Scott wants Clinton Prairie Gophers to go, go, go on the bases

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Aggressiveness on the bases.

That’s what Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School baseball coach Matt Scott emphasizes with his Gophers.

“We put pressure on the defense,” says Scott, who enters his seventh season in charge at the Frankfort, Ind.-based school in 2019. “We do a lot of hit-and-run and bunt-and-run. We find ways to make the defense make the play.”

Led by seniors Kameron Peters (30) and Sam Schoonveld (10), the 2018 Gophers collected 83 stole bases while going 10-14. Clinton Prairie swiped 70 bases in 2017 (led by Peters’ 18) and 75 in 2016 (paced by Peters’ 14). Schoonveld went on to play football at the University of Indianapolis.

Scott is a 1998 Frankfort High School graduate. His baseball coach with the Hot Dogs was Torrey Rodkey. Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations (2002) and master’s degree in political science (2003) and now teaches social studies to both junior high and high school students at Clinton Prairie.

It was while doing his practicum and student teaching at Frankfort that Scott was bitten by the baseball coaching bug. He spent a couple years on the staff of Andy Dudley.

After that, Scott was an assistant to Dan Hilgediek at Clinton Prairie for six years before taking over the Gophers program.

Scott says he learned things from each coach that helps him in his current position.

“(Dudley) is very detail-oriented,” says Scott. “He let’s the kids play the game, but there’s a sense of fundamentals,” says Scott. “He showed me organization and how to run a practice.”

Dudley was able to get his players to understand concepts like footwork and the intricacies of hitting.

Scott says Hilgidiek’s strength was as an in-game tactician.

“He knew when to go to the mound vs. letting the kids work through it,” says Scott. “He handled situations with umpires and with kids.

“He got the kids to understand that you play the way you practice.”

The IHSAA now allows a coaches to work with the team for two hours a day two days a week during certain windows rather than just two athletes at a time.

During the fall, Clinton Prairie (enrollment of about 330) had baseball players involved in football and other sports, but up to 10 participated in baseball workouts.

“We’re a small school. It’s difficult to have a lot of kids,” says Scott. “But we were able to get into individual groups, scrimmage and work on different things — like hitting the ball to the right side.”

Winter workouts are held early in the morning. One week there will be a defense/pitching session on one day and hitting the next. It flips the following week. This allows athletes in wrestling and basketball who show up once a week to get work in both areas.

In recent seasons, the Gophers have had about 25 players for varsity and junior varsity squads.

Varsity assistants Brian Hennen and Kip Skinner and JV coach Jonas Lenehan are on Scott’s 2019 coaching staff. Jerrad Blacker runs the junior high program (separate teams for seventh and eighth grade) with oversight by Scott.

Besides the junior high, the Gophers’ feeder system includes Frankfort Little League and Town & Country leagues at Colfax and Mulberry plus various travel organizations.

All Clinton Prairie teams play on the same on-campus diamond. With former McCutcheon baseball coach and current CP athletic director Brian Eaton leading the way, sponsorships have been formed with local businesses to fund projects like double bullpens on both the home and visitor sides. There are also plans to skin the infield and re-plant sod and re-do the backstop.

Scott says baseball, football and softball are combining forces to seek a rural water grant that would bring irrigation to all their playing fields.

Clinton Prairie is a member of the Hoosier Heartland Conference (with Carroll of Flora, Clinton Central, Delphi, Eastern of Greentown, Rossville, Sheridan, Taylor and Tri-Central). Each team plays once to determine the champion. Delphi becomes a full HHC member in team sports in 2019-20.

Among the Gophers’ non-conference opponents are Frankfort, Covington, Fountain Central, Hamilton Heights, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Covington and Southmont.

The Gophers are in an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Carroll of Flora, Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic, Seeger and Western Boone. Clinton Prairie has won four sectionals — the last in 1993.

Matt and Megan Scott have two children — Cooper (5) and Lynnlee (14 months).

Matt and Megan Scott share a moment together. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.

Matt Scott goes for a winter stroll with son Cooper and daughter Lynnlee. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.

Three generations of Scott men attend a Chicago Cubs game (from left): Matt, Cooper and Richard. Matt is a teacher and head baseball coach at Clinton Prairie Junior-Senior High School in Frankfort, Ind.

Dudley heading into 17th season of guiding Frankfort Hot Dogs

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

One never knows where life’s path might lead them.

Andy Dudley was born in Greenfield, Ind., grew up in Knightstown, Ind., attended college and got his first coaching job in Indianapolis.

But his first full-time teaching and coaching position took him to Frankfort, Ind.

Dudley was finishing up his math education degree at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and serving on the baseball staff of Duke Burns at Park Tudor School.

“They needed a pitching coach and brought me into the mix,” says Dudley. “That was a great experience for me.

“I got to work with some really good pitchers and catchers.”

He also received a lead that led him to where he is today. Burns told Dudley of an opening for a math teacher and head baseball coach at Frankfort High School.

Burns had been working on the Hot Dogs’ playing facility with his Diamond Vision baseball field business.

Dudley, who graduated from IUPUI in 2001, got an interview at Frankfort and was hired as a teacher and head coach.

“It was a really great fit for me,” says Dudley. “I was grateful for that.”

The 2003 baseball season was his first, which makes the 2019 slate his 17th in Clinton County.

“What I enjoy is that it’s a (an IHSAA Class) 3A school and a big enough town,” says Dudley. “It’s small enough to know all of my kids coming up.

“It’s in the middle of a very rural county. About half of the baseball program is Hispanic. It’s a unique experience.”

Frankfort went 15-13 and won the Sagamore Conference title in 2018. The SAC, which plays home-and-home series on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the last two games split up between a Friday and Saturday, also features Crawfordsville, Danville Community, Lebanon, North Montgomery, Southmont, Tri-West Hendricks and Western Boone.

The Hot Dogs are in a 3A sectional grouping with Crawfordsville, Lebanon, North Montgomery and Southmont. Frankfort hoisted sectional trophies in back-to-back seasons (2015 and 2016).

Frankfort participated in Indiana’s first state high school baseball tournament back in 1912 and lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist Fort Wayne.

Recent Frankfort graduates have gone on to make an impact at the college level, including shortstop Leo Lopez at Marian University in Indianapolis and outfielder Jarrod Smith at Franklin (Ind.) College.

Dudley expects three current Hot Dog seniors — Casey Henry, Christian Lopez and Jose Valdes Sandoval — to play college ball. All three are right-handed pitchers. Henry and Lopez (brother of Leo) are also outfielders while Valdes Sandoval plays third base.

Dudley’s varsity coaching staff includes two of his former Frankfort players (Blake Ayers and Kansas Varner) as well as an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer (Dennis Kas). Ayers played at Huntington University and Varner at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Isaac Field and Steve Royer will run the junior varsity program.

Dudley says he typically has carries about 25 players for the two squads, which play their games on-campus at a field which has added a pro-style backstop and new dugouts in recent years. Decorative blocks are part of the backstop facade with salutes to alumni and prominent former players and teams.

“It looks really nice,” says Dudley. “We did most of the work ourselves (the team and local baseball backers).”

Among those feeding the Hot Dogs are Frankfort Little League, Frankfort Rotary Baseball (for seventh and eighth graders) and Frankfort-based Indiana Giants travel team. Frankfort has also sent players to travel with the Indiana Bulls and Indiana Prospects among others.

Dudley played for Greg Miller at Knightstown High School, graduating in 1996.

Miller, who had been a member of the Ball State University’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen basketball team in 1989-90, was also Dudley’s basketball coach at Knightstown.

“The biggest thing I got from Coach Miller was the way handled himself as a role model and an adult,” says Dudley, who was a catcher for the Panthers in the spring and while playing for the Bulls and coach Bret Shambaugh in the summer.

As IUPUI head coach, Shambaugh attracted Dudley to play in the capitol city.

“A lot of what I do as a coach and did as a player came from (Shambaugh),” says Dudley. “He was really demanding as a coach but I learned a lot.”

In his second year, he became a full-time pitcher.

Former Jaguars assistant Brian Donahue was IUPUI’s head coach in Dudley’s last two seasons.

“We were just converting to a Division I athletic program,” says Dudley. “I got to be put into a leadership role.”

Andy and Mandy Dudley have two children. Daughter Alaina (12) is a sixth grader. Son Brock (10) is in fourth grade. The couple met when both taught at Greenwood (Ind.) Middle School.

Head coach Andy Dudley (far left in back row) celebrates with his Frankfort (Ind.) High School baseball team after it won its second straight IHSAA Class 3A sectional title in 2016.

Andy Dudley has been the head baseball coach at Frankfort (Ind.) High School in the 2003 season.

Oppy finds right combination for slugging Tri-West Hendricks Bruins

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Moving players around during the 2018 season, sixth-year Tri-West Hendricks High School baseball coach Ryan Oppy found the combination that has helped the Bruins win 20 games and a second straight IHSAA Class 3A sectional title.

“We’ve been plugging guys in and out trying to find the right comfort level,” says Oppy. “They’ve handled some change well.”

By beating Brebeuf Jesuit 6-3 Monday, May 28 for the IHSAA Class 3A Danville Sectional title — the seventh in program history —  Tri-West earned the right to play Saturday, June 2 at the Crawfordsville Regional.

North Montgomery plays West Vigo in the morning game followed by Indian Creek against Tri-West. Because Indian Creek’s graduation is Saturday morning, the first game is set for 11 a.m., followed the second around 2:30 p.m. The championship is slated for 7.

Tri-West, based in Lizton, Ind., will be aiming at its first regional crown.

The power-hitting Bruins were averaging more than 10 runs per game heading into the postseason.

“We get on base and score a lot,” says Oppy.

Tri-West is currently among the top home run producers in Indiana with 24 (11 belonging to catcher Derek Wagner). According to MaxPreps, only Center Grove (34), Monrovia (34) and Pike (27) have more.

Wagner (Indiana University Southeast), center fielder Carter Cooper (Wright State University-Lake Campus) and shortstop Lucas Goodin (Indiana Wesleyan) are all seniors who have made college baseball commitments.

The veteran-laden Bruins have six other seniors — right-handed pitcher/first baseman/right fielder Mason Cox, second baseman Tanner Freije, third baseman Levi Jackson, left fielder/left-hander Jarrett Roseboom, right fielder Ryan Vershave and first baseman/right-hander Zach Waters. Cox is the ace of the pitching staff.

“We’ve had a lot of experience the last couple years has helped our program,” says Oppy.

Also in the mound mix are junior left-hander Jacob Hayden and sophomore righty Dawson Wolfe.

Junior Blake Bear sees most of the time in right field. Sophomore Quinten Cooper also plays in the outfield.

Tri-West belongs to the Sagamore Conference (along with Crawfordsville, Danville, Frankfort, Lebanon, North Montgomery, Southmont and Western Boone).

Teams play home-and-home series on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tri-West and Frankfort both went 10-4 to tie for the Sagamore championship.

The 20-6 Bruins split with Crawfordsville, Danville, Frankfort and North Montgomery and suffered non-conference losses to Avon and Cascade.

There were 33 players in the program this spring for varsity and junior varsity teams.

Oppy’s assistant coaches are Bryan Engelbrecht, Dellos Schabel, Scott Arthur and Gordie Lucas.

Tri-West plays its home games on-campus. This spring, a fundraising campaign brought the Bruins a new mobile batting cage.

Various travel ball organizations, including Indiana Hurricanes, Indiana Braves, Indiana Expos and Indiana Nitro serve as a kind of feeder system for Tri-West. Slugger Wagner has played with the Cincinnati Spikes.

Oppy graduated in 2004 from Danville Community High School, where he played for and gained knowledge from veteran Warriors head coach Rick Foster that helps him to this day.

“It was the way he communicated with his players and how he handled different aspects of running a baseball program,” says Oppy of Foster. “As for the on the field stuff, he knew a lot. I would ask the question of why we would do this instead of that.

“I also saw the way he treated people.”

Head coach Tim Bunton taught Oppy more about the game during his two seasons at Danville (Ill.) Area Community College. He finished his elementary education degree at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis.

While Bunton was very personable, he was also very demanding of his athletes.

“He would push people,” says Oppy. “He expected more out of you than you would out of yourself.

“You hold yourself and other people accountable.”

Bunton was also a stickler for time management.

“If practice time was 3:30, the rule is you had to be there 15 minutes before that,” says Oppy. “If you weren’t, you were in trouble.”

Oppy teaches fourth grade at Pittsboro Elementary. The current junior class were fourth graders when he started.

Ryan and Nicole Oppy have two daughters — Lydia (4) and Margaret (1).

Tri-West Hendricks made it two IHSAA Class 3A sectional baseball titles in a row in 2018 under Bruins head coach Ryan Oppy. Tri-West plays in the Crawfordsville Regional Saturday, June 2.

The Tri-West Bruins hoist the trophy at the 2018 IHSAA Class 3A Danville Sectional baseball tournament.

 

O’Neil brings discipline, enthusiasm to Danville Warriors baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Backed by an administration and community that makes baseball a priority, second-year head coach Pat O’Neil and his Danville Community High School Warriors are aiming high.

“I want to bring a sense of confidence to the players and the program,” says O’Neil. “They can be as good as they want to be by putting in the correct amount of time, doing things the right way and doing things together.

“I’m taking the same approach I did at Brownsburg. A state championship is your goal. It’s not given to you. You’ve got to put in the effort and go the extra mile. I’m really pleased with the direction the (Danville) program is going.”

Including five seasons at the helm for Fountain Central High School, 10 for Brownburg High School and one for Danville Community, O’Neil’s career record is 348-112.

Armed with discipline, enthusiasm and organization learned as a player and later assistant for high school baseball coaching icon Ken Schreiber while serving on his LaPorte staff for IHSAA state championships in 1987 and 1990, O’Neil led Brownsburg on the diamond from 2001-10. The Bulldogs earned a state crown in 2005 after a state runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2004.

“The main goal is to get the blue (championship) ring at the end of the season,” says O’Neil, a 1975 LaPorte graduate and younger brother of Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Chip O’Neil. “I’ve got three blue rings and I know how good the blue feels.”

O’Neil coached future major leaguers at Brownsburg — pitchers Lance Lynn and Drew Storen and catcher Tucker Barnhart — and still communicates regularly with all three. In the three years after leaving the Bulldogs program, O’Neil took time off from coaching and saw many of their games.

When Lebanon High School head coach Rick Cosgray was looking for a pitching coach, he invited O’Neil to join the Tigers staff. In the first of his three seasons (2014-16), Lebanon won its first sectional since 2000.

Danville, which won the most-recent of its eight sectional titles in 2015, went 15-11 in 2017 and lost a 1-0 pitchers’ duel to eventual champion Indian Creek in the semifinals of the Class 3A Danville Sectional.

“It just came down to us not making a couple plays in the seventh inning,” says O’Neil, who saw the game’s lone run score on an 0-2 passed ball with two outs in the top of the seventh. Danville had runners at second and third when the game ended.

O’Neil’s varsity assistants are Danville graduates Jake Marckel and John Fuson with Chris Marckel (father of Jake) leading the junior varsity. O’Neil says he expects to have around 36 players in the program in the spring.

The 2018 Warriors will sport a roster full of seniors who are three- and four-year starters.

“They want to send a message that Danville baseball is program to be reckoned with and they want to lead the charge,” says O’Neil, who counts catcher Tarron Lawson, first baseman Ethan Shafer, right-handed pitcher Jackson Wynn, center fielder Dylan Snider, right-hander Tristan Morrell and right-hander/third baseman Isaac McGregor in the Class of 2018.

Lawson, Shafer and Wynn are Danville’s tri-captains. Lawson has committed to Eastern Illinois University while there has been college interest in some of the other Warriors.

O’Neil looks to get contributions from a junior class which includes shortstop/second baseman Blake Mills, utility man Mark Broderick, catcher Shane Bradley and right-hander Max Schumacher.

The importance of the unit is stressed by O’Neil.

“It’s all about team and there’s a role for everybody,” says O’Neil. “We encourage them about doing the best they can.”

The veteran coach notes that it doesn’t really matter where a batter appears on the lineup card.

“In the game, there’s only one legit lead-off hitter in the game (and that’s in the first inning),” says O’Neil. “When it’s your turn to produce, go up and produce. I want everybody to think they’re the No. 3 hitter.”

O’Neil cites the example of Austin Nickol at Brownsburg. He batted No. 5 and went into the 2004 State Finals hitting .281 with eight runs batted in then batted in the No. 9 hole and hit  .407 with 22 RBI going into the 2005 championship game. The Bulldogs wound up 35-0 and Nickol received a scholarship to Butler University.

Danville belongs to the Sagamore Conference (along with Crawfordsville, Frankfort, Lebanon, North Montgomery, Southmont, Tri-West Hendricks and Western Boone). The conference observes a schedule with home-and-home games in the same week for a total of 14 league games.

“The Sagamore is going to be strong this year,” says O’Neil. “It’s the most competitive top to bottom in the five years I’ve been around it.”

Danville has never won the Sagamore in baseball since joining in 2000. The Warriors were Mid-State Conference champions in 1946, 1951 and 1967 and West Central Conference champions in 1988, 1989, 1994 and 1998.

The Warriors’ 2018 non-conference slate includes Beech Grove, Cascade, Covenant Christian, Lafayette Central Catholic, Monrovia, Northview, Owen Valley, Plainfield, Speedway plus the Hendricks County Tournament (Avon, Brownsburg, Cascade, Plainfield and Tri-West Hendricks are in that).

Hendricks County Tournament titles came Danville’s way in 1989, 1991 and 1994.

Danville will again host the sectional. But the tournament field and the playing surface will have a new look. Because of success factor or shuffling, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter (2A state runner-up in 2017), Brebeuf and Tri-West Hendricks have moved in to join Danville, Greencastle and Indianapolis Northwest.

With support of superintendent Dr. Tracey Shafer, principal Dr. P.J. Hamann, athletic director Jon Regashus (who was an O’Neil assistant at Brownsburg) and others, there have been several athletic upgrades on campus. On the way for the baseball field are many new items — a turf infield, drainage and sprinkling system for the outfield, fencing and bleaches. The dugouts and press box are to be renovated with a locker room added upstairs in the press box building.

The community’s youngest players play recreation and travel baseball. Danville Community Middle School’s seventh/eighth grade team is to play about 20 games in the spring.

“We want them to play as much as they can and get as much experience as possible,” says O’Neil.

Before O’Neil went to Brownsburg (he has been a health teacher at the school since 2000-01), he was a Midwest scout for the Tampa Bay Rays. At Fountain Central, he was also head football coach for five seasons (1990-94).

In seven seasons at LaPorte with Schreiber, he became very close with the Hall of Famer and learned much about developing pitchers.

“You don’t start in March,” says O’Neil. “You have to build up strength so they can throw 110 pitches and feel strong.”

By state tournament time, O’Neil wants to have a well-establish No. 1 and No. 2 starter but depth is also important.

“We want to develop another four or five guys who can come in and throw strikes and feel confident,” says O’Neil, who saw four Danville pitchers — Weston, Shafer, Morrell, and MacGregor — go down with non-baseball injuries in the last month of the 2017 regular season and had younger players step in to pick up the slack.

Before coaching at LaPorte, Pat spent two season on brother Chip’s staff at South Bend St. Joseph.

The younger O’Neil played two seasons at Kentucky Wesleyan College after two at Vincennes University. He earned an undergraduate degree from KWC in 1980 and a master’s degree from Indiana University South Bend in 1990.

Married nearly eight years to Carol, Pat has two daughters. Oldest daughter Maureen and husband Matt Hoard have two boys — Clark (8) and A.J. (5). Youngest Katie and spouse Brandon Jewell have pets. Stepson Michael is a recent Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology graduate. Stepdaughter Jennifer is a nursing student at the University of Indianapolis.

Pat O’Neil enters his second season as head  baseball coach at Danville Community High School in 2018. He coached five seasons at Fountain Central and 10 at Brownsburg, earning state runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2004 and a state championship in 2005.

 

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)

 

 

Froedge makes success an expectation at Crawfordsville

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

In the heart of Montgomery County is a high school baseball program that’s hard to beat.

John Froedge has been coach at Crawfordsville since age 23 in 1982. His pitching coach and brother-in-law Rhett Welliever is in his 32nd year with the Athenians.

“We have something kind of unique here for a small community,” says Froedge. “Kids who come into the baseball program expect success so they work hard.

“Any of the programs that have had long-standing success have a formula. This is how we do Crawfordsville baseball and these are the expectations.”

The cornerstones of the Athenian way have always been structure, discipline and a love of baseball. With continued success came tradition and expectation.

In the past 26 seasons, Crawfordsville has won 14 IHSAA sectionals, five regionals, two semesters and two Class 3A state championships as well as 20 Sagamore Conference titles.

The Athenians raised the state trophy by besting Mishawaka Marian twice — 5-1 in 2008 and 8-3 in 2011.

C-ville has earned at least 20 victories in 21 of those 26 campaigns. The average record during the span is 24-8.

The 2016 Athenians went 25-5 and won the conference title, but not the sectional. For the first time since 2003-05, Crawfordsville has gone three straight seasons minus a sectional crown.

“We’ve got a bunch of really hungry seniors,” says Froedge of the 2017 squad. “We’ve virtually got the entire team back.”

While proud of the tradition, Froedge deflects from the stress of keeping it going.

“They don’t want to be the first group to go through here and not win something big,” says Froedge. “I tell them ‘Just play the game. There is no pressure. You’re not playing for the legacy. You’re not playing for the past. This is your team.’

“I want them to experience that success at the end of the year. But they’re not going to get it if they’re all uptight about it.”

Froedge, a 1976 Southmont High School graduate, is bearing down on 750 career victories. He is in select company among active Indiana high school coaches. Andrean’s Dave Pishkur is in the 900-win club. Twin Lakes’ Jake Burton has surpassed 800 while Froedge, Chesterton’s Jack Campbell, Indianapolis Scecina’s Dave Gandolph and Jasper’s Terry Gobert have all surpassed 700. All six are in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Froedge’s induction coming 2010.

Early in Froedge’s career, he saw success happening at places like Jasper and LaPorte and said why not Crawfordsville, too? He made it a point to take to LaPorte’s Ken Schreiber when attending the IHSBCA State Clinic each winter.

“When you’re trying to build your program, you find out who try to talk to the best,” says Froedge, who also learned about the game while playing for IHSBCA Hall of Famer Don Brandon at Anderson University.

All but one of Crawfordsville’s IHSBCA North/South All-Star selections — Damon Brown (1978) — have come with Froedge in charge. The others are Matt McCarty (1994), Brett Motz (1995), Adrian Norris (2002), Brandon Moore (2004), Ross Wheeler (2006), Andrew Swart (2008), Brett McKinney (2009), Steven Rice (2010), Cory Rice (2011), Caleb Rasmussen (2012) and Jordan Jackson (2013).

Many Athenians have gone on to play college baseball, but not many at the NCAA Division I level. A couple of exceptions are left-handed pitchers Cameron Hobson and Steven Rice.

When Crawfordsville won the 3A state crown in 2008, Hobson (win) and Rice (save) handled pitching duties in topping Marian.

Hobson went on to pitch for the University Dayton. His professional career took him as far as Triple-A. Rice was a part of Vanderbilt University’s 2014 College World Series champions.

“It sounds cliche, but we’re a team,” says Froedge. “Year in and year out, we’re not the most athletic, the most gifted. We develop strong pitching — and it’s no different this year — but it’s everybody pulling together and working for a common cause.

“We have kids that are super loyal to the program. We have had kids do well by working hard together.”

Kids coming up through feeder programs like Crawfordsville Youth Baseball (CYB-Crawfordsville Youth Baseball on Facebook) and Crawfordsville Middle School dream of one day playing for the Athenian varsity.

There’s also a real family feel. John’s wife Debbie is always around. Son Brandon Froedge, who played for C-ville in the 1990’s, left the baseball staff last year to help assistant his sister Britney Carpenter in her role as Crawfordsville’s head softball coach.

John has been at it long enough that he can now say he has coached several fathers and sons in the royal blue and yellow gold.

Welliever, whom John calls a “baseball junkie” has been pitching daily batting practice for decades.

“One day we counted and he threw 750 pitches,” says Froedge. “He’ll throw to the whole roster multiple times and come back the next day and do it again.”

Tony Bean, Tommy Coy, Daryl Hobson and Connor Smith are also trusted assistants for the Athenians. Justin Dugger is in his 20th season of doing multiple jobs for the team. Bob Taylor has been shooting video of every game for the past 25 years or so.

The current CHS school building opened in 1993-94 and Athenians moved from Miligan Park/Baldwin Field (the program’s home field when it won sectional trophies in 1967, 1970, 1971 and 1974) to the on-campus facility in 1995.

“We’ve got a really beautiful field and the kids do all the work,” says Froedge.

In the Sagamore Conference, Crawfordsville meets Danville, Frankfort, Lebanon, North Montgomery, Southmont, Tri-West Hendricks and Western Boone. Many non-conference games are against bigger schools and the Athenians go to Tennessee at the beginning of the season seeking the best competition available. The final of the C-ville tournament April 15 pitted 3A No. 1 Crawfordsville against 4A No. 1 Carmel (won 13-5 by the visitors).

John Froedge is in his 36th season as head baseball coach at Crawfordsville High School. The Indiana Hugh School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer is bearing down on his 750th career victory. His Athenians won Class 3A state titles in 2008 and 2011.