By STEVE KRAH
IndianaRBI.com
Ben Mahar is back and coaching baseball in northwest Indiana.
After four years at Barry Goldwater High School in Phoenix, Ariz., and taking 2023 off, Mahar is going into his first season as Lowell High School head coach in 2024.
The 2011 Mundelein (Ill.) High School alum and 2015 Valparaiso (Ind.) University graduate and former Crusaders (now Beacons) pitcher was head coach at Lake Station (Ind.) Edison Junior/Senior High School 2016-18 and has returned to teach History there.
Mahar was named head coach at Lowell in October 2023 and led the Red Devils of the Calumet Region through the end of fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period events as well as the entirety of winter activities leading up to the official start of practice on March 11.
“We’re emphasizing accountability and all the standards like playing the game the right way and doing your job on a daily basis,” says Mahar, who leads a program with 43 players varsity, junior varsity and freshmen/sophomore teams. “We lifted twice a week and did conditioning during non-limited contact. In December, we built arms and introduce concepts.
“With the help of my coaches it was pretty easy transition back into high school coaching.”
Mahar’s Lowell staff features former Wabash College player and Griffith (Ind.) High School assistant Jared Wolfe (Terre Haute South Vigo Class of 2015) as hitting coach and former Ancilla College player and Boone Grove High School assistant Diante Kincaid (LaPorte Class of 2011) as JV head coach with Shannon Umfleet at the lower levels and volunteers Jim Brooker with the varsity and Jim Galvin with the JV and freshmen/sophomores.
Lowell (enrollment around 1,000) is a member of the Northwest Crossroads Conference (with Andrean, Hanover Central, Highland, Hobart, Kankakee Valley and Munster).
NCC games are played as home-and-home series on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The Red Devils are part of an IHSAA Class 4A sectional grouping in 2024 with Chesterton, Crown Point, Kankakee Valley, Portage and Valparaiso. Lowell has won nine sectional titles — the last in 1994.
The 2024 season/home opener is slated for Monday, April 1 against Highland. The Red Devils take to the road in May when construction begins on a new on-campus home diamond that will feature turf.
Other teams on the schedule include Boone Grove, Griffith, Hammond Morton, Hebron, Illiana Christian, LaPorte, Merrillville, Morgan Township, Rensselaer Central and Wheeler.
A pair of recent Lowell graduates graduates that moved on to collegiate baseball include Joey Paternostro at Goshen College and Chris Vinson at Lake Michigan College.
Mahar and others in the community are working to build up the Red Devils feeder system. There are a few age groups represented in the Lowell Devils.
“It’s a matter of going with all levels,” says Mahar. “It’s a work-in-progress.”
The high school staff was involved with recent evaluations for Lowell Baseball League (Babe Ruth).
Ben and wife Jenessa have four children (three girls and a boy) — Ava (7), Layla (6), Dani (3) and Eddie (six months).
Follow the Red Devils on X (formerly Twitter) at @rdpathletics.
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