By STEVE KRAH
As an alum and someone who lives and works in the community, Seth Eldridge appreciates his role as head baseball coach at Carroll Junior/Senior High School in Flora, Ind., and emphasizes the culture of the Cougars program.
“We’re a small school,” says Eldridge of an institution that has about 340 in the top four grades. “Talents has its ebbs and flows. Some classes are great. We’ve been blessed the last five years I’ve been here to have (talented) kids coming through. The kids all want to be there. They buy in and push each other. It doesn’t matter what the talent is you can still have a program and the kids still love it.
“I want high school sports to be something they love and want to do, not something they have to do.”
Eldridge, a 2014 Carroll graduate and a Certified Public Accountant at Fisher & Associates of Flora and Lafayette, became an assistant to Camden Parkhurst in 2019 and took over as head coach in 2023.
Parkhurst was Eldridge’s high school coach.
“Camden’s awesome,” says Eldridge. “He’s one of my best mentors and closest friends.
“He’s not an X and O guy. But he’s one of the best motivators I’ve ever seen. He gets the most the kids can give.”
A right-handed-pitcher, Eldridge went to Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and played for the Rick O’Dette-coached Pumas for three seasons (2015-17) before the school was closed.
“He’s a wizard when it comes to pitching,” says Eldridge of O’Dette. “He got it all out of his guys. He’s a tremendous coach and a tremendous person.”
Eldridge transferred to Anderson (Ind.) University finished his playing career while also graduating as a double major in Accounting and Finance in 2018. Matt Bair was in his first season as Ravens head coach.
While Bair has vast baseball knowledge, what Eldridge thinks of first about Bair is not so much about balls and strikes.
“It’s his love for people,” says Eldridge. “I’ll get four or five texts a year. He’ll be asking about family. He truly cares about every person he meets.
“There’s a great culture at Anderson.”
Carroll is a member of the Hoosier Heartland Conference (with Clinton Central, Clinton Prairie, Delphi Community, Eastern of Greentown, Rossville, Sheridan, Taylor and Tri-Central).
The Cougars are part of an IHSAA Class 2A sectional grouping in 2024 with Benton Central, Clinton Prairie, Delphi Community, Lewis Cass and Seeger. Carroll has won seven sectional crowns — the last in 2022. The Cougars won 21 games in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 16 in 2023.
An IHSAA Limited Contact Period went Aug. 28-Oct. 14. All but one of his players was involved in football or soccer (both teams won sectional titles), but Eldridge did make open fields available twice a week for long toss.
The next LCP begins Dec. 4, but Eldridge says he does not expect to begin in earnest with a full group until after Jan. 1.
Eldridge’s coaching staff includes Dan Butcher, Jeff Hightower, Billy Lytle, Chris Seward and Wade Peters.
Local preacher Butcher, who came from Missouri, works with infielders and also leads Bible studies. Hightower (a Macoutah, Ill., native who played at Saint Joseph’s with Eldridge then went to Quincy University and finished his college career with 41 home runs and 107 runs batted in) and Carroll Consolidated School Corporation Board of Trustees member Lytle (Carroll Class of 1999) split instruction with hitters and catchers. Seward (Carroll Class of 2006) leads the junior varsity. Peters (Carroll Class of 2018) splits his time between the JV and varsity.
“I’m blessed beyond measure with the coaching staff I have behind me,” says Eldridge.
Recent Carroll graduates who went on to college baseball include two right-handed pitchers — Class of 2018’s Will Eldridge (Seth’s younger brother who sports a fastball that’s reached 97 mph) at Indiana Wesleyan University and 2023’s Tanner Turnpaugh at Wabash College.
Eli Harshbarger (Carroll Class of 2024) has committed to Anderson University. A trio in the Class of 2025 — Coy Lytle, Xavier Williams and Owen Zinn — have shown interest in playing college ball.
Carroll’s on-campus diamond features a net backstop with brick and newer dugouts and the field surface was re-done a few years ago. Eldridge says his next fundraising goal will center on a new batting cage.
Flora Youth Baseball with its Town & Country teams that regularly compete in state tournaments is part of a feeder system.
“We’re working on growing our Pony program (for seventh and eighth graders),” says Eldridge.
Seth is married to the former Bailey Worl, a Carroll graduate who played volleyball at Saint Joseph’s and the Indiana University Kokomo. The couple had their first child — daughter Harper — in October 2022.
www.IndianaRBI.com 