‘Name on the front’ important to Winkelseth, Decatur Central Hawks

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

One of the pillars of baseball at Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis involves selflessness.
Hawks head coach Sean Winkelseth wants his young men to concern themselves more with the needs of others than themselves.
As the 2022 season approaches, Decatur Central players have already contributed nearly 200 hours of community service.
They’ve helped clean up the grounds at Decatur Central Little League (where Winkelseth and junior varsity coaches Jim Bushee and Todd Conn are on the board), worked at elementary school carnivals and more.
“There’s been a lot of volunteer efforts,” says Winkelseth, who was a Hawks assistant for one season prior to taking over the program in 2019-20. “We’re trying to be seen in the community as a positive.”
In playing as a catcher/utility infielder for Ryan Kelley at Wayne State University in Detroit Winkelseth was exposed to this mentality and the 2017 WSU graduate has adopted it.
“(Coach Kelley) is by far my biggest mentor for coaching,” says Winkelseth. “He just really instilled the importance of playing for the name on the front of the jersey. The team is is more important than an individual.”
Winkelseth says Kelley is focused on making leaders who became successful as husbands and father.
“He cared for us more than on the baseball field,” says Winkelseth, whose wife Madison went from Avon, Ind., to play volleyball at Wayne State and is now a speech language pathologist at Central Elementary School in the Beech Grove school district. The Winkelseths wed in August 2018.
Sean Winkelseth is a fifth grade teacher at Valley Mills Elementary School in Decatur Township.
A 2012 graduate of Ypisilanti (Mich.) High School, Winkelseth played his last three prep seasons for Chris Dessellier.
He admires the Grizzlies head coach for building relationships with players.
“He was getting to know guys and investing time,” says Winkelseth. “I still talk with him today.”
Winkelseth also coached for the Michigan Bulls travel organization the summers before and after his final season at Wayne State.
Decatur Central (enrollment around 1,800) is a member of the Mid-State Conference (with Franklin Community, Greenwood Community, Martinsville, Mooresville, Perry Meridian, Plainfield and Whiteland).
The 14 MSC games are played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a home-and-home series.
In 2021, the Hawks were part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping with Avon, Brownsburg, Plainfield (host), Terre Haute North Vigo and Terre Haute South Vigo. Decatur Central has won 16 sectional crowns — the last in 2019.
The Hawks play home games at Phil Webster Baseball Complex, named for the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer. Phil Webster is now back as an assistant at Pike with son Todd after a stint as Southport head coach.
Recent field upgrades at Decatur Central have been made the the bases, home plate area and infield skin.
Winkelseth’s varsity coaching staff in 2022 includes Alan Curry, Brandon Curry, Nick Jenkins and Noah Klick. Pitching coach Alan Curry is a longtime DC assistant. Brandon is Alan’s son. Jenkins is director of Armstrong Pavilion, Decatur Township’s health and fitness center. DCHS teacher and volunteer Klick played at Tiffin (Ohio) University.
Besides Decatur Central Little League (T-ball to age 12), the high school’s feeder system includes seventh grade and eighth grade teams at Decatur Central Middle School.
While current players are contemplating offers, Decatur Central has sent several recent graduates on to college baseball, including 2017 graduate Bradley Brehmer (Indiana University), 2018 grads/twins Alex Mitchell (Indiana Tech) and Austin Mitchell (Indiana Tech), 2020 alums Timmy Casteel (Manchester) and Brayden Hazelwood (Indiana University Southeast) and the Class of 2021’s Nico Avila (Marian University’s Ancilla College) and Bryce Woodruff (Marian University’s Ancilla College). Avila was an all-Marion County catcher in 2021.

Sean Winkelseth.

Decatur Central High School players do community service by cleaning up at Decatur Central Little League in Indianapolis.

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Wilkins wants ‘selfless’ players at Ivy Tech Northeast

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

It’s a team-first concept that Connor Wilkins is emphasizing as the new head baseball coach at Ivy Tech Northeast in Fort Wayne, Ind.
In June, Wilkins took over the Titans program started by Indiana Baseball Hall of Famer Lance Hershberger.
“Be a selfless player and put your team ahead yourself,” says Wilkins, who turns 29 in October. “It’s a team approach. It’s never individual goals. Are you willing to do what is necessary for your team to succeed even if you fail?”
Wilkins has this in mind when looking for players to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II program.
“We are very strict about how we recruit,” says Wilkins. “We see how they interact with their parents and their teammates. We coach the entire person. The results on the ball field take care of themselves.”
With games and practices at Shoaff Park, Ivy Tech is currently engaged in fall ball. They have had six scrimmages and could wind up having as many as 28 — most of them on the road at such four-year schools as the University of Northwestern Ohio, Indiana Tech, Indiana Wesleyan University and Taylor University.
The Titans went 1-0-1 in the recent Puma JUCO Classic — a Prep Baseball Report showcase at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind.
There are nearly 40 players honing fundamentals and getting down the details of Ivy Tech’s offensive and defensive systems.
“We start working on things now so that come spring time their mechanics and bodies are locked in,” says Wilkins, who is working toward a Masters in Exercise Science and Wellness with a concentration in Fitness and Performance through Liberty University.
Wilkins’ assistant coaches are Scott Bickel, Drew Buffenbarger, Javier DeJesus and Mark Flueckiger. Buffenbarger was Ivy Tech’s first baseball captain. DeJesus, who played for the Fort Wayne Wizards, is the Titans pitching coach. Flueckiger, who played at Huntington College (now Huntington University), has high school and college coaching experience.
A 2011 graduate of Concordia Lutheran High School, catcher Wilkins played for Steve Kleinschmidt as Cadets freshman and his last three seasons for Hershberger.
Wilkins went to Rick Smith-coached NJCAA member Jackson (Mich.) College then transferred to Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, where an L5 (fifth Lumbar Vertabra) injury on top of a preexisting back issue ended his playing days in the fall of 2013.
His original career path was to follow grandfather Harry Wallace’s footsteps and become a chiropractor before he got the teaching and coaching bug. Wallace (who died in 2006) practiced for 60 years around Ligonier and Fort Wayne.
Wilkins transferred from Indiana Tech to Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne and changed his major to Secondary Education through Indiana University.
In the spring of 2014, he was on the baseball staff of Fort Wayne Northrop High School head coach Matt Brumbaugh.
Before becoming head coach and an advisor at Ivy Tech, Wilkinson spent three years at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, where he taught History, Health Sciences and Strength & Conditioning.
Connor is the youngest of Dan and Beth Wilkins’ four children after Danielle Molter (36), Matthew Wilkins (34) and Brianna Kompara (32). Dan Wilkins is a retired IT specialist at GTE (now Verizon) and Beth Wilkins is in customer service at Parkview Hospital Randallia.
Connor and wife Alana will celebrate three years of marriage in October. Alana Wilkins is a Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger High School graduate and an insurance underwriter. The couple have a daughter — Rey (2).

The Wilkins family (from left): Rey, Alana and Connor.

The Wilkins family — Matt, Alana and little Rey.

It’s about more than baseball for Gossel, Covenant Christian Warriors

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Covenant Christian High School baseball players hoisted a sectional trophy in 2018.

The Warriors reigned at the IHSAA Class 2A event at Speedway.

That was only part of what veteran head coach Andy Gossel wants his players to achieve.

“Our two team core covenants are to be relentless to be selfless,” says Gossel. “We emblazon them on everything. This is what we’re about.”

Gossel wants his athletes to see how this looks in the class room, weight room, on game days and in dealing with their parents — in all aspects of their lives.

“We want to win games and championships,” says Gossel. “But we’re passionate about helping kids develop and grow as men of God.

“We want to impact kids’ lives far above and beyond the baseball field. They’re going to spend a much greater amount of being fathers, husbands, employees and employers than baseball players.”

Each year, Gossel and his team pick a book or topic to focus on besides baseball. They have done Bible studies and delved into John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success.

Gossel goes to the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention when its within driving distance.

“It’’s so phenomenal,” says Gossel. “Coaches at so many levels share what they do.

“They are so approachable.”

In attending the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Indianapolis in January 2018, Gossel noticed that the subject of relational coaching kept coming up.

“I don’t know if it’s a bigger emphasis or more people are willing to talk about it, but it was like an ad hoc theme for the weekend,” says Gossel, who saw Sam Houston State University head coach Matt Deggs do a presentation on the big stage about going from a transactional to a transformational coach.

“When it gets down to the nitty gritty, kids are going to remember the relationship so much more,” says Gossel, a Buffalo, N.Y., native who played at and graduated from Bible Baptist College (now Clarks Summit University in Pennsylvania) in 1997, and is heading into his 22nd season as a head baseball coach in 2019.

Following six seasons at Arlington Baptist School in Baltimore, this will be his 16th at Covenant Christian on the west side of Indianapolis (the school is at 21st Street and Girls School Road just over a mile from Ben Davis High School).

Kingsway Christian in Avon, Ind., and Mooresville (Ind.) Christian Academy in Mooresville are considered feeder schools. But students come from all over to attend the school for grades 9-12.

Covenant Christian has played on-campus at Warrior Park since 2003. The school started its baseball program in 2000 with no facility to call their own. A fund was established to built a field in honor of long-time player and Covenant parent Scott Dobbs after he lost his battle with cancer in the fall of 2002.

Gossel, who is also the school’s athletic director, says Covenant is constantly looking to improve the field.

So far, Denis Schinderle returning to his varsity coaching staff. He has been with Gossel for most of his Covenant tenure and both his sons played for Gossel. Chris Stevenson is back to lead the junior varsity. A search is on for other coaches.

Covenant Christian (enrollment of about 365) is a member of the Circle City Conference (with Brebeuf Jesuit, Guerin Catholic, Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard and Roncalli).

The CCC plays a home-and-home series, usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays to determine the regular-season conference champion. A year-end tournament is slated for May 17-18 at Roncalli.

“There’s no easy games in that conference,” says Gossel. “It’s really going to be a challenge for us.

“It prepared us for the state tournament. Every play was important. Every inning was important.”

The 2018 season in the Circle City was probationary for new member Covenant though the Warriors played all league teams twice but Roncalli.

The Warriors are in an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Indianapolis Shortridge, Indianapolis Washington, Park Tudor, Speedway and Cascade. Covenant Christian won its fourth sectional title in 2018, reigning at the Speedway Sectional.

“We can be very competitive at the sectional level,” says Gossel. “We’ve never gotten out of the regional.”

Covenant currently has graduate Eric Murphy (Wabash College) playing baseball at the next level.

Andy and Laura Gossel met at college. They have been married more than 21 years and have three children. Ty Gossel (16) is a sophomore football and baseball player at Covenant. Jacob Gossel (14) is a freshman basketball and baseball athlete at Covenant. The youngest is daughter Elyssa Gossel (11).

Andy Gossel is the athletic director and head baseball coach at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis. (Covenant Christian Photo)

Andy Gossel is heading into his 16th season as the head baseball coach at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis in 2019. (Covenant Christian Photo)

As head baseball coach at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis, Andy Gossel and his Warriors constantly talk about the covenants of being relentless and selfless. (Covenant Christian Photo)

Andy Gossel came to Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis in the fall of 2003 to be head baseball coach and athletic director. The Warriors won the IHSAA Class 2A Speedway Sectional in 2018. (Covenant Christian Photo)