust have McClain, teammates excelling for Indiana Tech

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Glen McClain’s baseball journey has taken him outside northeast Indiana and back.

Since returning, he has thrived on a culture of work and trust make a major impact at Indiana Institute of Technology.

“We have a really good group of guys who like to work,” says McClain, a redshirt junior first baseman/catcher who graduated from Fremont High School and went to NCAA Division I Xavier University in Cincinnati before transferring to NAIA Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne. “It’s great when you can text someone and say ‘you want to go hit some ground balls’ and they’re down. I’d say that’s the greatest contributor.”

McClain expresses thanks for those around him.

“I have a great coaching staff behind me that’s always willing to put in extra work with me,” says McClain. “We have a really good group of guys who like to work.

“I have a really good support system. My mom (Debby) is always helping me out whenever I need something.”

With the Warriors, it’s a matter of believing in one another.

“We all just trust each other,” says McClain. “There’s never a doubt. If I make an error or have a bad at-bat, it’s never in the back of my mind that maybe my coaches or teammates are not going to me.

“I know if I mess up, the next person is going to get it done.”

On Tuesday, April 24 at Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne, the 22-year-old right-handed hitter got it done with his bat and legs. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the Warriors’ 5-4 win against crosstown rival Saint Francis.

McClain produced a one-out double (moved to third base on an error) and scored the game-tying run in the fifth inning then stroked a two-out single, stole second base and scored the go-ahead run on senior catcher Tighe Koehring’s single in the seventh inning.

Heading into Wednesday’s scheduled home game against Manchester, McClain was leading Tech (32-17) in batting average (.423), runs batted in (43), hits (63) and triples (4), tied for first in runs scored (42) and was second in home runs (8) and doubles (10). In 149 at-bats, he only had 12 strikeouts. He was also fielding at a .987 clip with 274 putouts, 15 double plays and four errors.

In 2017, McClain started 58 times at first base and set a single-season school record with 101 hits while hitting .455 with nine homers, five triples, 17 doubles and 71 RBI. He was second-team NAIA All-American and Gold Glove winner and a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

In 2016, McClain started 59 games at first base and hit .334 with two homers, three triples, 12 doubles, 33 RBIs while earning honorable mention on the all-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference team.

“Glen is an amazing player, a great teammate,” says Tech head coach Kip McWilliams. “He understands baseball and the approach. But I can’t speak enough about what kind of person he is. He’s got high character, he’s trustworthy, relatable and responsible. He holds himself accountable as well as his teammates.

“When he came to us three years ago, he was really mature for his age and carried himself with great poise on the field.”

McWilliams recruited McClain when the player was at Fremont. When McClain was released from his scholarship at Xavier, he came highly-recommended by former Musketeers coach and friend of McWilliams, Scott Googins.

“We called Scott and he said he’d be a great player for you,” says McWilliams. “We were very happy to have him.”

McClain went to Xavier as a catcher and wound up having surgery on his right knee, right shoulder and right wrist.

“My body kind of fell apart on me,” says McClain. “I lucked out. Tech was willing to give me an opportunity to kind of bounce back.”

McClain, who is in graduate school working toward his MBA in management after earning a business administration degree with a concentration in sports management, has one year of eligibility remaining.

If he is not selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in June, McClain says he plans to return to Tech to play and complete his MBA.

McClain credits his coaches at Fremont — Eagles head coach Justin Bock and assistant Chad Baker — with their role in his development.

“They helped me understand my true ability,” says McClain. “I was pretty raw in high school. They really helped me refine.

“I couldn’t hit the ball the other way very well, then my sophomore, junior and senior year I was able to drive the ball the other way.”

Travel baseball experiences came with the Mike Hinga-coached Kalamazoo Maroons. Kalamazoo is only about 75 minutes from Fremont.

While Indiana is in the name of the school, Tech’s 2018 roster has players from a dozen different states plus Canada and The Bahamas.

“It’s actually really cool,” says McClain. “We have a lot of kids from California. They add their own swagger to the team. I love the way (San Francisco’s) Dante (Biagini) plays. He’s super intense. I’m different. I’m more of a relaxed kind of quiet. I’m going to keep my composure no matter what’s going on.”

At one point last season, McClain looked up and three-quarters of the infield was from “Cali.”

“I was looking around going, I’m the only Indiana kid on the infield right now,” says McClain. “It’s fun.”

The Warriors are coming down the home stretch of the 2018 regular season. After the Manchester game, there’s a big three-game series at Siena Heights Friday and Saturday, April 28-29 and a home game against Cleary Tuesday, May 1 before the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament May 3-8.

A sweep against Siena Heights gives Tech the regular-season WHAC title and an automatic NAIA tournament bid.

Glen McClain, a Fremont High School graduate, is a redshirt junior first baseman and leader of the 2018 Indiana Tech baseball team. (Indiana Tech Photo)

 

Sakosits emphasizes aggressiveness at Earlham

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

They are thinking big at a little school in Richmond.

Head baseball coach Steve Sakosits came to Earlham College (enrollment around 1,200) from the world of NCAA Division I baseball and he looks to bring that experience with his Division III squad.

“We want to be Division I-esque,” says Sakosits, a 2006 Xavier University graduate who is in his seventh season at Earlham. “I’m trying to recruit Division I type guys.”

Taking things he learned from all three of his college head coaches — John Morey, Dan Simonds and Scott Googins — Sakosits has formed his own philosophy while adopting it to D-III where scholarship money is given based on academics and need.

“It’s fit and finance,” says Sakosits, who notes that D-I baseball has to split up 11.7 baseball scholarships and that Earlham recruits can often get more money when all factors are considered. “We want to recruit students first who have the ability to work hard in the classroom and on the baseball field.”

Pushing the pace in 2017, the Quakers (22-12, 17-6) just clinched a third-straight berth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and have a chance to be regular-season champions and tournament hosts.

Four HCAC home games remain — one against Mt. St. Joseph today (May 2) then a three-game series against Hanover (one Thursday, May 4 and two Friday, May 5).

“We’re excited about that opportunity,” says Sakosits of a chance to host four-team postseason play on the turf at Randal R. Sadler Stadium. The HCAC tournament winner is an automatic qualifier for NCAA D-III regional play.

Excitement is what the Quakers bring between the white lines.

Earlham lead all of D-III baseball in stolen bases per game with 3.85 per game and 131 total swipes.

Nate Lynch (41) and Brennan Laird (28) holds down the top two individual stolen base spots while Matt Barger (20) was fourth.

“We’re aggressive in everything we do,” says Sakosits. “We want to dictate the game. We don’t let the game come to us.

“(Our pitchers are) going to give up the free base.”

Sakosits, a 6-foot-5 right-hander as a New Jersey high schooler and at XU (where he made 68 mound appearances from 2004-06), insists his hurlers go after hitters and dictate counts  and the Quakers had 198 strikeouts and 98 walks through their first 297 innings.

Sakosits and his assistant coaches — Brandon Coduto, Beau Smith, Brandon Pennington, Garrett York and Kevin McGee — even time EC players getting on and off the field in practice.

The Quakers are expected to go hard in everything they do — academically and athletically.

“Baseball’s the fun part,” says Sakosits. “It’s just about teaching them how we’re going to go hard and what that means.”

When recruiting, Sakosits looks for hard workers. But he understands that those players may have been the “big fish in a small pond” and got by more on their athletic ability than work ethic.

“Hard work beats talent everyday,” says Sakosits.

That mentality becomes a priority once the player is on the Earlham campus.

One of the other D-I head coaches that Sakosits admires in Louisville’s Dan McDonnell and one of his quotes: “If you emphasize it, you’ll be great at it.”

Earlham’s 26-man 2017 roster features 14 who have hometowns in Indiana with eight in Ohio, two in Michigan and two in Kentucky.

Lynch (Wright State) and Laird (Cincinnati) are transfers from D-I schools. Howie Smith came to EC from D-III Marietta (Ohio).

When Sakosits arrived at Earlham he started an alumni club and the school began taking donations from alums.

“They’ve bought into the vision of the program,” says Sakosits.

Randy Sadler’s generosity led to the stadium with its turf, video scoreboard and locker rooms and a move away from sharing Don McBride Stadium (built in 1936) with Richmond and Seton Catholic high schools.

The first season at Sadler (2014) brought at 21-18 record — the program’s first above .500 since 1971. The Quakers went 26-14 in 2015 and 29-14 in 2016, qualifying for the HCAC tournament for the first two times in school history (Earlham moved from the North Coast Athletic Conference to the HCAC in the 2011).

Last spring, Earlham set school records for victories, at-bats, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in, stolen bases, wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched. In addition, the Quakers led the HCAC in home runs, walks, stolen bases, slugging percentage, walks allowed, and earned run average.

Steve Sakosits is in his seventh season as head coach at Earlham College in Richmond. The Quakers won 21, 26 and a school-record 29 games the past three seasons and were 22-12 going into play May 2. (Earlham Photo)