Carmel alum Williams contributes for Michigan State

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Christian Williams was in the mix Friday, May 3 as Michigan State University edged visiting rival Michigan 3-2 in Big Ten Conference baseball.

The righty-swinging redshirt junior occupied the No. 6 slot in the Spartans lineup.

Another Williams — Nick — lofted a 10th-inning sacrifice fly that won the game and was mobbed by his teammates.

Heading into Game 2 of the three-game Saturday, May 4 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in East Lansing, Mich., Christian Williams has played in 39 contests (37 starts) and is hitting .280 (37-of-132) with three home runs, no triples, eight doubles, 24 runs batted in, 28 runs scored and an .831 OPS (.422 on-base percentage plus .409 slugging average). The designated hitter has eight multi-hit games with four safeties Feb. 24 against Marshall and three Feb. 28 at Georgia.

“I just like to see the ball in the heart of the plate,” says Williams of his offensive approach. “I look for something middle-middle with the fastball and use my athleticism to adjust from there.”

Williams was red-shirted for the 2021 season. In 2022, he played in 24 games (18 starts) and hit .258 (17-of-66) with two homers, two triples, four doubles, 16 RBIs, 14 runs and a .816 OPS (.346/.470). As a catcher, he made 84 putouts with six assists and posted a .978 fielding percentage.

A broken hamate bone in his hand suffered while swinging the bat limited Williams to just two games for the 2023 Spartans. 

He was with the Midwest Collegiate League’s Northwest Indiana Oilmen (the MCL is now the Northern League) in the summer of 2021, the champion Bag Bandits in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2022, missed 2023 while rehabbing from his hamate surgery and plans to go this summer with the Coastal Plain League’s Lexington County (S.C.) Blowfish. He is to be be joined by MSU teammate Sam Busch.

Williams, 22, has at least one year of remaining eligibility and could have two if he seeks and is granted a medical redshirt for ’23. He graduated April 29 with a Kinesiology degree. He plans to pursue a certificate in Coaching, Leadership and Administration while playing in 2024-25. 

What about his defensive keys while behind the plate?

“Catching’s a tough position. You’re seeing the whole field. You’re kind of the unsung hero at times. Good catchers go unnoticed. 

“When I’m back there I try to help my pitchers as best as I can and be a leader on the field — stay calm, cool, collected and athletic and try to help the team win.”

It was at about age 12 that Williams became a catcher.

“When I was younger I liked the gear,” says Williams of why he decided to be a backstop. “I just stuck with it.”

Born in Tampa, Fla., Williams moved to Indiana at about 3 months. I’ve been in Indiana for most of my life. He played rec ball in Pike Township in Indianapolis until 12.

There was followed by a four-year stint in Michigan where he earned two baseball letters at Northville High School playing for head coach John Kostrzewa and played travel ball for the Michigan Bulls.

When he returned to the Hoosier State, Williams went with the Indiana Bulls for his 17U summer and earned two baseball letters at Carmel (Ind.) High School with his 2020 senior season taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greyhounds head coach was Matt Buczkowski.

“He was a great coach,” says Williams of Buczkowski. “He’s a great leader and a great guy. He led us in the right direction. He let us have fun — but at the same time — kept us on the straight and narrow.

“He kept us serious when we needed to be. We won a lot of games.”

Christian is the son of Alan and Lisa Williams. Dad played football at Williams & Mary University and mom soccer at Slippery Rock University. 

Among his football-coaching father’s teams have been the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. He is taking the year off.

Two brothers — Solomon Williams (Carmel Class of 2022 now a safety at Princeton University) and Nathan Williams (Carmel Class of 2025 and exploring college options) — are football players.

At Carmel (Ind.) High School, Christian was a quarterback, receiver and kick returner and considered football as his collegiate route. 

“I had a strong thought,” says Williams, who won four football letters as a high schooler and helped Carmel to a 2019 Class 6A state runner-up finish with 118 all-purpose yards in the title game. “I was being recruited in both (baseball and football) until just before my senior year. Ultimately, I decided on baseball. I couldn’t forgive myself if I wasn’t able to swing a bat again.

“I hit the recruiting process hard and ended up here at Michigan State.”

MSU counts Jake Boss Jr., as head coach.

“He’s a great leader and a strong Christian guy,” says Williams of Boss. “He’s an awesome guy to play for. He lets us do our thing and have fun.”

Spartans hitting coach duties fall to former Western Michigan University shortstop Andrew Stone.

“He’s taught me how to be a good, mature hitter, stay inside the baseball, take good swings and work on my mechanics,” says Williams of Stone. “I work on my approach at the plate and the mental side and being confident and collected.”

Adam Eaton, who logged 10 Major League Baseball seasons, is Michigan State’s director of player development.

“Just learning from a big leaguer has been amazing,” says Williams of Eaton. “He just has a different mentality and approach to the game. To pick up on little things that he teaches us has been huge for me.

“It’s really the mental side and how to be a good baseball player as much as the X’s and O’s and swing techniques. How do I approach baseball on a day-to-day basis? How do I show up and play hard? What do coaches look for?”

The rest of the MSU coaching staff includes Graham Sikes and Mark Van Ameyde plus director of baseball operations Tommy Merlo.

Williams’ favorite MLB team is the Boston Red Sox. He picked that up from his mother who grew up in New England and her side of the family.

Former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was a special player to Williams.

“He was a smaller player and I’ve always a shorter guy,” says Williams, who is 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds. “I liked how he played the game hard and well at his size.”

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

Christian Williams. (Michigan State University Photo)

IU Southeast alum Romero coaching Cubs minor leaguers

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com 

Marco Romero‘s calling card as a baseball player came from swinging the bat.

At Indiana University Southeast, the Caracas, Venezuela native played in 139 games. 

Swinging from the left side, the 6-foot-2 Romero amassed an average of .376 (173-of-460) with 15 home runs, two triples, 44 doubles, 139 runs batted in, 138 runs scored, 42 strikeouts, 95 walks, 29 stolen bases and a 1.076 OPS (.498 on-base percentage plus .578 slugging average). 

He helped the Ben Reel-coached Grenadiers go 109-32 from 2020-22 with a trip to the 2021 NAIA World Series.

“I’ll never regret going to IUS,” says Romero, 27. “I’ve moved around every few years. New Albany is a place that feels like home to me.”

Romero graduated from high school and completed two years of college in Venezuela. The political unrest there caused only-child Marco and mother Julia Villalobos to go to Tampa, Fla., where they had visited family on vacation (father Marco Romero is in Venezuela and his son has contact with him everyday). 

The younger Marco Romero attended a Tampa baseball academy then started his college career over.

He landed at Oakton College in Des Plaines, Ill., and helped the Owls to National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series appearances in 2018 and 2019. 

Reel recruited at the NJCAA D-III World Series and coaxed Romero to southern Indiana.

There were a few other options at the NAIA level, but they were in Tennessee and Marco’s mother was in Chicago. 

“I liked the vibes Coach Reel gave me on my visit,” says Romero. “It was about more than baseball.

“He was trying to make them a better person for the world.”

Romero could see that the coach formed close bonds with his players.

Told to sleep on the decision, Romero did not and signed on the day of his visit.

“This is the place I need to be,” says Romero, who enjoyed a productive career and spends time on-campus each off-season.

After graduating as a Business Management major and Entrepreneurship minor in 2022, Romero began aiming for baseball operations jobs since he did not play pro ball.

A Linkedin contact viewed his resume, which showed that he had coached youth players and helped his teammates and served as a team captain, to go for coaching positions.

Romero was hired by the Houston Astros and went to work as a hitting coach apprentice at their West Palm Beach, Fla., complex in the summer of 2022.

Since December 2022, Romero has been a player development coach in the Chicago Cubs organization. In 2023, he helped the Double-A Tennessee Smokies on both the hitting and pitching side. In 2024, he will likely be an assistant hitting coach — with either the High-A South Bend (Ind.) Cubs or Low-A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans. Those assignments have not yet been announced.

Romero went to Mesa, Ariz., on Jan. 3 to work at an early camp and spring training starts in a few weeks. Justin Stone is the Director of Hitting and Will Remillard is the Assistant Director of Hitting.

From Romero’s perspective, quality of contact is the most important tool for an everyday player.

“It’s how well the can make contact with the ball,” says Romero. “Some make good decisions at the plate but don’t hit the ball hard.”

A metric used by the Cubs is Expected Weighted On-Base Average (xwOBA). While organizations may differer on some of the numbers, it is formulated with velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed.

“It eliminates the outcome of the ball in-play,” says Romero. “If the hitter hits a 110 mph line drive caught by the center fielder, there’s nothing he can do about that.” 

Romero also notes that some organizations are focused on development at the minor league level and others promote winning.

“In the big leagues it’s all about productive outs and it’s all about winning,” says Romero. “There’s an open debate on this. A million hitting coaches are going to give you a million answers. To me, you want to maximize the run value per ball in-play.

“In professional baseball, every hitter is different. The key is to have an explanation on why you’re doing something.”

Romero is serious about what he does because the hitters he coaches need to produce or the organization will let them go.

“At this level you’re playing with people’s careers,” says Romero. “You can end someone’s career by making the wrong adjustment.

“It’s not a hobby anymore. People need you to perform. That’s what inspires me to do this everyday. There are two things that I’m passionate about: Baseball and seeing people succeed.

“My mantra in my life is leave them a better person than they were before they met me.”

His short-term goal is to be a hitting coach, his long-term goal is to be a big league manager.

“I want to be able to influence who they are as a player,” says Romero. “You get more of that as a manager.”

Romero notes that mental skills coaches travel throughout the minor leagues and on-field coaches will direct the players that may be struggling to them.

While the percentages can be debated, Romero sees baseball as more mental than physical.

“If there confidence is not where it should be, they’re not going to perform,” says Romero. “You have to make sure everyone is in the right mental state.”

Marco Romero. (Chicago Cubs Photo)

Persistency pays for Indianapolis-raised left-hander Wynja

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Hayden Wynja’s career as a baseball pitcher has not gone in a straight line.

In fact, the lanky left-hander looked to be at the end of the line on more than one occasion. 

But Wynja persisted through rough patches and finds himself preparing for his third year in the pros with the San Francisco Giants organization.

“All I ever wanted to do was play professional baseball,” says Wynja, 25. “It’s been a crazy, crazy, crazy journey. But it’s been a lot of fun.

“I’m very blessed. That’s for sure.”

A 2017 graduate of Heritage Christian High School in Indianapolis who helped the Dan Ambrose-coached Eagles win three IHSAA sectional titles was selected in the 30th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Atlanta Braves but did not sign.

Wynja (pronounced Win-Yuh) red-shirted in his first year at Purdue University (2018) then hurled 11 2/3 innings over eight outings for the Boilermakers in 2019.

“I essentially got cut,” says Wynja.

During the COVID-19-shortened season of 2020, Wynja got into five games and logged 13 1/3 innings at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill.

At the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2021, the lefty pitched in just two games and two innings. 

“I kind of got cut again.” says Wynja.

One of his USF teammates was catcher Jake Sullivan, son of Florida Baseball ARMory founder Randy Sullivan in Lakeland.

“I gave everything to the ARMory,” says Wynja who landed at Murray (Ky.) State University. “Murray State and the Florida Baseball ARMory are why I’m still playing baseball.”

With the Dan Skirka-coached MSU Racers, Wynja earned the Friday night starter job in 2022. He took the mound 15 times (14 starts) and went 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA, 86 strikeouts and 24 walks in 73 2/3 innings

Last off-season, Wynja wrote the 70-page paper he needed to complete a Communications degree from Murray State.

Signed by the Giants as a minor league free agent July 28, 2022, Wynja pitched in three contests and 3 1/3 innings for the the Orange team in the Arizona Complex League that season.

In 2023 with the Low Class-A San Jose (Calif.) Giants and Advanced-A Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds, Wynja made 29 mound appearances (16 starts) and went 7-6 with two saves, a 4.16 earned run average, 115 strikeouts and 38 walks in 97 1/3 innings. He fanned batters at a rate of 10.6 per nine innings.

He then chosen to take part in the Arizona Fall League.

“It was a super honor,” says Wynja, who worked in five games and went 1-0 with a 7.20 ERA, 16 strikeouts and nine walks in 10 innings. His K-per-9 rate with the Scottsdale Scorpions was 14.4.

Throwing from a high three-quarter arm angle, Wynja delivers a four-seam fastball that traveled at 90 to 94 mph and a hard slider that went 81 to 84 mph.

“That’s my swing-and-miss pitch,” says Wynja. “I’ve had a couple of hitters call it the ‘ghost ball.’ — you can’t quite see the spin.

“I execute my slider really well. I haven’t developed nearly what I will be. I’m not a polished product. I don’t go into outings trying to strike out guys ever. But I try to attack and get ahead in the count. My thought process is when it gets to 1-2 or 0-2, they’re mine every time. I have that much trust in my slider.

“I put people away quick.”

In 2023, he threw his change-up 4 percent of the time and is now working toward 15-percent usage.

It was also in the AFL that Wynja began diving into his release point.

At 8 feet, 2 inches his extension is one of the longest in baseball.

Wynja joined an exclusive club on May 13, 2023 when he threw an immaculate inning (nine pitches and nine strikes) against Lake Elsinore.

“That was crazy,” says Wynja. “That’s one of those things you never think about having.”

Beginning the season as San Jose’s closer, Wynja was moved to the starting rotation and it was in the final inning of one of his first starts that he went immaculate.

San Jose pitching coach Dan Runzler told Wynja to empty the tank and that’s what he did.

The goal-oriented Wynja only held one job before joining the Giants and that was as grocery store bagger for a few months in his early teens. As a minor leaguer he does not make lots of cash, but he manages and uses Airbnb while traveling to train.

“I’m getting paid for pitching,” says Wynja. “It’s hard to complain.”

One of Wynja’s goal this off-season is to put on some pounds.

The 6-foot-9 southpaw is currently tips the scales at 218 (up from 205 at season’s end). 

“The idea is to get to up to 220 to 225,” says Wynja. “I heard that’s where (6-foot-10 Hall of Famer and lefty) Randy Johnson sat at.

“Putting on weight does a couple of things for me. It’ll provide me a lot of consistency with my delivery. I’ll stay strong and it’ll help my velo increase. As my weight goes up I’ll become a better pitcher.”

Wynja returned to Indianapolis in mid-November. After a couple weeks of rest, he trained at PRP Baseball in Noblesville, Ind., during the week with some weekend workouts at RoundTripper Sports Academy in Westfield, Ind. He started his throwing progression a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s great to be from Indiana and play baseball,” says Wynja. “We have a lot of resources.”

At PRP, Wynja got to observe and talk with big leaguers Tim Herrin and Bryan Hoeing. Both 6-foot-6, lefty Herrin is a Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High School graduate and former Indiana University hurler now with the Cleveland Guardians and righty Hoeing is a Batesville (Ind.) High School alum who shined at the University of Louisville and is now with the Miami Marlins.

The day after Christmas, Wynja hit the road. The plan was to see his girlfriend in Atlanta and fly to New York to spend time with family while celebrating father Brad Wynja’s birthday (Hayden is the oldest sibling of two blended families and has a sister — Bella Wynja — who plays volleyball at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.). 

After vacation, Wynja goes back to Atlanta and then heads to the Florida Baseball ARMory — something he did last winter — to ramp up for spring training in Scottsdale.

“I’ll be around a whole new set of big leaguers,” says Wynja. Among those is Seattle Mariners 6-foot-6 right-hander Logan Gilbert. “When I’m a big leaguer I hope to look like (Gilbert). We have similar builds. We move similar. We think about pitching in similar ways. I could pick his brain for hours and hours and hours.

“(FBA gives me a) great environment for me to buy in and really improve. I want to learn how big leaguers train in the off-season — how they eat, sleep, recover. I know I have one shot at this. I’m going to emulate these guys who are super-successful.

“You want to surround yourself with who you want to be or where you’re trying to go.”

Hayden Wynja’s immaculate inning. (San Jose Giants Video)

Hayden Wynja. (San Jose Giants Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (San Jose Giants Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (San Jose Giants Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (San Jose Giants Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (Eugene Emeralds Image)

Hayden Wynja. (Eugene Emeralds Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (Eugene Emeralds Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (Scottsdale Scorpions Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (Scottsdale Scorpions Photo)

Hayden Wynja. (Scottsdale Scorpions Photo)

Ivy Tech Northeast right-hander Peters now hitting triple digits

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

Matt Peters has not only unlocked the door to pitching velocity, the Fort Wayne, Ind., right-hander has kicked the door in and the baseball world is taking notice.
The 6-foot-4, 215- pound sophomore at Ivy Tech Community College Northeast in Fort Wayne has been clocked as high as 101 mph.
There are seven to nine pro scouts at all of Peters’ mound starts.
He nows gets mentioned among the nation’s hardest throwers, including University of Tennessee righty Ben Joyce, who has fired it at 104 mph.
Peters was on the cover of Collegiate Baseball.
The first time 101 came was March 5 against Lincoln Trail College at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. Peters did that again as recently as Monday, April 11 as the Titans played the Trine University junior varsity in Angola, Ind.
A Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) commit, Peters has made a significant jump since the summer of 2021. 
“I worked a lot on my mechanics last fall with Coach Javi,” says Peters. “When I got into my legs my arm slot came up (to mid to high three-quarter overhand).”
Ivy Tech pitching coach Javier DeJesus helped Peters reorganize his mechanics to make him move more efficiently.
“Matt has confidence in how his body moves,” says DeJesus. “He can trust himself to throw the crap out of the ball and just where to put it.
“The first (bullpen) pitch out his hand in the spring was 99 mph. I thought, ‘what did I just create?’”
DeJesus gauged Peters’ deliveries last Aug. 16 and the speediest pitch came in at 93 mph.
DeJesus, who was an All-American at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, pitched professionally for 10 seasons and has instructed many young arms, put his Titans hurlers — Peters included — through a grueling training program he created 15 years ago that he calls “Hell in the Cell.”
“It is just as bad as it sounds,” says DeJesus of the routine that includes plenty of medicine ball work, long toss and sprinting to increase explosiveness.
“You get your quick-twitch muscles going,” says Peters. “Coach Javi knows how to teach. He makes me think. He’s taught me a lot about the game.”
After about six weeks of training with DeJesus, Peters attended a fall junior college showcase at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Miami pitching coach Jeff Opalewski saw Peters blaze them in at 98 mph and signed the hurler for the Danny Hayden-led RedHawks in 2022-23.
Peters follows another gas-throwing Indiana native in Sam Bachman. The Hamilton Southeastern High School graduate was selected in the first round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.
Bachman and Peters were on competing travel teams when they were of that age.
A general studies major, Peters says he needs summer credits to complete his associate’s degree.
Peters has been assigned to the MLB Draft League’s Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Niles, Ohio), where ex-big leaguer Homer Bush is the manager, former 14-year major league lefty Ron Mahay in the pitching coach and Craig Antush the assistant pitching coach. That season begins
Besides DeJesus, Peters is also thankful for mentoring by Ivy Tech head coach Connor Wilkins and Titans assistant Scott Bickel.
“(Coach Wilkins) is great role model,” says Peters, 21. “He’s helped me become a more mature person. He is a great example.
“(Coach Bickel) was the person I really looked to when my parents (Matt and Laurie) got divorced.
“I’ve had a lot of people who’ve helped me. My brother (David Peters) has pushed me very hard.”
Matt is the youngest of three with sister Rachel being the oldest.
Drew Buffenbarger and Mark Flueckiger are also Ivy Tech coaches. The program was established by Lance Hershberger, who was head coach from 2018-21.
Because of the savings, Peters transferred to National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Ivy Tech from NJCAA D-I Hillsborough Community College (Tampa, Fla.) where he spent the spring of 2021 after being at NJCAA D-III Oakton Community College (Des Plaines, Ill.) in the fall of 2020. It was while throwing at an indoor facility during winter break that Peters was spotted and presented with the opportunity to play in Florida.
A starter for Ivy Tech, he was a reliever for the Hillsbourgh Hawks and Oakton Owls.
Peters did not pitch during the summer of 2020 and was with the College Summer league at Grand Park’s Snapping Turtles in 2021. Robb Wicks was the head coach.
At Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger High School, Peters was on the baseball team as a freshman, sophomore and senior and was cut as a junior.
“My flip of the switch was when I didn’t play on my Senior Night,” says Peters.
Then he graduated in 2019, he was 5-9 and 160 when he graduated then hit my growth spurt his year of college.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Peters played for the Indiana Prospects at 11 and 12 then for Indiana Baseball Factory from 13 to 17. The latter team was coached and organized by his father. The Prospects were started by uncle Mark Peters. The organization once included cousin Dillon Peters, who is now a left-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Matt Peters’ four-seam fastball has the most giddy up.
“I get a lot of arm-side run with the two-seamer,” says Peters. “My change-up is a slower version of my two-seamer with more depth.
“My slider is good because I can throw it hard and it still has depth.”
He threw one slider at 90 mph with the rest at 87 to 89 Monday at Trine.
DeJesus showed him grips let him try to execute.
“Matt has been an absolute joy to work with,” says DeJesus. “I have not called one single pitch of Matt’s
“Pitchers and catcher have to work together. That’s how the they learn the game. They get a feel what they’re doing and give me the feedback.
“A young man has a mind and he’s got to use it.”

Ivy Tech Northeast’s Matt Peters’ delivery in slow motion.

Matt Peters (Ivy Tech CC Northeast Photo)

Matt Peters in 2021 with the Snapping Turtles of the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. (CSL Photo)

Matt Peters on the front page of Collegiate Baseball.

Retired big leaguer Lind using language as way to prepare for his next career

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

Indiana native Adam Lind enjoyed 14 seasons as a professional baseball player — 12 in the majors.
The lefty-swinging first baseman, designated hitter and left fielder donned the jerseys of the Toronto Blue Jays (2006-14), Milwaukee Brewers (2015), Seattle Mariners (2016) and Washington Nationals (2017) and took his last pro at-bats with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the New York Yankees system and Pawtucket in the Boston Red Sox organization in 2018.
His MLB managers were John Gibbons (two stints), Cito Gaston and John Farrell in Toronto, Ron Roenicke and Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, Scott Servais in Seattle and Dusty Baker in Washington.
All but 391 of his 1,334 career big league games were played with Toronto. He hit .272 with 200 home runs, 259 doubles, 723 runs batted in and a .795 OPS (.330 on-base percentage plus .465 slugging average).
In 2009, “Adam Bomb” won a Silver Slugger, the Edgar Martinez Award (best DH) and was an Unsung Star of the Year Award finalist after hitting .305 with 35 homers, 46 doubles, 114 RBIs and a .932 OPS (.370/.562).
His last three dingers came in the same Sept. 29 game — an 8-7 Blue Jays win in Boston. Lind went deep twice off Clay Buchholz and once against Takashi Saito.
While he logged 418 contests at DH and 249 in left field, Lind enjoyed it most at first base, where he fielded at a .993 clip and participated in 480 double plays.
“You’re more involved and closer to the action,” says Lind. “You can affect a game at first base.”
And there was April 20, 2012 when Lind started a triple play for the Blue Jays at Kansas City. Alex Gordon was on second base and Yuniesky Betancourt on first when Eric Hosner lined to Lind for the first out.
“I caught the ball in self defense,” says Lind, who stepped on first to force Betancourt and fired to second where Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar touched the bag to force Gordon.
Lind describes playing all those years in the American League East as good and bad.
“You see how good of a baseball player you are, playing 20 times each year against the Red Sox and Yankees,” says Lind. “You go against the best of the best — Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
“At the same time it’s why I never got into the playoffs (as a Blue Jay).”
In Lind’s lone postseason appearance — the 2017 National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs — he went 2-for-3 as a pinch-hitter.
As his playing days were ending, Lind began thinking about getting back in the game — likely as a coach.
Meanwhile, wife Lakeyshia received Spanish lessons as a Christmas gift.
“I enjoyed that,” says Lind, who decided after retirement to enroll in the World Languages Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa and major in Spanish. The 38-year old father of three is now in his second semester of in-person classes after the COVID-19 pandemic made for a virtual experience. “I’m using school to qualify me and give me the tools to go into another career that I want to achieve. By earning a degree and being able to communicate with Latin Americans hopefully it will get my foot in the door (in baseball).
“My kids are young and I don’t want to be gone yet, but I would be a commodity. It used to be that 10 years in the big leagues almost guaranteed you could latch on. In my opinion that has changed quite a bit in the last decade.”
To accumulate credits in a shorter period of time and to immerse himself in the language and culture, Lind has decided to study abroad.
“I don’t like the word fluent,” says Lind. “I’m nowhere near that.
“I can at least communicate and get a point across.”
Plans now call for him to spend May 11-June 18 in Chile, where he’ll take two classes, live with a host family and take a few excursions including to the Andes Mountains. It’s possible Lakeyshia might be able to visit.
The couple met during the 2007 season and were married in Toronto in 2010. Their children are daughter Martinne (10), son Louie (8) and daughter Elodie (5). The two oldest kids are dual Canadian-American citizens.
Born in Muncie, Ind., Adam Alan Lind moved to Anderson as a youngster and played his first organized baseball at Chesterfield Little League.
The son of educators Al and Kathy and younger brother of sister Allison played in the Anderson Babe Ruth League and was with the John Miles-managed and Dan Ball-coached Anderson American Legion Post 127 team.
“He was a great grandfather figure and he had clout,” says Lind. “It was an honor to be a freshman and asked to play for that team.”
Attending a Ball State hitting camp and taking a growth spurt between his eighth and ninth grade years brought power to Lind’s game.
Taking batting practice in the fall of his freshmen year, he smacked one over the fence.
“It was the first homer I hit on the big field,” says Lind, who parked it an offering from Jason Stecher.
It was Stecher who had been his seventh grade basketball coach as a first-year teacher and was a baseball assistant to his father through 2001 when the Anderson Highland High School diamond was named Bob Stecher Field then took over the Scots program.
“(Jason) was not much older than us so he knew all our tricks when the coach isn’t looking,” says Lind. “Bob Stecher was an Anderson legend. He was a great man.”
A 2002 Highland graduate, Lind hit .675 with 16 homers and was named Indiana Mr. Baseball as a senior.
“It was a great honor,” says Lind of the statewide recognition. “It’s something I think about at times.
“It’s a cool memory.”
The lefty belted three in a game against visiting Noblesville as a sophomore. His senior homer total might’ve been larger.
“There was that fair ball called foul in Martinsville,” says Lind.
Heading into his senior year, Lind traveled far and wide with the Indiana Bulls.
“I loved that summer,” says Lind. “It was the first time I was away from my high school friends. I was playing with established players. It was a little intimidating being around higher level of competition.”
One of his highlights was a homer at the University of Tennessee against Georgia’s famed East Cobb squad.
Anderson Highland consolidated with Anderson High School after the 2009-10 academic year.
In 2002, Lind was selected in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins and opted instead for the University of South Alabama.
Lind did not study Spanish at USA. He told people his major was business.
“It was baseball,” says Lind, who played two seasons (2003 and 2004) for the Steve Kittrell-coached Jaguars and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 2004.
He made his MLB debut Sept. 2, 2006. His first of 1,247 career hits was a double off left-hander Lenny DiNardo.

Adam Lind homers three time in Boston (MLB Video)

Adam Lind starts a triple play in Kansas City (MLB Video)

Adam Lind (Toronto Blue Jays Photo)

Brebeuf’s Dutkanych makes high marks in classroom, on mound

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

Andrew Dutkanych IV is a dedicated student – academically and athletically.
During the current fall semester at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, senior Dukanych is taking nine courses and eight are of the Advanced Placement variety. During the spring semester of 2020-21, he earned a weighted 4.65 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.
As a baseball player – particularly as a pitcher — the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder has investigated ways to make steady progress.
Dukanych committed to powerhouse Vanderbilt University at the beginning of his sophomore year at Brebeuf. In two seasons with the Braves (2020 was taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic), he is 12-6 with a 1.29 earned run average, 206 strikeouts and 35 walks in 119 innings. He averages 12.1 K’s and 2.0 walks per seven innings. His WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) is 0.84.
He tossed an 18-strikeout no-hitter in the 2021 Marion County tournament championship game against Lawrence North at Victory Field and earned honorable mention on the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 3A all-state team.
Jeff Scott is Brebeuf’s head coach. Wes Neese is the pitching coach.
“He’s really good,” says Dutkanych of Scott. “He puts a lot on us players. He likes us to lead the team.
“Coach Neese and I talk about pitching and planning.”
The 18-year-old right-hander’s four-seam fastball has been clocked at 97 mph and regularly sits in the mid 90’s. He credits his training to his climb in speed.
“I’ve had consistency in the weight room and with my plan and gradually added velo,” says Dukanych, who has been working on strength training and arm care since he was 14. Greg Vogt is the founder and Anthony Gomez the lead floor trainer at PRP Baseball in Noblesville, Ind.
“It’s an independent thing, but I have constant communication,” says Dutkanych. “They devised a plan for me.”
Pulldowns — aka Running Throws or Run ’n Guns — are max-effort throws with a running start in the off-season. They are often charted on standings boards, giving an extra layer of competition to training.
“It’s it’s a tool that helps you condition your arm and gradually throw harder,” says Dutkanych. “If you want to throw harder you’ve got to practice throwing hard at times.”
Dutkanych offers a comparison.
“Sprinters sometimes run slightly downhill which forces their legs to move faster,” says Dutkanych. “With a pulldown, your arm is going to move faster. Your body can feel what 102 (mph) is like and that can translate to the mound. But I do pulldowns like three times a year. It’s more important to throw bullpens on the mound.”
Dutkanych’s mound arsenal — thrown from what he describes as “a relaxed over-the-top” arm angle — also features a slider, curve and change-up and he plans to add a two-seam fastball.
“I use a lot of my own ideas,” says Dukanych. “I don’t think I’ve had a coach call my pitches since I was 13.”
His slider is characterized by its late movement.
“I try to make it look like a fastball,” says Dutkanych. “When its good, it breaks late to the left and falls to the ground. It’s not a sweeper.”
The curve spins over the top with downward bite.
“I like to throw it for strikes because it freezes the batter,” says Dutkanych.
The change-up is new. He did not throw one in the spring or at the beginning of the summer.
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball hosted the High School All-American Game at Coors Field in Denver July 9 and Dukanych worked one inning.
Dutkanych pitched two innings in the Perfect Game National Showcase July 14-18 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Dutkanych was invited to the Prospect Development Pipeline League in July. From the Top 96 in the country, he made the trials then the Team USA roster for a Sept. 2-8 seven-game Friendship Series vs. Canada in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. He started Game 1 and relieved in Game 6.
Before that came one inning in the Perfect Game All-American Classic (July 29 in San Diego) and three in the East Coast Pro (Aug. 2-5 in Hoover, Ala.). Between them he began working on the change-up and began using it as another weapon.
“This off-season I’m going to try to develop a two-seam fastball to develop at the bottom of the zone,” says Dutkanych, who also found time in the summer to play in Perfect Game tournaments with the Philadelphia Phillies Scout Team in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Atlanta and with the Indiana Bulls in Hoover.
His summer number is often 84 since it equates with initials of “AD4.”
It was just this week that Dutkanych the academic caught up on the classwork he missed while he was away from Brebeuf.
In 2020, Dutkanych the athlete helped Canes National win the Perfect Game National Championship. He was with the team in events in Atlanta and the the USA Baseball complex in Cary, N.C.
The righty is on a path to college baseball in Nashville, but there is a possibility that he could be selected high in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft and decide to begin his professional career.
Born and raised in Indianapolis, Dutkanych played at Washington Township Little League and then went into travel ball during his 13U summer with the Indiana Bulls. Before entering Brebeuf, he attended Westlane Middle School (an Indianapolis North Central High School feeder).
He is the oldest of attorney Andrew Dutkanych III and grants manager Caroline Dutkanych’s four boys. Sam Dutkanych (14), Jack Dutkanych (11) and Luke Dutkanych (8) are all involved in multiple sports, including baseball.

Andrew Dutkanynch IV at 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Andrew Dutkanych IV with 2021 Indiana Bulls. (The Grind Baseball Video)

Andrew Dutkanych IV with 2021 Indiana Bulls. (Prep Baseball Report Video)

Andrew Dutkanych IV pitches for Team USA vs. Canada in 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV (center) works out with Team USA in 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV pitches for Team USA vs. Canada in 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in Summer of 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV (right) in Summer of 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in Summer of 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in Summer of 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in Summer of 2021.

Andrew Dutkanych IV (Prospect Development Pipeline League Photo)

Andrew Dutkanych IV (Prospect Development Pipeline League Photo)

Andrew Dutkanych IV (Prospect Development Pipeline League Photo)

Andrew Dutkanych IV with 2021 Philadelphia Phillies Scout Team.

Andrew Dutkanych IV with 2021 Philadelphia Phillies Scout Team.

Andrew Dutkanych IV (right) at 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Andrew Dutkanych IV with 2021 Indiana Bulls.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 Major League Baseball/USA Baseball High School All-American Game.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 East Coast Pro.

Andrew Dutkanych IV in 2021 East Coast Pro.

Andrew Dutkanych IV (left) with USA Baseball.

Andrew Dutkanych IV wears 84 (AD4).

Andrew Dutkanych IV throws 18-strikeout no-hitter for Brebeuf in 2021 Marion County tournament championship. (Lindy Scott Photo)

Former Castle, Virginia righty Messinger excited for opportunity in Yankees system

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

Three years of showing what he can do pitching in the power-packed Atlantic Coast Conference, University of Virginia right-hander Zach Messinger was selected in the 13th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the New York Yankees.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to play for a team like the New York Yankees,” says Messinger, 21. “They have 27 World Series championships for a reason.”
A 2018 graduate of Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Messinger was part of a Virginia program that won 82 of 137 games during his time in Charlottesville and made it to the 2021 College World Series.
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor, who was the pitching coach at Notre Dame for nine seasons (1995-93) under Irish head coach Paul Mainieri, has led the Cavaliers to five CWS appearances with a national title in 2015.
The 2021 season was Drew Dickinson’s second as Virginia pitching coach.
“He’s already done a phenomenal job,” says Messinger of Dickinson. “He’s one of the best college pitching coaches in the country.
“Statistically, we’re one of the best pitching staffs in the ACC because of it.”
UVA ranked in the top three in the conference in several categories in 2021, including wins, earned run average, opposing batting average, strikeouts and innings pitched.
Assistants Kevin McMullan and Matt Kirby have also helped get the most out of the Cavaliers.
“We put full trust in the coaches for their game-by-game and series-by-series preparation,” says Messinger.
In his three collegiate campaigns, Messinger made 51 mound appearances (11 starts) and was 5-3 with a 4.42 ERA. He racked up 107 strikeouts with 47 walks in 99 2/3 innings.
In 2021, he got into 28 games (24 as a reliever) and was 3-2 with a 4.89 ERA. He fanned 64 and walked 21 in 57 innings.
Does Messinger consider himself a starter or reliever?
“I can be put out there no matter what,” says Messinger. “I have the mentality, endurance and pitchability to be a starter.
“I also also have the capability to come out of the pen in high-stress situations. I can come on with short rest and deliver for the team. It comes down to where the organization thinks is the best fit for me.”
Signed on July 22, Messinger is now at the Yankees training headquarters in Tampa, Fla., getting to know personnel and the way the system works and expects to be there into the fall.
“The Yankees don’t tend to send new draft guys off to a (minor league) team,” says Messinger. “They like to have guys in-house throwing in front of coaches.
“I want to find a good base strength-wise and be where the coaches want me to be by spring training.”
The Yankees’ top four affiliates are the Low Class-A Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons, High Class-A Hudson Valley (N.Y.) Renegades, Double-A Somerset (N.J.) Patriots and Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pa.) Railriders.
Messinger employs four pitches from a high three-quarter overhand arm slot — four-seam fastball, slider, curveball and change-up.
The four-seamer sat at 93 to 95 mph and touched 97 while Messenger was at Virginia.
“The slider has more horizontal break and plays well off the fastball with the same release point,” says Messinger. “It’s late-breaking when I throw it correctly. It has become a pretty good ‘out’ pitch for me.”
Messinger calls his “12-to-6” curve “Ol’ Reliable.”
“I’ve had it since I was 15 years old,” says Messinger. “I’ve used the same grip ever since I was a kid.”
He uses a “circle” change.
Born in Evansville, Ind., Messinger moved into the Castle district while in elementary school. His family resided in Chandler, Ind., until his mother accepted a job offer and they moved to Richmond, Va., at the end of Zach’s senior year.
Dennis and Lisa Messinger have four sons — Zach and 17-year-old triplets Eli, Lucas and Tyler.
Dennis Messinger is a job site supervisor for Shurm Homes. Lisa Messinger is director of environmental sciences at Dominion Energy. He played basketball at Olney (Ill.) Central College. She was a volleyball player at the University of Evansville.
Heading into their junior year of high school, all three triplets are athletes — Eli and Lucas in basketball and baseball and Tyler in track.
Zach Messinger got his organized baseball start at what is now Evansville East Youth Baseball, but played at what is now Newburgh Junior Baseball from 8U to 11U.
Dennis Messinger coached Zach and the Ohio Valley Vipers for his son’s 12U and 13U summers.
At 14U and 15U, Zach was with the Cory Luebbheusen-coached Jasper J-Cards.
He spent two seasons with the Indiana Bulls (Dan Held at 16U and Sean Laird at 17U).
Curt Welch was Messinger’s coach for four varsity seasons at Castle.
“That man taught me how to be a man while on the baseball field,” says Messinger. “Behind my father Curt Welch is the second-most influential man in my life. He was tough on me. He saw the potential that I had. It was going to take hard work and focus.”
Messinger says Welch taught him how to treat the game and the opposition with respect and how to carry himself on and off the field.
“He taught me more than how to hit a baseball or how to pitch,” says Messinger, who played third base when not on the mound. “What stands out is the stuff that was outside the lines.”
After going 7-1 with a 1.66 ERA, Messenger was the 2018 Courier & Press All-Metro Player of the Year (he was first-team All-Metro three times) and was named to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series and was a Prep Baseball Report Indiana first-team All-State selection.
Also a three-letterwinner in basketball, he was Castle’s 2018 Lonnie Fisher Male Athlete of the Year Award winner and graduated with a 3.97 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and was a four-time Scholastic “C” Academic Letter recipient.
His major at Virginia is Media Studies. He plans to complete that in the near future.
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play professional baseball,” says Messinger. “Academics has always important to me and my family.”
In the summer of 2018, Messinger went to Virginia early to take summer classes and to train. He played for the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Keene (N.H.) Swamp Bats in 2019, but did not play in the summers of 2020 or 2021.

Zach Messinger (University of Virginia Photo)

Zach Messinger (University of Virginia Photo)

Zach Messinger (University of Virginia Photo)

Zach Messinger was drafted and signed by the New York Yankees.

Glant, Dykes Triple-A coaches for New York Yankees

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

A pair of coaches at the beginning of their professional baseball coaching careers with Indiana ties are together in the New York Yankees organization.
Former Ball State University assistant Dustin Glant is the pitching coach and one-time Indiana University assistant Casey Dykes the hitting coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pa.) Railriders of Triple-A East (formerly the International League).
Both were hired by the Yankees in the summer of 2019. After getting their bearings in the system, they went to instructional league that fall and their first big league spring training in 2020.
Glant and Dykes both reside in the Tampa, Fla., area near the organization’s training headquarters during the offseason — Glant with wife Ashley, daughter Evelyn (4) and son David (who turns 2 in December); Dykes with wife Chaney (a former Western Kentucky University basketball player), sons Jett (4) and Kash (2) and daughter Lainey (going on 3 months).
At Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Glant and Dykes serve on a staff that features manager Doug Davis, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, infield coach Caonabo Cosme, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke.
With their busy daily schedules, Glant and Dykes don’t spend much time together during the day. They say hello in the morning and then wind down together after games.
Glant, 39 (he turns 40 July 20), guided pitchers at BSU from 2017-19 for Cardinals head coach Rich Maloney.
As a player, Glant pitched for Generals head coach Dave Fireoved at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne High School and Boilermakers head coach Doug Schreiber at Purdue University and had pro stints in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and independent ball.
Glant coached at Marathon (Fla.) and Mount Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) high schools, was a volunteer at Ball State then head coach at Lapel (Ind.) High School and Anderson (Ind.) University before returning to BSU late in 2016 as pitching coach.
Dykes, 31, was the hitting coach at Indiana under head coach Jeff Mercer. Dykes played at Western Kentucky for Hilltoppers head coach Chris Finwood and was a graduate assistant to head coach Matt Myers when Mercer was a WKU volunteer.
A 2008 Franklin (Tenn.) High School graduate, who played for Admirals head coach Brent Alumbaugh, Dykes spent four seasons at Western Kentucky (2009-12) and served two seasons as an assistant, becoming volunteer when Mercer left for Wright State University.
Before Indiana, Dykes was hitting coach and recruiting coordinator on Keydets head coach Jonathan Hadra’s staff at Virginia Military Institute (2015-18).
Glant says his gameday at the pro level is similar to what it was in college.
“I try to get as much one-on-one and small-group time as possible,” says Glant. “If I don’t I feel I miss things.”
The difference is that in college, Glant spent a lot of time in front of a computer reviewing video on how to attack hitters. The process is more streamlined at the pro level.
“It’s more development focused here,” says Glant, who might focus on a pitcher’s need to improve at holding runners or locating his fastball in a certain count. “We want to win, but we work on the big picture (getting players ready for the big leagues).”
Dykes says there more a sense of urgency in pro ball, especially at the Triple-A level where players have more experience.
“You don’t have the background with them (like college players who have been recruited and are usually around for years to build a relationship and go through a fall development season),” says Dykes. “In the pros, you’re playing so many games and you don’t have an offseason with them.
“Things are changing constantly.”
Glant’s gameday starts with preparing for the day and looking at video of the previous night’s game. In the afternoon, he reviews that with pitchers and finds the positives.
Then he oversees staggered bullpen sessions for starters and — just before batting practice — relievers, who might go through a full bullpen or just “touch and feel” to stay sharp.
BP is also the time he sits down with that night’s starter, both catchers and analyst Shea Wingate to map out a attack plan.
Glant says Wingate’s insight is helpful.
“He may find that a pitcher needs to throw more sliders,” says Glant. “We look for places where there are good spots to throw more sliders.”
Once the game starts, Glant is right by Davis to make pitching-related decisions. Dykes watches his hitters and offers suggestions if necessary.
At Triple-A, there are a mix of veteran players with MLB service time and younger ones trying to earn their first big league call-up.
“It’s almost all like assistant coaches,” says Glant of having vets around. “They educate guys in the bullpen. It happens naturally. Guys get together and they start start talking.
“They’re kind of mentors to the young guys. It’s been great.”
Dykes, who starts his gameday with a workout and video study followed by plenty of batting cage time, sees his job as providing the last piece of the puzzle for players trying to return and debut at the big league level.
“I want to help these guys maximize who they are as a player,” says Dykes. “It’s good to work with guys who have experienced it.
“This is what they do for a living. They’re all-in.”
Like the rest of the world, Glant and Dykes learned a different way of doing things thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused cancellation of the 2020 minor league season and separated coaches and players from in-person interaction.
“It went from being the worst thing ever to — honestly — the best thing ever,” says Glant. “We learned how to train our guys remotely via Zoom and video-conferencing. We were good at it.
“We had a lot of people get better without being at the complex during that time.”
Led by director of pitching Sam Briend, manager of pitch development Desi Druschel and Director of Performance John Kremer (an Indianapolis native who pitched of the University of Evansville and in the Yankees system), the organization devised a plan and found a way to develop during COVID.
“It was mind-blowing,” says Glant. “We had pitchers buys in.”
When Glant got a call in the fall of 2020, he went back to training face-to-face with a few 40-man roster players in Tampa and that rolled into 2021 big league camp.
Being away from the clubhouse and the dugout, Dykes missed the relationships.
“It made me appreciate that even more,” says Dykes. “It also taught me that you didn’t have to be hands-on and in-person with a player to help them develop.
“It was a unique challenge, but made me a better coach. It got me after my comfort zone.”
Using technology and video tools became part of Dykes’ coaching world and that will continue.
“The world we knew has completely changed,” says Dykes. “It’s definitely more efficient. There’s no arguing that.”
Dykes expresses thanks to the men who helped him along his baseball, path including Alumbaugh, Finwood, Myers, Hadra and Mercer as well as former Western Kentucky assistant and current DePauw University head coach Blake Allen and current Indiana assistants Justin Parker and Dan Held.
“(Alumbaugh) had a ton of influence,” says Dykes.”He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He saw the potential in me. But he wasn’t going to tell me. He was going to make me work for it.
“He had high expectations for me. He really challenged me during some important times in my life.”
Dykes, who was a catcher that turned into a third baseman, played three summers during college for Alumbaugh for the Texas Collegiate League’s Brazos Valley Bombers (College Station, Texas).
“(Myers, Finwood and Allen) taught me a lot about the work and mentality it takes to be successful,” says Dykes. “They knew that as soon as my playing days were over I wanted to coach.”
Dykes learned from Hadra about the importance of being detailed and fine-tuning the process to be able to communicate the message to players.
“He’s incredible at that,” says Dykes of Hadra. “He was still a fairly young head coach at that time, but you would never know it. He clings to that process.”
With Mercer, Parker and Held at Indiana, Dykes was part of a Hoosiers team that went 37-23 and won the Big Ten title in 2019. IU lost to Texas in the final round of the NCAA Austin Regional.

The 2021 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders field staff (from left): manager Doug Davis, pitching coach Dustin Glant, hitting coach Casey Dykes, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke. Caonabo Cosme is the infield coach. (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Photo)

King, Mt. Vernon Marauders making history in 2021

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

Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville, Ind., carries the nickname Marauders.
Head baseball coach Brad King has another monicker: Trailblazers.
The 2021 squad has made history along its path to the one-game IHSAA Class 4A Jasper Semistate on Saturday, June 12 against Jasper (29-2). The winner of the 4 p.m. game moves on to the State Finals either Monday or Tuesday, June 21 or 22 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
At 26-6, Mt. Vernon has surpassed the previous school record for single-season victories by five.
The 2021 Marauders won their first outright Hoosier Heritage Conference championship (Mt. Vernon shared the HCC title with New Palestine in 2009). Other HCC members are Delta, Greenfield-Central, New Castle, Pendleton Heights, Shelbyville and Yorktown.
In winning sectional and regional crowns, the Marauders broke through at those stages for the first time since 2011 and 1971.
“It’s a big deal playing in semistate,” says King, who was hired in the fall of 2019 after 23 seasons — the last 16 as head coach — at New Castle and is coaching his first Mt. Vernon season on the field after the COVID-19 pandemic took he 2020 campaign away. “There will be a lot of electricity at Jasper. But the kids won’t be overwhelmed. We just beat (Indianapolis) Cathedral (in the regional championship game).
“We’re trying to go through the best to be the best.”
Mt. Vernon opened the season by going 2-1 in the Noblesville Invitational, playing Noblesville, Columbus North and Franklin Community and went on to go 12-2 in the conference and play a solid non-conference schedule.
“These kids have kept gaining confidence as the season has gone on,” says King, whose squad is 15-1 in its last 16 games.
At the Pendleton Heights Sectional, the Marauders blanked Muncie Central 19-0 and Pendleton Heights 8-0 then downed Franklin Central 6-2 and Cathedral 6-3 to take the Plainfield Regional. This brought Mt. Vernon’s all-time totals to eight sectional titles and two regionals. The Marauders have never won a semistate or appeared in the State Finals.
Led by seniors Hunter Dobbins (.560, 10 home runs, 39 runs batted in) and Joel Walton (.485, 5 HR, 38 RBI) and sophomore Eli Bridenthal (.366, 15 stolen bases), Mt. Vernon hits .321 as a team and averages 8.6 runs per game.
Junior Landon Clark (.297, 44 runs, 17 stolen bases) sets the table table as the Marauders’ lead-off hitter. Senior A.J. Swingle (.276, 23 RBI) hits No. 2, puts the ball in play and moves runners. Senior Jake Stank (.308, 4 HR, 28 RBI) is the clean-up hitter.
“We’re just really solid offensively, field the ball at 95 percent and have four or five really good (pitching arms),” says King. “We’re really blessed.”
Senior left-hander Swingle (9-0, 1.60 earned run average, 80 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings) and senior right-hander Eli Clodfelter (8-1, 3.29 ERA, 81 K’s, 51 IP) are Mt. Vernon’s leaders on mound.
Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series selection Dobbins is bound for Ball State University.
Other seniors with college commitments are Walton (Trine University), Stank (Anderson University), Clodfelter (Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn.), Carson Augustinovicz (Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio) and Nate Weaver (Concordia University in Seward, Neb.).
Recent Mt. Vernon graduates with college baseball programs include Nolan Bowser (Saint Louis University), Griffin Garwood (Manchester University), Matt Lood (Indiana University South Bend), Shaun Shipley (committed to Florida Gulf Coast University after playing at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla.) and Jake Stadler (Purdue University).
King’s coaching staff features Tony Gregory, Wayne Graham, Jerry Grill, Scott Blanchard and Shane Douglas. Varsity assistants Gregory and Graham were with King throughout his head coach run at New Castle. Grill leads the junior varsity team with the help of Blanchard. Douglas is the C-team coach. Mt. Vernon were 25-1 at the JV level and 8-7 in C-team contests this spring.
The last day of school was June 8 so the team has been keeping something a normal schedule during the postseason. King says Marauder practices have been brief.
Mt. Vernon’s feeder system includes Mt. Vernon Optimist (T-ball through age 13), the Marauder Baseball Club (a travel program for Mt. Vernon players through 14U and Mt. Vernon Middle School (seventh and eighth grade teams).
King, who is still Dean of the Freshmen Academy at New Castle, stepped down as baseball coach because of health issues in his family.
“After those issues went away it opened up the possibility for me to get back into coaching,” says King.
Since New Castle had hired a new head coach, King looked for nearby opportunities.
Mt. Vernon intrigued him.
Athletic director Brandon Ecker served in the same capacity during part of King’s coaching tenure at New Castle.
King was approved for hire with the Marauders in August 2019 and had players attending their first workouts in September. Because of the shutdown he never got to lead a talented team in 2020.
“We thought we were going to be very good,” says King. The prevailing feeling outside the Mt. Vernon camp was that the team would be “a little down” in 2021.
“I didn’t feel that way at all,” says King. “That’s the way we approached our offseason workouts.
“The guys were focused and had the same goals as the previous years (win conference, sectional, regional and maybe more). So far they’ve done what they wanted to accomplish.”

It’s been an historic baseball season in 2021 for the Brad King-coached Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Marauders. The team has set a school record for wins and won its first outright Hoosier Heritage Conference title and first sectional and regional crowns since 2011 and 1971.

Morristown, Indiana State grad Parker scouts international talent for Dodgers

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Brian Parker is getting a World Series ring.

“I’m looking forward to that,” says Parker. “I’ve been in baseball over 20 years.”

The graduate of Morristown (Ind.) Junior-Senior High School (1994) and Indiana State University (1998) is an international scouting crosschecker for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a franchise which raised Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s Trophy in 2020. 

Parker, 44, is heading into his fifth year with the Dodgers in 2021. While his travel outside the U.S. has been curtailed this year because of COVID-19 (just two trips since March), he has been to Latin America many times and to Asia in search of baseball talent.

Based in Tampa, Fla., Parker has been able to travel to Miami in recent months to evaluate international players. 

His priority leading up to spring training will be getting ready for the signing of the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft class in January. During a normal year, that would have been done on July 2 following the June draft. Once players are signed most will be assigned to the Dominican Summer League.

“We’re safely trying to get our jobs done,” says Parker, who counts Dodgers international scouting executive Ismael Cruz as his boss. Parker was with the Toronto Blue Jays when he first worked with Cruz.

With Alex Anthopoulos as general manager and Dana Brown as special assistant to the GM for the Blue Jays, Parker first worked in pro scouting and dealt with arbitration cases and was later promoted to the head of amateur scouting and oversaw Toronto’s participation in the MLB Draft.

Brown hired Parker as assistant scouting director for the Montreal Expos. For that position, he moved to Montreal in his second year (2004; the franchise’s last in Canada before becoming the Washington Nationals).

Parker worked primarily in amateur scouting and draft preparation while also helping on the pro scouting side.

“Dana Brown is one guy I give a lot of credit to for help me along the way as a mentor,” says Parker. “A lot of what I’ve been able to do is because of him.”

Brown is now vice president of scouting for the Atlanta Braves, where Anthopoulos is now president of baseball operations and general manager.

Parker was with the Expos/Nationals for seven years. When the team moved to D.C., Parker went there. His last two years he was director of baseball operations, dealing with administrative matters such as contracts and transactions.

His Expos tenure began in player development development operations at the spring training complex in Melbourne, Fla.

“I did a little bit of everything on the minor league side with player development,” says Parker.

Prior to that, Parker was employed by MLB. He was assistant director of baseball operations for the Arizona Fall League for one year and the AFL’s director of baseball ops the second year.

He worked with all 30 MLB teams and had a hand in many things including dealing with umpires and AFL host stadiums. He also got to see the game’s top prospects on display.

Parker helped in the sports information department at ISU — working extensively with Rob Ervin and Jennifer Little — and earned a Business Management degree from the Terre Haute school in 1998.

“I wanted to work in sports,” says Parker. “I knew that a business background would help.”

Parker was born in Michigan and moved to Morristown around 4. Since he was a youngster and playing basketball and some youth baseball in Shelby County, Ind., the oldest son of Richard and Linda Parker (now retired teachers) and older brother of Jason Parker (who nows lives outside Indianapolis) has been interested in the behind-the-scenes side of sports.

The summer of graduating from high school (1994), Parker joined the grounds crew for the Indianapolis Indians and was with the Triple-A team in that role in 1994 and 1995 and was an intern in 1996 as the Indians moved from Bush Stadium to Victory Field.

Parker’s first experience in baseball scouting came during an internship with the Colorado Rockies during the summer of 1997. He entered scouting reports, went through the draft, got to hear other scouts talk about baseball under Rockies general manager Bob Gebhard and also helped with the media relations staff in the press box.

“It was a great every level position,” says Parker.

After going back to ISU to earn his degree Parker saw there was a regime change in the Rockies front office.  

Parker spent three years — one as an intern and two as a full-time employee in media relations with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills. 

After that, he got back into baseball with the Arizona Fall League.

Parker has had a guiding principle throughout his career.

“It’s so important to work with good people and do the best job you can,” says Parker. “Do a good job and let things fall where they may after that. You’re not necessarily looking for your next job.”

Brian and wife Bree, who met while working with the Nationals, are the parents of twin girls. Bree Parker works in human resources with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brian Parker, a graduate of Morristown (Ind.) Junior-Senior High School and Indiana State University, is international scouting crosschecker for the Los Angeles Dodgers.