Farr to emphasize fundamentals as new Jay County head coach

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

Todd Farr helped achieve baseball success at Jay County Junior/Senior High School in Portland, Ind., on the staff of veteran head coach Lea Selvey.
With Selvey retiring after the 2022 season, Farr is now in charge of keeping the momentum going for the Patriots.
Farr was head baseball coach at Eastbrook High School in Marion, Ind., from 2012-17 before becoming a Selvey assistant at Jay County for the 2018 season.
In 34 seasons, Selvey won 528 of the 880 games he coached with seven sectional titles, three regional crowns and six conference championships.
Selvey also made an impression on Farr.
“He brought a lot of fun to the game,” says Farr, who also coached Summit City Sluggers teams with Selvey. “Lea’s an incredible guy. He’s seen a lot.
“He’s got a real calm demeanor about him. Players feed off him. Sometimes I get real antsy and uptight at times.
“It really was a joy to coach with him the last few years.”
When Selvey let it be known that he was retiring, Farr applied for the job and received support from principal Chad Dodd (who coached at Eastbrook with Brian Abbott when Farr was a player and then was head coach at Blackford) and Patriots athletic director Steve Boozier.
“I’m greatly appreciative of those guys for believing in me,” says Farr.
Jay County (enrollment around 870) is a member of the Allen County Athletic Conference] (with Adams Central, Bluffton, Heritage, South Adams, Southern Wells and Woodlan).
The Patriots were part of an IHSAA Class 3A sectional grouping in 2022 with Delta, Guerin Catholic, Hamilton Heights, New Castle and Yorktown. Jay County has won nine sectional titles — the last in 2019.
The school board will need to approve Farr’s assistants which will be some of Selvey’s former players.
Jay County varsity and junior teams play and practices on Don E. Selvey Field. Lea’s father looked after the diamond followed by Lea. Farr spent much of the summer of 2022 tending to the facility.
“I want our guys take to pride in it,” says Farr, who had spent recent summers coaching the Sluggers and the Dirt Bags in the Fort Wayne-based Indiana Collegiate Summer Baseball League.
Denise Selvey, Lea’s wife, has been a babysitter for Todd and Holly Farr. The couple have three children (two girls and a boy) — sixth grader Makenzi (11), fourth grader Kendall (9) and preschooler Kaysen (5).
Todd followed Holly to the Jay County district. She is a fourth grade teacher at West Jay Elementary School in Dunkirk. He teaches Special Education for Grades 7-12.
Since he is a teacher and a former assistant, Farr already knows the players. He looks forward to working with them twice weekly during the IHSAA Limited Contact Period that goes from Aug. 29-Oct. 15.
“We’ll work on fundamentals,” says Farr. “I’m big on do the small things in games that leading to bigger things.”
While there are no college commitments yet among current players, Farr says many are working toward that goal.
Recent graduates moving on to collegiate diamonds include Wyatt Geesaman (Class of 2019) who went to the University of Cincinnati and is transferring to Northern Kentucky University. There’s also Class of 2022’s Quinn Faulkner and Crosby Heniser headed to Manchester University and Sam Dunlavy bound for Ivy Tech Northeast in Fort Wayne. Kess McBride (Class of 2022) had planned to try to walk-on and become a bullpen catcher at Purdue University.
Faulkner, Heniser and McBride were all part of the Muncie Post 19 Chiefs team that won the 2022 Indiana American Legion Senior Baseball Championship and competed in the Great Lakes Regional in Midland, Mich.
A school-run junior high program had tryouts in the summer so those players can also participate in fall activities and learn and develop in the Jay County way.
“The high school guys will take them under their wings,” says Farr, who expects close to 30 seventh and eighth graders. “This community is big into baseball. Numbers have never been an issue here.”
Playing and practicing at Miller-Runkle Field — home of the Portland Rockets — the junior high teams will conduct their season in the spring. Farr says opponents on the schedule will closely resemble that of the high school.
The new Jay County Baseball Club is to field 8U, 10U and 11U travel teams in 2023. Farr, who is president of the organization’s board, says there will be a fall skills clinic next month.
“It will be a bunch of development,” says Farr. “They’ll see how we warm-up and do fundamental stuff.”
The club works with recreation leagues — Portland Junior League and Redkey Junior League.
“It’s for kids who want to play some extra baseball,” says Farr. “I truly believe it’s going to lead to some good things in the history of Jay County baseball.”
Farr, a 2004 Eastbrook graduate, credits Abbott for setting an example and being a friend.
“He’s one of those guys who’s in my corner,” says Farr of Abbott.
Before he was his high school baseball coach, Abbott coached Farr in junior high basketball.
“I was raised by a single mother,” says Farr. “He picked me up for practice. Then I played for him for four years and I saw how important family is to him. He means a lot to me and my family.
“That’s why I’m into coaching baseball today. I saw the joy he had with the guys.”
Abbott is now executive director of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association and a member of the IHSBCA Hall of Fame.
Recruited for baseball and football at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., Farr opted to play football. He received a General Studies degree and later earned his teaching accreditation from Taylor online.

Todd Farr.

The Farr family (clockwise from left): Todd, Kendall, Holly and Kaysen and Makenzi.

Todd Farr (left), Holly Farr, Denise Selvey and Lea Selvey.

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Fundamentals key for Haley, Madison-Grant Argylls

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Madison-Grant Junior/Senior High School varsity baseball was building slowly leading into 2020.

With Scott Haley as Argylls head coach, MG won two games in 2017, three in 2018 and seven in 2019. The latter team won its first game in the IHSAA Class 2A Eastern (Greentown) Sectional.

Haley was stressing fundamentals.

“We had lost nine or 10 seniors when I took over,” says Haley. “We were returning little or no varsity experience. The feeder system was not very strong. We were really betting back to the basics of the game like playing catch the correct way.

“It was a rough first year.”

There was anticipation for the following season. But a pandemic took that away and players didn’t get on the field.

“We were ready for a breakthrough season,” says Haley. “My heart broke for them.” 

Haley is now getting Madison-Grant ready for what its hopes will be a fun and successful 2021 campaign, which is slated to open April 5 against Wes-Del. The 2021 roster is expected to have plenty of seniors. Pitcher Nick Evans is expected back as a four-year starter and has gotten plenty of attention from college baseball.

When “Senior Night” comes along, Haley plans to also honor the five players from the Class of 2020. 

Fairmount-based Madison-Grant (enrollment around 365) is a member of the Central Indiana Conference (with Alexandria-Monroe, Blackford, Eastbrook, Elwood, Frankton, Mississinewa and Oak Hill).

The Argylls are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping with Blackford, Eastbrook, Eastern (Greentown), Elwood, Taylor and Tipton. Madison-Grant has won six sectional crowns — the last in 2012.

During the fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period, Madison-Grant concentrated on fundamentals.

“We got outside quite a bit and took advantage of the new pitching machine we bought through our fundraiser,” says Haley. “There were a lot of drills and live action. 

“We allow junior high kids to come out also. It gets them excited about the game.”

Winter Limited Contact open gyms began this past week and Haley had 15 players Jan. 5 and 11 Jan. 7.

Madison-Grant plays its home games on-campus. Several upgrades have been made or are planned for the field, including installation of new bullpens, re-sodding, refurbishing of dugouts, new wind screens, edging in the infield and outfield and an overhaul of the mound.

“We’ve tried to do something every year to make it better,” says Haley, who hopes to get to show off the place when his team hosts the Grant Four tournament May 1 (with Eastbrook, Mississinewa and Oak Hill) and Argyll Classic (with Eastern of Greentown, Southern Wells and Tri-Central) May 15.

Besides Haley, the Argylls coaching staff includes Mike Evans, Gary Harbert, Norm Dailey (junior varsity) and Brock Massey (junior high). Haley says he anticipates having around 25 players for varsity and JV teams in the spring.

The well-received junior high program for seventh and eighth graders was established two years ago with about 15 players. Baseball will also be a part of the new Madison-Grant Youth Sports League.

“We’re giving them guidelines that we want them to follow so they’ll be ready when they get to high school,” says Haley.

Prior to taking over the MG baseball program, Haley was JV coach for three seasons on Todd Farr’s Eastbrook staff.

“He was a players’ coach,” says Haley of Farr. “He was good on practice schedules and fundamentals. The kids really enjoyed playing for him. 

“He built that Easbrook program back up.”

Haley is a 1980 Eastbrook graduate. His baseball coach was Tim Sumner.

“He basically taught me almost everything about the game,” says Haley. “He saw something in myself that I had not seen.

“I owe a lot to him.”

Sumner, a 1965 Hammond Morton High School graduate, was a player and assistant coach Taylor University in Upland, Ind., and an assistant for College World Series teams led by Ron Polk at Mississippi State University. He was also an assistant AD at MSU and was director of athletic academics and athletic compliance at the University of Memphis. He established Batters Box Baseball in Collierville, Tenn. Sumner died Dec. 19, 2019.

Haley attended Huntington College (now Huntington University) for one year, but his playing career was ended when he twice re-broke a wrist he had broken already broken in high school.

He recently retired from a 26-year stint as a Walmart manager and works part-time at Lowe’s in Marion, Ind.

Scott and Barbra Haley have been married 31 years. Their daughter Adara (30) is married to Nicholas Smith.

Scott Haley is the head baseball coach at Madison-Grant Junior/Senior High School in Fairmount, Ind. (Madison-Grant Argylls Photo)

Four pillars propel Purdue Fort Wayne’s Lawvere

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Hard work.

Humility.

Empathy.

Kindness.

These are the four pillars that form the foundation for Andrew Lawvere the baseball player and person.

The Purdue Fort Wayne senior utility man from Upland, Ind., explains the characteristics that he’s made a part of his daily habits.

“Hard work — I think we all know what that means,” says Lawvere, a 2017 graduate of Eastbrook High School in Marion, Ind., where he was catcher for North in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series. “You have to have a strong drive to obtain goals.

“As a society we need to have more humility. Mistakes are going to be happen in life. We need to be OK with that.

“We need to change our perspective on things and (recognize) if someone is hurting inside (and show empathy).

“We should just be kind to people. Nobody knows what’s going on in people’s life. With COVID-19, a lot of depression going around. I live by these everyday. My parents (Nick and Anne Lawvere) built these in me at a very young age.”

Nick Lawvere is a science teacher at Highland Middle School in Anderson, Ind. Anne Lawvere is Director of Special Education for Eastbrook Community Schools. Older sister Nicole Lawvere (23) was a standout at Eastbrook and a utility infielder at Indiana University, where she is now attending law school.

A three-time Academic Honor Roll and one-time Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence (2018-19) selection by the Summit League, Andrew Lawvere (21) is on track to graduate in the spring with a major in Accounting and minor in and Management and Marketing. 

He plans to play summer collegiate ball for the Lafayette (Ind.) Aviators in 2021 and come back for a bonus season in 2022 while either pursuing another degree or applying for graduate school. After that comes law school. Grandmother Judith Golitko and uncle Matthew Golitko are personal injury lawyers with Golitko & Daly P.C. and Andrew did an internship with the firm in 2018.

“I like helping other people,” says Lawvere. “It goes back to my four pillars.”

Lawvere has appearance in 77 games in three seasons for the PFW Mastodons, including 11 (seven as a starter — six at first base and one as designated hitter) during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign. 

The righty swinger hit .300 (9-of-30) with one home run, one double, eight runs batted in and four runs scored. He collected three hits with a homer and drove in three runs Feb. 29 at New Mexico State.

As a right-handed relief pitcher, he made four appearances and went 0-1 while striking out five while walking two in 4 1/3 innings. He fanned three in a 1 2/3-inning stint Feb. 23 at Miami (Ohio).

For his career, Lawvere is hitting .242 (48-of-198) with six homers (including a 2019 grand slam against Alabama State), nine doubles, 29 RBIs and 21 runs. 

After the 2020 season was called off and Lawvere find himself back at home, he decided to take his strength and conditioning up a few notches. He began training with former Purdue and Ball State pitcher Eric Van Matre at Muncie (Ind.) Crossfit at The Arsenal. He was introduced to Olympic-style weightlifting and lost 20 pounds.

“I really took advantage of quarantine,” says Lawvere. “I’m in the best shape of myself. I educated myself nutritionally.”

Injuries had moved Lawvere away from catching, but he can see himself going back behind the plate again.

“I had a talk with Coach (Doug) Schreiber,” says Lawvere. “This year I think I’ll get to strap up the shin guards.

“I’m pretty confident I’m going to get back to my roots. I’ll do whatever benefits the team.”

Schreiber took over the Mastodons program in July 2019 and had an impact on Lawvere.

“He’s the best coach I’ve ever had. He’s been around the game for a long time

I’ve really picked his brain lot. He’s an Old School, which I love. He’s a hard-working guy. We understand each other. We are very similar in a lot of ways.

“On a personal level, he makes random phone calls just to check up on me. We just talk about life. He gets it.”

PFW team meetings are filled with discussions tying life situations — like obstacles and adversity — to baseball.

While the Mastodons were on the way to Western Illinois in mid-March when they had to turn around and head back to Fort Wayne after just 15 games, Lawvere said the team was just getting started in 2020.

“We saw a lot of improvement,” says Lawvere. “Schreiber is going to get the culture of the team right.

“As a senior, I’m trying to put my best effort into the culture. I think we’ll have a lot of success (in 2021).”

When Lawvere came to to the Mastodons, Bobby Pierce was head coach. 

“One thing that really sticks out about Coach Pierce is that he understood that people are going to have different ways of thinking,” says Lawvere. “There’s no one right thing about a swing or mechanics.

“He tried to better us as individuals and focused on our strengths.”

Pierce was also receptive when players would reach out.

“I’m always trying to reach my optimal level,” says Lawvere. “I try to get as much information as possible and do what I believe is correct.”

He has been able share baseball knowledge and trade jokes with Mastodons hitting/catchers/outfielders coach Ken Jones.

“I love taking knowledge from (Coach Jones) and using it at different times,” says Lawvere. “We have that open relationship where we can talk.”

IPW has faced challenges since returning to campus this fall. After one practice, the team had to go into a 14-day coronavirus quarantine and returned to the field Sept. 21. All players are on the field but are in pods wearing masks and paying attention to social distancing.

“We’re playing it day-by-day with everything going on,” says Lawvere. “We can’t have another two-week shutdown. We’ve got to set a tone for the Horizon League.”

IPW has moved from the Summit League (with North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State and Western Illinois) to the Horizon League (with Illinois-Chicago, Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Wright State and Youngstown State).

“We’ve talked about intangibles and things we can control,” says Lawvere. “If you want this bad you have to do work on your own (more than 20 hours a week of official team activity).”

In a normal setting, the team would do individual work and then team practice in the fall followed by winter workouts, more individual work and holiday break leading up to the spring season.

Lawvere was born in Muncie and grew up in Upland. With many relatives on his father’s side living close, they refer to the area as “Lawvereville.”

After playing coach pitch baseball in Upland, Andrew played travel ball for the Gas City-based Indiana Rebels coached by Tim Young (his son Nolan Young plays at Illinois State), Greenfield-based Indiana Bandits coached by Dwayne Hutchinson (son Dalton Hutchinson played at Taylor University), the Indiana Prospects coached by Drew Kidd and supervised by Todd Nierman and Indiana Bulls coached by Troy Drosche.

Lawvere played four seasons at Eastbrook for former head coach Todd Farr.

“He was very caring,” says Lawvere of Farr. “He wanted me to get recruited. There were times early in my high school career where I was struggling. He believe in me.

“He saw that I worked hard and wanted to get better.”

Andrew Lawvere, a graduate of Eastbrook High School in Marion, Ind., is a senior baseball player at Purdue Fort Wayne. (Purdue Fort Wayne Photo)

Huttie impacting Fort Wayne baseball community in multiple ways

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

From a young age, Zach Huttie knew baseball was about more than just balls and strikes, safe and out.

It could be used to help teach important concepts.

When he was wrapping up his college studies, he felt the call of the diamond.

“I realized I didn’t ever want to leave baseball. I wanted baseball to be part of my life — some way, some how,” says Huttie. “What better way to teach life lessons than through the game of baseball?

“You do fail a ton of times, but it’s how you overcome that failure.”

Huttie is getting the chance to have an impact on the Fort Wayne area community in multiple capacities — all tied to the game he loves.

He came to the Summit City to be an assistant baseball at Indiana Institute of Technology — aka Indiana Tech — and has since added roles at Hoosier Classic Baseball Tournaments director/instructor for the World Baseball Academy and commissioner of the Indiana Summer Collegiate Baseball League.

“I like being able to change lives,” says Huttie, who is changed with Indiana Tech’s defense. “I like being able to see the kids overcome the adversity.”

Huttie also witnesses a growth in maturity.

“They come in as young men and see them become better men as they leave,” says Huttie. “One thing we preach at Indiana Tech is high character.”

Glen McClain, a redshirt junior first baseman and catcher for the Warriors in 2018, stands as an example of that growth.

“I’ve seen Glen blossom not only on the field but off and become a leader and help to mentor the young guys coming in as freshmen,” says Huttie. “It’s a team-first culture. It’s not just a ‘you’ thing, it’s a ‘we’ thing. It’s something we’ve installed.”

During the recruiting process, the Tech staff — led by head coach Kip McWilliams — does research on the player’s personality by talking with people like coaches, umpires and guidance counselors.

“We want to get a feel on who are those men of high school character who will help impact our program at Indiana Tech,” says Huttie.

Growing up in Raleigh, N.C., the son of Joe and Lonnie Huttie, Zach identified Denison University in Granville, Ohio, as the college for him as a sophomore at Athens Drive High School.

Before and after getting his diploma at ADHS in 2006, Huttie gained much from mentors like hitting instructor Brian Ward (who played for the Fort Wayne Wizards in 2000 and was later on the North Carolina State University coaching staff) and the Baseball Factory’s Kelly Kulina then played four years for the Big Red.

He earned a bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Studies and Communication from Denison and then a master’s degree in Sports and Recreation Sciences with a concentration in Coaching Education from Ohio University. He was a graduate assistant coach for the Bobcats.

It was a recommendation from OU head coach Rob Smith that helped Huttie land at Indiana Tech.

Smith, who played at Vincennes University and Indiana University Southeast, graduated at Indiana University and was an assistant coach at Purdue University, knew McWilliams was looking for an infield coach and sent Huttie his way. He was offered and accepted the job right after the interview.

“You never know who you know and that’s how I got the position up here,” says Huttie.

At the WBA, headquartered in the ASH Centre, Huttie gets to teach the game and also help young people.

“The World Baseball Academy uses baseball as a platform to develop young leaders,” says Huttie. “We work with at-risk youths in the community.”

The ASH Centre has three diamonds with artificial turf infields and natural grass outfields used by players 9U through college and there is plans for more. Huttie organizes and runs the tournaments played there and other area venues.

He works with a WBA leadership group that includes CEO/instructor Caleb Kimmel, director of baseball operations/instructor Andy McManama, senior lead instructor Ken Jones, scholarshipo baseball instructor Tim Petersen, scholarship director Linda Petersen, director of development Linda Buskirk and marketing director Kristen Kimmel, outdoor campus maintenance man Bud Wolf and Dominican Republic trip coordinator Jamie Frazier.

“We’re blessed as a non-profit to do a lot of good for the community,” says Huttie.

The ISCBL was organized a few years ago by McWilliams, Mark DeLaGarza and others to give area collegians a place to play and develop in the summer.

The 2018 season opens Saturday, June 2 and there are three league teams — Fort Wayne Panthers, Northeast Kekiongas and Summit City Sluggers.

The Panthers, with University of Saint Francis assistant Miguel Tucker, will be based on at Cougar Field on the USF campus. The Kekiongas, with head coach Indiana Tech assistant Pat Collins-Bride, will call Indiana Tech’s Warrior Field home. The Sluggers, with Jay County High School assistant Todd Farr as head coach, will be a rover.

In addition to Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders and weekday games with league and area men’s teams, Huttie says the ISCBL will conduct mid-week practices as a large group.

“It’s a developmental league,” says Huttie. Rosters tend to be filled with younger players — freshmen and sophomores.

Through all his baseball involvement in Fort Wayne, Huttie remains very close to his folks.

“My mom and dad our my world,” says Huttie. “They’re my bread and butter.

“I’m an only child. I talk to my parents every single night.”

Zach Huttie is involved in the Fort Wayne baseball community in multiple ways. He is an assistant coach at Indiana Tech, Hoosier Classic Baseball Tournaments director/instructor at the World Baseball Academy and commissioner of the Indiana Summer Collegiate Baseball League. (Steve Krah Photo)

 

Baseball passion rooted in family for Jay County’s Selvey

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Long after the last out, Lea Selvey can be found tending to a plot of land he knows very well.

Selvey drags, edges and waters until his favorite baseball field is just so.

After all, the game is in his blood and this diamond bears his father’s name.

As the spring of 2018 looms, Lea Selvey heads into his 30th season as head baseball coach at Jay County High School on the outskirts of Portland, Ind.

The Patriots play on Don E. Selvey Field — a facility built from scratch by its namesake with his building trades students after the school was opened in the mid-1970’s as part of a consolidation bringing together Bryant, Dunkirk, Pennville, Portland and Redkey.

Don Selvey started his baseball coaching career long before the IHSAA state tournament came along in 1967 and was a head baseball coach for the Green Township Tigers, Gray Redbirds and Redkey Wolves. Green Township became part of Monroe Central in 1958, Gray part of Redkey in 1965 and Redkey part of Jay County in 1975.

“Those are all trivia questions now,” says Lea Selvey, a member of the last Redkey graduating class in 1975 who served as Jay County assistant to Ted Habegger (who later served as the Patriots athletic director) before becoming head coach and employing his father as one of his assistants. “I truly have a passion for the game of baseball and come from a family that loves the game as well. The games themselves are a blast, but I truly  have enjoyed the friendships and stories that have been made due to the game.”

Selvey has welcomed the opportunity to work with students as a biology and health teacher and as a coach. Besides baseball, he has been a boys basketball assistant, girls basketball head coach and currently helps out with the cross country program.

“I can be their coach and I can also be their mentor,” says Selvey. “I try to instill in the kids that hard work, effort and being an honest and upright person. We want to do things the right way and do them all the time. I want to be a first-class program with first-class people.

“I like to think it’s more than baseball. There’s life skills. Wins and losses take care of themselves. I really don’t worry about that too much.”

In his first 29 seasons as head coach, Selvey is 462-321 with six sectional titles (1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 2007) and two regional crowns (1992 and 1993).

The first player Selvey sent to the NCAA Division I level was IHSBCA All-Star MVP Shannon Stigleman, who went to Purdue University. Hopes are high for Shannon’s son and current Jay County senior, Cole Stigleman.

During Selvey’s tenure, the Patriots have moved from the Classic Athletic Conference to the Olympic Athletic Conference and, after a few years as an independent, the Allen County Athletic Conference (which also includes Adams Central, Bluffton, Heritage, South Adams, Southern Wells and Woodlan.).

ACAC teams play each other once during the season with games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some of the opponents on Jay County’s non-conference schedule are Wapahani, Norwell, Bellmont and Delta. The closest road game is across the Ohio line against Buckeye State powerhouse Coldwater.

Since class baseball became a reality in 1997-98, Jay County has gone back and forth between Class 4A and Class 3A. With a little over 1,000 students, the Pats are currently in 3A. Jay County lost to eventual sectional champion Yorktown in the semifinals of the 2017 Yorktown Sectional.

In 2018, Selvey’s team is in a sectional mix with Bellmont, Heritage, Marion, Mississinewa and Norwell.

The son of Don and Gladys Selvey has shared many of those moments with wife Denise and children Josh (29), Kristen (26) and Kyle (22).

Josh Selvey played a few seasons at Trine University and is now on his father’s coaching staff along with Pete Byrum and Todd Farr. Kristen Selvey is a Jay County cheerleader coach. Kyle Selvey is heading into his senior season as a shortstop at Huntington University.

Byrum played baseball at Indiana Tech. Farr was head baseball at Eastbrook last spring and served as a North assistant in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South Series — something Lea Selvey did in 2008 in South Bend and 2014 in Richmond with Kyle as one of the players.

“It’s just an honor,” says Selvey of coaching the all-stars. “You get to be around other kids. You get to know some of them even for that brief amount of time and then you follow them.”

The elder Selvey and Farr also coached the college team for the Fort Wayne-based Summit City Sluggers travel organization.

Kyle Selvey is a Sluggers alum and also played with the Portland Rockets, a team of current and former college and some ex-pros.

Lea Selvey served as IHSBCA president in the early 2000’s. He cherishes the chance he gets to talk baseball with coaches around the state.

“Our association is really one of the better ones in the nation,” says Selvey. “Its always been a very strong association and that’s come from the leadership.”

I remember when Bill Jones and Don Sherman took me under their wing a little bit,” says Selvey of coaches who helped shape the organization are part of the IHSBCA Hall of Fame. “I’m very grateful to those guys.”

Except for college and his first teaching job, Lea Selvey has spent most of his life in Jay County. He first went to Ball State University then transferred to the University of Evansville and logged two seasons as a player — first for Bob Hodges.

“I just thought the world of that guy,” says Selvey of the brother of famed slugger Gil Hodges. He also played with the Purple Aces for Jim Brownlee.

Selvey taught  briefly at Frontier in White County before taking teaching job at East Jay Middle School and joining Habegger’s baseball staff. When Habegger retired from coaching, Selvey took his place.

And he’s been on the job at this special place ever since.

Lea Selvey is heading into his 30th season as head baseball coach at Jay County High School in 2018. His Patriots play on Don E. Selvey Field — a facility named for his father.

 

North All-Stars coach Turner simply enjoys teaching the game of baseball

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Terry Turner loves to be around the people who love baseball.

That’s what draws him to the sport and to coaching — the last two seasons as head coach at Daleville High School after 29 at Anderson High School (25 as head coach).

“It’s that camaraderie that I love about the game,” says Turner. “At Daleville, the kids believe what the coaching staff is teaching. They eat it up. They have a passion for the game also.

“I just have fun with the kids.”

In his two springs leading the Broncos, those receptive young athletes have won two IHSAA sectionals (2016 at Daleville and 2017 at Anderson Prep) and the program’s first regional (at Carroll of Flora), semistate (at Plymouth) and state championship in 2016.

The Broncos carted home the 2016 1A state trophy after topping Lanesville 4-0.

In 2017, Daleville lost to eventual 1A state runner-up Rossville in the semifinals of the Carroll (Flora) Regional.

Anderson has won seven baseball sectionals — four came on Turner’s watch (1987, 1988, 1992, 2012). His Indians took a regional crown in 1995 with North Central Conference titles in 1999, 2000 and 2004.

After serving as an all-star assistant coach in 2009 when Anderson player Nolan Earley was on the roster, Turner has been named North head coach for the 2017 Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series, which will stage its practice, junior showcase at banquet Friday, July 14, two games Saturday, July 15, and one game Sunday, July 16, at Ball State University in Muncie.

Turner will be joined at his alma mater (he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees at BSU) by Daleville assistant Wally Winans.

“You’re never going to find a better teacher of the game of baseball than that guy,” says Turner. “I turn my infield over to him with one drill after the other. I just get out of his way.”

Fundamentals are the foundation of Turner’s coaching.

Turner and his Daleville assistants, including Winans, Tom Lyday and Terry Scheetz talk constantly to their players about every scenario they can conjure. If a weakness is found in a game, the Broncos will concentrate on that at their next practice.

Daleville, which is a member of the Mid-East Conference (along with Blue River Valley, Cowan, Eastern Hancock, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Shenandoah, Union of Modoc, Wapahani and Wes-Del), tests itself by playing mostly larger schools.

Turner’s all-star staff will also include Todd Farr (Eastbrook) and John Steinhilber (Hebron).

Broncos outfielder Corbin Maddox is on the North team. Daleville’s Elliott Jackson was an all-star in 2016.

While at Anderson, Turner also sent Rod Mills (1987), Jeremy Quire (1993), Jordan Czarniecki (1999), Kurt Minnick (2000), Roy Erle (2001), Mike Earley (2006) and Zach Bucci (2011) to the all-star series.

One big difference between coaching at Anderson and Daleville is the size of the schools. Enrollment for 2016-17 was reported at 281.

As a smaller school, Daleville also shares athletes among its team. Turner says it’s not unusual for a wrestler to come from practice and take a few swings with the bat.

“The challenge is the numbers,” says Turner. “We don’t have as many pitchers as the larger schools would. The pitch count rule (1 to 35 pitches requires 0 days rest; 36 to 60 requires 1 day; 61 to 80 requires 2 days; 81 to 100 requires 3 days; and 101 to 120 requires 4 days) has hurt the small school.”

In 2016, Lanesville’s Brenden Bube tossed 137 pitches in the semistate championship game. That would not have been allowed in 2017.

Turner, who graduated from Laurel High School (now part of the Franklin County consolidation) in 1975 and played baseball for Lynn Sheets.

After college, Turner was a junior high basketball and assistant baseball coach to Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Basil Mawbey and IHSBCA Hall of Famer Tom Gable at Connersville High School. He remembers a piece of advice early in his days at Anderson, which began in 1986-87.

“I had no pitchers,” says Turner. “(Gable) told me, ‘everybody is a pitcher.’ He would say to his players, ‘you are a pitcher until you prove to me you can’t.’”

Turner had adopted similar approach.

“You can never have too many pitchers,” says Turner. “At the high school level — really, at all levels — it’s all about throwing strikes. If you don’t throw strikes, you’re in trouble.”

Throwing too many outside the zone also tends to have a negative effect on defenders.

“Infielders get back on their heels,” says Turner. “You put runners on and it puts all this pressure on your defense. Now they have to make the play.”

With a limited number of pitches to work with, Turner is not as quick to have his pitchers work around the zone when they get an 0-2 count.

“The pitch count changes the whole way you’re going to coach the game,” says Turner.

When it really comes into play is the sectional when single-elimination games are played in a short period of time and coaches may not have pitchers available for long — or at all — if those hurlers have thrown too many pitches prior to the next game.

“The (National) Federation is trying to protect young kids and their arms and I get that,” says Turner. “We’re all in the same boat. At tournament time, it’s not a fair situation. I don’t know what the answer is.”

After Connersville, Turner spent 1985-86 at Jasper, where he coached junior high basketball and was a baseball assistant to IHSBCA Hall of Famer Ray Howard.

At Anderson, Turner also was a boys basketball assistant for 14 seasons under Hall of Famer Norm Held and then Ron Heclinski.

Turner is still a teacher at Anderson. Formerly a physical science instructor, he now instructs on health and physical education.

Terry and Debbie Turner have three children — Derrick (32), Christa (27) and Jackie (23). All three were athletes at Pendleton Heights High School.

Terry Turner just completed his second season as head baseball coach at Daleville High School after 29 seasons (25 as head coach) at Anderson High School. He is head coach for the North in the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series July 14-16 in Muncie.

 

IHSBCA North/South All-Star Series rosters released

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Rosters and coaching staffs have been chosen for the for the 44th Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series.

IHSBCA members have chosen members of the Class of 2017 to take part in festivities Friday through Sunday, July 14-16, at Ball State University in Muncie.

The junior showcase, all-star practices and banquet are slated for July 14 with two games July 15 and one wood-bat game July 16.

Daleville’s Terry Turner is head coach for the North with Plainfield’s Jeff McKeon is head coach for the South.

The South took all three games in 2016 at Whiting, winning 7-6 and 15-2 with metal bats on Saturday and 6-2 in the wood-bat game on Sunday. Kenton Crews of Heritage Hills was named MVP.

The series, which the North leads 64-59, began in 1975. The 2018 series is slated for South Bend.

IHSBCA NORTH/SOUTH ALL-STAR SERIES

(At Ball State University, Muncie)

Friday, July 14

8 a.m. — Junior Showcase at Ball Diamond

11:30 a.m. — North All-Star coaches report to Holiday Inn Express & Suites Muncie

12:30 p.m. — North All-Star players check-in at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Muncie

1:30 p.m. — North All-Star Pictures at the field

2 p.m. — North All Star Practice

3:30 p.m. — North All Star practice concludes, players return to Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

1 p.m. — South All-Star coaches report to Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

2 p.m. — South All Star players check-in at Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

3:30 p.m. — South All Star pictures at the field

4 p.m. — South All Star Practice

5:30 p.m. — South All Star practice concludes, players return to Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

6:40 p.m. — Leave for North-South All Star Banquet at BSU Alumni Center

7 p.m.  — Banquet begins at Alumni Center

11 p.m. — Team meetings at Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

Midnight — Curfew

Saturday, July 15

8:30 a.m. — Breakfast at the Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

10 a.m. — South All-Stars leave for field

10:20 a.m. — North All-Stars leave for field

10:20 a.m.  — South All-Stars batting practice on the field

11 a.m. — North All-Stars batting practice on the field

11:45 a.m.  — South All-Stars Pregame Infield

12:05 p.m. — North All-Stars Pregame Infield

12:30 p.m. — Player and coach introductions (High school coach with players)

12:53 p.m. — Ceremonial First Pitch

12:55 p.m. — National Anthem

1 p.m. — Game 1 (9 innings)

Food will be provided between games

30 minutes after Game 1 — Game 2 (9 innings)

Players will return to Holiday Inn for pizza

11:30 p.m. — Team meetings at Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

Midnight — Curfew

Sunday, July 16

 8:30 a.m. — Breakfast at Holiday Inn & Suites Muncie

9:15 a.m.  — Check out of Hotel

9:30 a.m. — Leave for field

10 a.m. — Batting Practice in cages

11 a.m. — South All-Stars take infield

11:20 a.m. — North All-Stars take infield

11:53 a.m.  — Ceremonial First Pitch

11:55 a.m. — National Anthem

Noon — Game 3 (9 innings wood-bat game)

Players wear their high school uniforms and will be dismissed following the game

Rosters

North

Catchers

Andrew Lawvere (Eastbrook)

Nolan Metcalf (Penn)

Jimmy Shea (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)

First Basemen

Bryce Masterson (Noblesville)

Andrew Salmon (Elkhart Central)

Middle Infielders

Riley Tirotta (Mishawaka Marian)

Tony Carmola (South Bend St. Joseph)

Matt Homco (Rossville)

Cole Barr (Yorktown)

Third Basemen

Hunter Ryan (Hebron)

Vincent Herschberger (NorthWood)

Outfielders

Ryan Missal (Lowell)

Luke Florek (Western)

Ben Nisle (Lake Central)

Corbin Maddox (Daleville)

Flex

Brody Hardcastle (Oak Hill)

Pitchers

Garrett Schoenle (Fort Wayne Northrop)

Sean Smith (Peru)

Jackson White (Eastside)

Andy Samuelson (LaPorte)

Sean Ferguson (New Haven)

Baylee Young (Logansport)

Joe Graziano (Lake Central)

Drew  Bradford (Whitko)

Mike Madura (Munster)

Head Coach

Terry Turner (Daleville)

Assistant Coaches

Todd Farr (Eastbrook)

John Steinhilber (Hebron)

Wally Winans (Daleville)

South

Catchers

Canton Terry (South Vermillion)

Zach Britton (Batesville)

Drew Ashley (Evansville Memorial)

First Basemen

Justin Hensley (Brebeuf Jesuit)

Daylan Nanny (Plainfield)

Middle Infielders

Clay Woeste (Lawrenceburg)

Trey Kelley (Hagerstown)

Cooper Trinkle (Columbus North)

Noah Navarro (Avon)

Third Basemen

Tanner Craig (Austin)

Caleb Brenczewski (Fishers)

Outfielders

Roy Thurman (Indianapolis North Central)

Evan Aders (Jasper)

Elijah Dunham (Evansville Reitz)

Sammy Rowan (South Spencer)

Flex

Drew Hensley (Bedford North Lawrence)

Rhett Wintner (Carmel)

Pitchers

Jake Lewis (Providence)

Drey Jameson (Greenfield Central)

Garrett Welch (New Castle)

Eston Stull (Pendleton Heights)

John Nierman (Brebeuf Jesuit)

Blake Malatestinic (Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter)

Trent Johnson (Crawfordsville)

Kevin Thompson (Columbus North)

Luke Duermit (Fishers)

Head Coach

Jeff McKeon (Plainfield)

Assistant Coaches

Brad Catey (Hagerstown)

Justin Tucker (Batesville)

John Major (Columbus East)

The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association held its first North/South All-Star Series games in 1975. The 2017 series is slated for Ball State University in Muncie.