Kokomo Jackrabbits field boss Hobbs values experience, development

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Johnston Hobbs splits his time in the baseball off-season between Raleigh, N.C., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

This summer he is back in Indiana — a state where he has studied, coached and established a business.

Hobbs, who earned a Master of Kinesiology degree from Indiana University and a served as a graduate assistant under former Hoosiers head baseball coach Bob Morgan, is the head coach/manager summer collegiate wood bat Northwoods League’s Kokomo (Ind.) Jackrabbits. 

The former college and independent player has been a manager for the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s Glen Falls (N.Y.) Dragons, South Florida Collegiate Baseball League’s West Palm Beach (Fla.) Sharks, New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Vermont Mountaineers, Puerto Rico’s Aguadilla Nevegantes and Corn Belt Baseball League’s Omaha Filthballers (winning three regular-season titles and three champions in four seasons 2019-22). He has also coached the Hungarian National Team and assisted at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Hobbs, who also earned a degree in English, Political Science and Exercise Sports Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Education in Psychology and Communication from the University of South Carolina, and created a commercial swimming pool business in Indianapolis in 1999. He was a competitive swimmer and has coached the sport at South Carolina and the North Carolina State University.

He is now CEO/President of 224 Performance — a company Hobbs founded in 2017 — that “provides customized training for individual athletes and teams to maximize performance and health, Athlete and Talent Management, Player Evaluations, and Practice/Business structure.”

He has been a frequent clinic speaker.

Hired in Kokomo in late summer of 2022, Hobbs recruited talent from all over the country to showcase their skills and be developed in the City of Firsts.

“I don’t necessarily measure everything in wins or losses. I measure it in experience and development,” says Hobbs. “There’s no part of this game that we don’t have some influence or input on. I can’t sit and watch somebody do anything wrong and not give them some feedback.

“You have to be a well-rounded, completely-developed player to be one of 750 guys on the planet that make Major League Baseball. You can’t have a weakness in your game. If you come out here and don’t listen to your coach in college and you don’t listen to us you have 0 percent chance of making it.”

Hobbs says the players who set and achieve the highest goals are those who don’t give up or make excuses. They are willing to go through the process.

“How can you go wrong in the development of anything?,” says Hobbs. “If you’re a business person, you’re developing business and it helps your business. 

“In baseball it’s even more so because you have to manage failure so often. If you were 30 percent successful in business the doors close. If you’re in college and you make 30s on your exams, you get kicked out of school.”

But hitters with a .300 average are considered special.

“You’ve got to try to make a difference in every little aspect of the game,” says Hobbs. “Sometimes I know it gets tiring for kids to hear because it seems like we’re giving them feedback on everything they do, but that’s our job. If we don’t do that, then we’re cheating.

“It’s not hard to communicate (with players). I’m a firm believer if kids aren’t learning what you’re trying to teach them you’ve got to change the way you teach it.

“I would like to see players evolve mentally at the same pace as the game. Baseball I.Q. is in high demand.”

Hobbs calls the Northwoods League the “the highest level developmental league in the world.”

“This is a developmental league for elite talent,” says Hobbs. “This is to fine-tune the best of the best.”

Clubs in the 24-team league play 72 games between late May and mid-August with a handful of days off.

“We have a lot of higher-end (NCAA) Division II guys that started 50 of 55 games (in the spring) and come here and play 70,” says Hobbs. “We’ve tried to keep the pitching staff on first-half and second-half contracts and then double up on the position guys.

“It’s tough to make an arm last the whole (summer) season when you’ve got 72 games.”

In the past decade, the coach says he has seen shift in attention span and diminished problem-solving and structure.

“These are good kids,” says Hobbs. “They want to do the right thing. They just don’t know how to do it when it doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to go or how they’d like it to go.”

A bad attitude, poor body language and jawing at opponents are things Hobbs will not tolerate.

“You won’t hear us chirp at the other bench,” says Hobbs. “You won’t hear us making fun of other players. You don’t do that because it’s solely against rules.

“They’ve been getting away with that forever and they think it’s acceptable and they see it at the highest levels.”

Taking responsibility for your actions is also a non-negotiable with Hobbs.

“As a human being in anything you do take accountability for your actions and your maturity,” says Hobbs. 

Jackrabbits assistant Steven Sunagel, who hails from northeast Ohio, has four decades of coaching experience and has been with Hobbs for many of his baseball stops.

“Sonny” Sunagel sees a problem at the game’s lower levels.

“My kids aren’t starting so I going to start my own travel team,” says Sunagel. “What they’re doing back home where I’m from the Little League has been decimated. A travel ball team is formed and pulls the good kids out of the organization that used to be strong. 

“The Little League says we need these kids so they’ll play during the week for us and play weekend travel (perhaps pitching for both teams). But the two coaches don’t talk.

“They’re not coordinating and it’s starting to show up in the injuries.”

The Jackrabbits, which play home games at Kokomo Municipal Stadium, are coming down the stretch for 2023. The team played its 61st contest Monday, July 31 against visiting Traverse City and has three remaining home dates — Aug. 2, 5 and 8.

Hobbs has been told by Kokomo general manager Nathan Martin that he is welcome back in 2024.

“A lot of the people in the community like Coach,” says Martin of Hobbs.

Johnston Hobbs. (Steve Krah Photo)

Toledo southpaw Walker tries to stay even-keel on the mound

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

Something Jack Walker likes best about himself is the mindset he maintains on the pitching mound.
Walker, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound left-hander who recently completed his first season at the University of Toledo in 2023 after three years at Indiana University (2020-22), tries not to get too high or too low with the situation at-hand.
“I don’t necessarily get discouraged or down when something I can’t control doesn’t go my way,” says Walker. “The only thing I can control is throwing the ball. Once the ball leaves my hand I have no control over what happens.
“I’ve seen it effect guys real badly. I try to keep an even-keel even in success because I know baseball is a humbling game.
“I just take it pitch by pitch.”
Over time, he has learned to make each delivery its own thing and put the previous pitches behind.
Walker, who turns 23 in December, also likes to show the way for his teammates.
“I think I’m a good leader by example in terms of getting all my work done and extra work and bringing up all those young guys.
Walker, who has one remaining year of college eligibility, delivers his pitches from a high arm slot.
“It’s very over-the-top — almost to an extreme,” says Walker. “I come straight down to the catcher.”
He has been using a four-seam fastball, curveball and change-up and has introduced a cutter to the mix while striking out 61 and walking 44 over 54 1/3 innings and 15 outings (12 starts) in 2023.
The four-seamer touched 96 mph in 2022 but has sat at 89 to 92 and sometimes gotten to 93 in 2023.
“My control got a lot better (this year),” says Walker.
His curve is of the 12-to-6 or 11-to-5 variety.
He employs a “circle” grip on his change-up.
“I split two seams between the ring finger and middle finger and it goes between running away from a (right-handed) hitter and dropping off the table,” says Walker. “It has some run and some depth.”
Walker’s cutter has the closed end of the seam on his index finger with his fingers closer together.
Rob Reinstetle is the Toledo head coach and John Sheehan is the Rockets pitching coach.
“He is honest with everyone,” says Walker of Reinstetle. “He will be hard on us when we make those mistakes but it definitely makes us better.
“He lets us know he still know that he has confidence in us. There’s an open relationship. We can go to him about anything.”
Walker notes that Sheehan is not that far-removed from being a minor league player and has a feel for the present state of pitching.
“He definitely knows what he’s talking about,” says Walker of Sheehan.
A 2019 graduate of New Palestine (Ind.) High School, Walker played for Dragons head coach Shawn Lyons.
“He did a great job of holding everyone accountable,” says Walker of Lyons. “He treated everyone with the same amount of respect.
“I still have a good connection with him today.”
Walker has earned a Marketing degree and says its likely that he will begin work on his Master of Business Administration in 2023-24.
The big southpaw is weighing his summer ball options. He says he will likely join the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Vermont Mountaineers then train at 108 Performance in Knoxville, Tenn.
In the summers of 2021 and 2022, he was with the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s Saugerties (N.Y.) Stallions. The 2021 team won the league title.
Walker did not play in the summers of 2019 (going to IU early for summer classes) and 2020.
Born in Indianapolis, Walker grew up in New Palestine. His early diamond days were spent in the New Palestine Youth League. He then played with a local travel organization called the Diamond Cutters.
In junior high, Walker went with USAthletic followed by the Pony Express. In high school, he played for the Indiana Prospects.
Jack is the only child of Donald and Laurie Walker. His father is a service manager and his mother is both a massage therapist and school bus driver.

Jack Walker. (University of Toledo Photo)

Jack Walker. (University of Toledo Photo)

Jack Walker. (University of Toledo Photo)

Former Northrop, Cincinnati lefty Schoenle signs as free agent with Chicago White Sox organization

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

Garrett Schoenle was a very good passer during his football days at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Northrop High School.
On the strength of Schoenle’s left arm, head coach Jason Doerffler had his Bruins go to the air often.
“We spread it out and threw 40 passes a game,” says Schoenle. “I was baseball player who could throw it and we tried to use that to our advantage.”
When the 2017 Northrop graduate left the program he was the all-time leader in passing yards and completions.
Heading into his junior baseball season, Schoenle had gotten no offers for the diamond. But some bigger schools were interested in him for the gridiron.
Schoenle, who also played two years of high school basketball, really began attracting college baseball teams in the spring of 2016 when he was the News-Sentinel Player of the Year and on the American Family Insurance/All-Indiana Team. He helped Northrop go 20-5 overall and 14-0 in the Summit Athletic Conference while winning the IHSAA Class 4A Fort Wayne Carroll Sectional.
Southpaw Schoenle was the 2017 Gatorade Indiana High School Baseball Player of the Year and an Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North-South All-Star.
The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 30th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, but Schoenle was offered the chance to pitch at the University of Cincinnati by then-Bearcats head coach Ty Neal and went the college route.
By the time the hurler arrived on-campus Scott Googins had taken over as UC head coach with J.D. Heilman as pitching coach.
“They gave me a platform to showcase my skills at the Division I level,” says Schoenle of Googins and Heilman.
In four seasons (2018-21), Schoenle made 37 mound appearances (30 starts) and went 11-5 with two saves and 5.13 earned run average. In 152 2/3 innings, he produced 174 strikeouts and 98 walks.
Making 15 starts in 2021, Schoenle posted a 6-3 mark with one complete game and a 4.18 ERA. He fanned 89 and walked 24 in 75 1/3 innings.
He at the front of the weekend rotation as a senior.
“I tried to step up and be a leader,” says Schoenle, who was American Athletic Conference member Cincinnati’s “Sunday” starter as a sophomore in the pre-COVID-19 season of 2019.
As a freshman in 2018, Schoenle learned in January that he had a torn labrum. Wanting to avoid surgery at all costs, he rehabbed, got stronger and made his collegiate debut in April.
In the summer of 2019, Schoenele was with the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Vermont Mountaineers (Montpelier, Vt.). He used the summer of 2020 to make himself better and to fine-tune.
After the 2021 spring season, Schoenle played for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Niles, Ohio) in the new MLB Draft League. He signed this week with the Chicago White Sox as an undrafted free agent.
“They way I perceived it (the MLB Draft League) had the same talent as Cape Cod, but with older draft-eligible guys,” says Schoenle, 23. “I came out of the pen and got a few starts before the draft and came home (to Fort Wayne) after that,”
About 45 minutes after the draft concluded on July 13, White Sox area scout Phil Gulley called.
Was Schoenle interested in going with Chicago’s American League team?
“Of course,” says Schoenle, who is now at a mini-camp for draftees and signees in Birmingham, Ala. After that some will be sent to Glendale, Ariz., and assigned to a minor league affiliate and others will be kept in camp.
The top four farm clubs in the White Sox system are the Low Class-A Kannapolis (N.C.) Cannon Ballers, High Class-A Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dash, Double-A Birmingham Barons and Triple-A Charlotte (N.C.) Knights.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Schoenle throws five pitches from a three-quarter overhand arm slot — four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, curveball, change-up and splitter. His four-seamer sits at 91 to 94 mph and was up to 96 in the spring. He describes the action of curveball to be somewhere between a curve and a slider.
Schoenle tosses a “circle” change and the splitter — which drops — was added to his repertoire this past season.
Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Schoenle played his first organized baseball at New Haven Baseball Association from age 4 to 12. His 12U to 14U seasons were spent with the traveling New Haven Bulldogs and his father — Jeff — was the coach. Jeff Schoenle was a shortstop while at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.
Garrett competed in the Midwest Big League at Saint Joe Little League from 15 to 18, even playing a few times as a lefty-throwing shortstop.
“Being left-handed, that’s opened a lot of doors for me in my career,” says Schoenle, who throws and hits from the left side but punted a football with his right toe. “I’m also an ultra-competitor and that helped me to where I am.”
As a teen, Schoenle went to morning football workouts and 7-on-7 camps and also honed his baseball skills.
“I spent my time during the summer trying to be the best athlete I could,” says Schoenle.
As a Northrop baseball player, Schoenle played for Bruins head coach Matt Brumbaugh and pitching coach Dan O’Reilly.
“Brum is one of the most influential people in my baseball career,” says Schoenle. “There’s a lot of people to thank in my journey and he’s definitely one of them.”
O’Reilly pitched at Iowa State University and then in pro ball.
“Having some people who had been there is big when you have those dreams yourself,” says Schoenle.
With an interest in education and coaching, Schoenle pursued a History degree at Cincinnati and graduated last semester.
“I always want to get into teaching,” says Schoenle. “My dad’s a teacher (of Social Studies at Fort Wayne’s Jefferson Middle School).
“I want to have an opportunity to teach and coach and spread my knowledge to youth one day.”
Garrett is the oldest of Jeff and Parkview Mental Health counselor Kim Schoenle’s four children.
Gavin Schoenle (21) is a student at Indiana University. He was on many of the same teams as Garrett and played one football season at Ohio Dominican University.
Gradyn Schoenle (17) plays football and baseball and is heading into his junior year at Northrop.
Gabbey Schoenle (13) runs cross country. She is going into the eighth grade Jefferson Middle School.

WANE-TV video on Garrett Schoenle’s signing with the Chicago White Sox.

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)

Garrett Schoenle (University of Cincinnati Photo)