Who made IHSBCA All-State for 2018?

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association membership has voted for its 2018 all-state teams.

Players were selected for first team and honorable mention in four classes.

Players selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft — Nick Schnell (Roncalli), Jack Perkins (Kokomo), Bradley Brehmer (Decatur Central), Jared Poland (Indianapolis Cathedral) and Timmy Borden (Providence) — are automatically all-state.

The honorees are listed below:

2018 IHSBCA ALL-STATE

Class 4A

First Team

Pitchers

Garrett Burhenn (Lawrence Central)

Luke Albright (Fishers)

Grant Richardson (Fishers) xxx

Avery Short  (Southport)

Braydon Tucker (Northview)

Catcher

Hayden Jones (Fort Wayne Carroll) x

First Baseman

Ethan English (Jeffersonville)

Second Baseman

Cam Dennie (Plymouth)

Third Baseman

Matt Wolff (Fishers)

Shortstop

Craig Yoho (Fishers)

Outfielders

Ryan Robison (New Albany) xx

Ian McCutcheon (Huntington North)

Damon Lux (Shelbyville)

Honorable Mention

Riley Perlich (Fort Wayne Carroll)

Austin Peterson (Chesterton)

Zach Messinger (Castle)

Derek Haslett (Indianapolis CrCathedral)

Ryan Bolda (Crown Point)

Chandler Banic (LaPorte)

Zyon Avery (Ben Davis)

Alec Brunson (DeKalb)

Kollyn All (McCutcheon)

Kiel Brenczewski (Fishers)

Chase Hug (Pike)

Jacob Daftari (Hamilton Southeastern)

Brock Cooper (Hobart)

Justin Graves (Lake Central)

Jared Miller (Elkhart Central)

Brigham Booe (Northview)

Riley Hershberger (Logansport)

Riley Bertram (Zionsville)

Tucker Platt (Logansport)

Alan Perry (Seymour)

Benji Nixon (Plymouth)

Matthew Meyer (Westfield)

Tyler Finke (Columbus North)

JJ Woolwine (Fishers)

Drew Taylor (Jeffersonville)

Evan Allen (McCutcheon)

Ryan Bolda (Crown Point)

Payton Kerr (Penn)

Tyler Owens (Noblesville)

Drew Hasson (Columbus East)

Class 3A

First Team

Pitchers

Michael Doolin (Andrean)

Ashton Guyer (Western)

Trevor Ankney (Indian Creek)

Catchers

Derek Wagner (Tri-West)

Angel DiFederico (New Haven)

First Baseman

Pat Mills (Western)

Second Baseman

Nolan Isaacs (Lakeland)

Third Baseman

Sam Beier (Wheeler)

Shortstop

Sammy Steimel (Sullivan)

Outfielders

Eli Helton (Lawrenceburg)

Clay Thompson (Andrean)

Caleb Meeks (Evansville Memorial)

Cade McCoin (Mississinewa)

Honorable Mention

Sullivan Swingley (Yorktown)

Tyler Wheeler (Silver Creek)

Ethan Larason (Maconaquah)

Robbie Berger (John Glenn)

Dillon Olejnik (Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter)

Brady Gumpf (South Bend St. Joseph)

Sammy Barnett (Silver Creek)

Jake Andriole (Guerin Catholic)

Bryson McNay (Silver Creek)

Dawson Read (Indian Creek)

Max Moser (Jay County)

Cole Stigleman (Jay County)

Michael Machnic (John Glenn)

Eric Doyle (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)

Dylan Whitt (Silver Creek)

Chase Springmeyer (Greensburg)

Hayden Schott (Culver Military Academies)

Eddie Morris (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)

Tanner Clark (Columbia City)

Class 2A

First Team

Pitchers

Grant Besser (South Adams)

Ty Bothwell (Boone Grove)

Catcher

Luke Stock (Henryville)

First Baseman

Joe Butz (Heritage Christian)

Second Baseman

Joel Mounts (Heritage Christian)

Third Baseman

Kipp Fougerousse (Linton Stockton)

Shortstops

Drew Buhr (Austin)

Logan Ryan (Hebron)

Outfielders

Zander Kottka (Union County)

Spencer Ballinger (Oak Hill)

Sam Schoonveld (Clinton Prairie)

Honorable Mention

Landon Weins (Frankton)

Jake Marin (Lafayette Central Catholic)

Shane Harris (North Posey)

Joey Weller (Union County)

Cameron Holycross (Lapel)

Matt Panagouleas (South Vermillion)

Logan Seger (Southridge)

Ben Berenda (Lafayette Central Catholic)

Wes Transier (Oak Hill)

KJ Roudebush (Tipton)

Easton Good (Lewis Cass)

Mason Miller (Union County)

Trever Zink (Forest Park)

Tyler Burton (Knightstown)

Tucker Schank (Southridge)

Garett Stanley (Wapahani)

Carson Dolezal (Tipton)

Class 1A

First Team

Pitchers

Lucas McNew (Borden)

Blake Harner (Northfield)

Catcher

Duncan Gerkin (Orleans)

First Baseman

Jay Hammel (South Newton) xx

Second Baseman

Trey Waddups (Pioneer)

Third Baseman

Nate Johnson (Pioneer)

Shortstop

Aaron Beard (Tecumseh)

Outfielders

Ryan Hale (Daleville)

Cory Gutshall (Pioneer)

Carson Husmann (South Central of Union Mills) x

Honorable Mention

Nick Babcock (South Newton)

Evan Etchison (Daleville)

Sam Meek (Hauser)

Garrett Lawson (Riverton Parke)

Shom Berry (North Daviess)

Trey Johnson (Hauser)

Peyton Smith (Daleville)

Parker Eickbush (Hauser)

Case Eisenhut (Northeast Dubois)

Kyle Schmack (South Central of Union Mills)

Josh Price (Daleville)

Brogan Sanders (Riverton Parke)

Gabe Wilson (Edinburgh)

x — Repeat all-state performer.

xx — Repeat all-state performer in same class, but different position.

xxx — Repeat all-state performer in a different class and different position.

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Lost limbs, lost life put things into perspective at Silver Creek

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball is important at Silver Creek High School.

The Joe Decker-coached Dragons work hard to make themselves good at the sport and they have several wins and IHSAA sectional titles (2000, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) to show for it.

But a 2012 natural disaster and the 2017 passing of a teen athlete from a rival school have help put it all in perspective.

Silver Creek is in the southern Indiana town of Sellersburg —  10 miles from Henryville and 83 miles from Southridge High School in Huntingburg.

Tornadoes in 2012 leveled Joe and Stephanie Decker’s Henryville home and caused Stephanie to lose both of her legs.

With the help of their faith, the community and a desire to help others, the family has moved forward. The Stephanie Decker Foundation was started and she travels all around on prosthetic legs to help bring sports to children without limbs.

“She handles it really well,” says Joe Decker. “She’s a lot tougher than I am. I know that.

“We’re like everybody else at this point. We’re chasing kids around.”

The Deckers make sure youngest son Dominic gets to travel baseball and daughter Reese to travel softball. Nolan is 19 and living in Columbus.

“Five years ago my family learned it’s just a game,” says Decker. “(Baseball) will teach them a lot, but at the end of the day it’s just a baseball game.”

Joe makes sure his high school players count their blessings.

“We tell them ‘be glad you get to do this everyday because a lot kids don’t,” says Decker. “Even for them to live where they live. They live in rural Indiana. Their problems are nothing. Compared to a lot of other kids, they are extremely lucky. They are just really good kids and they care about other people.”

Evidence of that came a few weeks ago. Southridge assistant baseball coach Gene Mattingly’s daughter, Lexi, had experienced cardiac arrest at tennis practice and was hospitalized in Louisville before Silver Creek visited the Raiders for a non-conference baseball game.

Joe knew Gene a little bit. Both have coached for the Ironmen — a Christian-based travel baseball organization. Joe did not know Lexi. Feeling compassion, the Dragons presented Gene with a signed baseball and Dragons T-shirt for his daughter before the Silver Creek-Southridge game.

After being in critical condition, Lexi seemed to be recovering when Joe got a call on gameday against South Central last week. She was being flown back to Louisville.

Around the fifth inning of the contest, he got a call that Lexi Mattingly had passed. He shared the news with his assistant coaches, including Ryan Wheeler, but not his players.

Sophomore Tyler Wheeler noticed a look on his father’s face and asked “Dad, are you alright?”

He told him the sad news just before Tyler’s next turn at bat.

Tyler, who had been struggling at the plate, draws a little “L” in the batter’s box and socks the second pitch for his first high school home run.

“He comes around third base and he’s almost in tears,” says Decker. “It’s pretty amazing.”

That same week practice, Decker shared the baseball and faith story of John Scolinos and “Staying at 17 Inches.” It’s the reason the Dragons wear a 17 on their practice shirts.

Decker, 47, is in his second stint of teaching baseball and life lessons at his alma mater. Beginning at 22, he was head coach for five seasons at Brown County High School (1992-96). The Eagles won the school’s first sectional in any sport in 16 years in 1992. He led the program at Silver Creek 1997-2003, served as head coach for three seasons at Indiana University Southeast in nearby New Albany (2004-06), took two seasons off and came back to the Dragons head coaching post in 2009.

Decker and his assistants want Silver Creek baseball to a be a family for current and former players. It’s not unusual to see alums from the past five years in the dugout during games.

“It’s really important to us that our kids like being here and they like coming back,” says Decker. “They feel it’s there program.”

The Dragons are drilled on the fundamentals and on Mental Toughness Training through Dan Thurston of Long Toss Indiana. After winning four straight Class 3A sectionals, Silver Creek lost 2-1 against host North Harrison in 2015. Decker chalks that up to strong opposing pitching.

The 6-3 loss to Brownstone Central in the 2016 North Harrison Sectional title game — even with three freshmen and two sophomores in the SC lineup did not sit well with Decker.

“Last year it was more like we played not to lose,” says Decker. “From my aspect that was a mental thing. As a coach, I’ll take the blame for it.

“We were not mentally tough from a competitive standpoint. (Most players) never faced adversity … Eyes were wide and they kind of tightened up.”

The idea is to stop the feature of failure.

“We talk about making aggressive mistakes,” says Decker.

Actions in practice — like not getting a bunt down, making the throw to the right base or an unexcused absence — have consequences for the Dragons like extra running.

“We play the process and not the score,” says Decker. “We’re teaching them baseball, but we really focus on work ethic. We tell them the one thing you can control is how hard you work. We’ve tried to keep that workmanlike mentality. That helps them keep a chip on their shoulder a little bit.

“We spend a lot of time just talking about the mental side of the game. It goes back to playing the process. If you can get them to not think about winning and losing and just playing the right way, winning takes care of itself.”

Besides pitching coach Ryan Wheeler, the coaching staff includes Ritchie Ware, Scott Jennings and Brent Falcone. It is Falcone that runs the arm care program for the Dragons.

Silver Creek plays in the Mid-Southern Conference (with Austin, Brownstown Central, Charlestown, Clarksville, Corydon Central, Eastern-Pekin, North Harrison, Salem and Scottsburg). All MSC teams play one another, often on Mondays and Thursdays. Decker would like to see the conference go to a tournament and free up other regular-season dates for strong non-conference competition.

The Dragons finish the season at the Jasper tournament and also play New Albany and Jeffersonville heading toward the IHSAA state tournament series.

Joe Decker is the head baseball coach at Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg. His wife Stephanie lost both legs in the Henryville tornado of 2012. This season, his team experienced the loss of a teenage athlete at rival Southridge.