Schoenradt guiding first Tri-Township Tigers team

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

Mike Schoenradt is in charge for the first season of Tri-Township Tigers baseball in 2023.
Formerly an assistant at North Judson-San Pierre High School, Schoenradt (pronounced Shin-Rod) is a new head coach leading the program at the former LaCrosse in LaPorte County.
Tri-Township (enrollment around 110) is a member of the Porter County Conference (with Boone Grove, Hebron, Kouts, Morgan Township, South Central of Union Mills, Washington Township and Westville).
The Tigers are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping in 2023 with Argos, Culver Community, Marquette Catholic, Oregon-Davis, South Bend Career Academy, Triton and Westville. LaCrosse won four sectional crowns — the last in 1984.
Schoenradt was on Ronald Benakovich’s staff at North Judson.
“RB is the man and has been a great mentor for me to have,” says Schoenradt. “The biggest coaching advice I could ever have is ‘Stop watching the play and start watching the whole game.’ It’s so easy to get zoned into watching the play at-hand that you forget to watch the whole field.
“You have multiple guys on that field and were they all where they needed to be? were they doing there job? RB telling me that was huge for me and letting me know what I needed to be better at.”
Schoenradt has a plan for the Tigers.
“A big emphasis this year is preparation defensively before the game and being a aggressive at the plate,” says Schoenradt. “I went over a lot of there games last year and the errors and the at bats were a big issue.
“A big thing I noticed was how often they let themselves get behind in the count with strikes looking. Getting them in the right mindset of knowing your zone and being ready to attack have been an emphasis of ours.”
There are currently 14 players in the program. Tri-Township will play a varsity schedule in 2023. With more participation, Schoenradt says a junior varsity can be added in the future.
Schoenradt’s coaching staff features Kolton Linback, Jason Flores and Xavier Sanchez.
“(Linback) takes care of my catchers,” says Schoenradt. “He’s got a great understanding of that position.
“(Flores) works with the boys on hitting. When he’s out there you know his passion is there.
“I tell everyone (Sanchez) is my mechanics guy. When it comes to mechanics and fundamentals, he the man.”
The Tigers’ diamond in Wanatah, Ind., features stone work on the dugout and backstop. The field is maintained by Aaron Rust.
“There’s no 1A school with a field like that around here,” says Schoenradt. “So shout out to Aaron Rust and his family, (former LaCrosse head coach) Eric Snyder, Tri-Township High School, the booster club and everyone else who put in the work to make that field what it is.”
Schoenradt is a 2010 graduate of Lewis Cass Junior-Senior High School in Walton, Ind. He played baseball until his early teens then pursued Freestyle BMX.
“My love for baseball never died though and being able to get into coaching really brought back my passion for it and stepping on a field still gave me the best feeling,” says Schoenradt, who coached youth baseball in Knox, Ind., and started the Knox Outkast travel program that earned Baseball Players Association Team of the Year honors in 2019.
Who feeds the Tigers?
“I think all things can be a feeder system,” says Schoenradt. “It all just depends on the coaching.
“Right now for us Aaron Rust is doing a great job building up this program for years to come. I watched Brian McMahan’s T-ball practice the other day and I was shocked. I’ve never seen kids that young dropping their hips and going to catch a pop-up.
“So really it all just depends who your kids are being taught by and if they have coaches who are taking the intuitive to teach them the right way.”
Schoenradt does not have any current college commitments but points to senior Carter Burkholder and juniors Blain Rust and Noah Kneifiel as players to watch.
Away from coaching, Schoenradt is employed by Newmar Corporation and engaged to Clarissa. Between them they have two daughters — Gemma (7) and Emmalyn (4).

Mike Schoenradt. (Tri-Township Photo)

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Snyder in second go-round leading LaCrosse Tigers

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Eric Snyder’s coaching style is based on discipline.

In his second stint as head baseball coach at LaCrosse (Ind.) High School, Snyder expects his Tigers to say “Yes Sir” and “Yes Ma’am” and to keep their hair neat and jerseys tucked in. They must stay on top of their studies.

“Today’s society shies away from discipline,” says Snyder, who led LaCrosse for five seasons (2000-04 with IHSAA Class 1A top-10 rankings in four of those seasons and a West Central Sectional title in 2002) then took time off to raise his children. “There’s a way to win and it does take discipline.”

During his first Tigers tenure, 18 players went on to college baseball in five years. 

“I push extremely hard with grades,” says Snyder. “That’s part of the discipline factor. I want people to say that’s a baseball player at the school.

“They know we’re different.”

Snyder derived this approach from the men he encountered along his baseball path. A 1986 graduate of South Central High School at Union Mills, Ind., he played for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Bob Schellinger and later coached with him. He also coached C-team boys basketball and was involved in Hanna youth baseball.

Snyder was on the Satellites high school baseball staff for 11 years before taking over the reins at LaCrosse.

While still a player, Snyder was on a world champion Junior Olympic team that featured IHSBCA Hall of Famers Ric Tomaszewski and Len Buczkowski plus Jim Dermody among the coaches. These men all ran extremely disciplined high school programs — Tomaszewski at South Bend Washington, Buczkowski at South Bend Adams and Dermody at Warsaw. 

Teammates included LaPorte High School’s Scott Upp and Greg Perschke. Upp went on to be head coach at LaPorte, following legend Ken Schreiber and Perschke the head coach at Trine University in Angola, Ind.

One of Snyder’s best friends in coaching is Washington Township’s Randy Roberts. They share similar styles.

“I had a good upbringing,” says Snyder, 52. “I’m very appreciative of all the people that came into my life.”

While he came back to just in time to have the 2020 season taken away because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are plenty of positives surrounding LaCrosse baseball.

Nearly $60,000 — most of it donated — has been poured into the improvement of Tiger Field, which is located less than a mile northeast of the school building.

“It’s going to surprise a lot of people,” says Snyder of an ongoing project at the Dewey Township-owned facility that has added a new net back stop with a four-foot brick wall inside and stone outside plus updated dugouts, mound and plate areas and an infield sprinkler system with more to come.

Snyder is approaching 19 years with North Star Stone in Valparaiso, Ind. The company manufactures and installs stone products.

Snyder expects as many as 28 players (including 13 freshmen) this spring, meaning the Tigers will be able to field a junior varsity team for likely the first time ever.

Helping Snyder coach are Brian “Chico” Lipscomb, J.T. Snyder and Dan Snyder. Lipscomb was a standout at LaPorte who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. J.T., Eric’s son, and Dan, Eric’s nephew, played at South Central. Dan Snyder, who pitched and was the athlete of the year at Purdue University Northwest, is LaCrosse’s pitching coach.

Other former college or pro players have come in to help teach the Tigers.

Feeding the high school program is the Southwest County Conference — a youth league for ages 5 to 12 with teams feeding schools at LaCrosse, Wanatah, Clinton, Hanna and Union Mills. LaCrosse uses the softball field near Tiger Field.

“I’m a big part of that,” says Snyder. “I want to teach them everything I need them to know (at the high school level).

“We teach them how to bunt, lead off and steal. We treat the youngest kids just like they were freshmen.”

LaCrosse (enrollment around 105) is a member of the Porter County Conference (with Boone Grove, Hebron, Kouts, Morgan Township, South Central, Washington Township and Westville).

PCC schools field junior high teams and Snyder is there to guide the LaCrosse squad for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

The Tigers are part of an IHSAA Class 1A sectional grouping with Argos, Culver Community, Oregon-Davis, South Bend Career Academy, South Central (Union Mills) and Triton. LaCrosse has won three sectional titles — 1976, 1989 and 2002.

In coaching LaCrosse fifth and sixth grade boys basketball players this winter, Snyder took over a team with a 1.7 grade-point average. By season’s end it was 3.1.

“That’s why I’m involved at the lower levels,” says Snyder.

LaCrosse conducted fall IHSAA Limited Contact Period workouts and is just getting started with winter conditioning/practice given that so many baseball players also play basketball.

Eric and Sara Snyder have five children (two girls followed by three sons) — Alex (26), Danielle (25), J.T. (23), R.J. (21) and Eli (10). The four oldest were all South Central athletes — Alex in volleyball, basketball and softball, Danielle in softball, J.T. in baseball and basketball and R.J. in baseball and basketball. R.J. Snyder is an outfielder at Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind.

Eli Snyder, a baseball and basketball player, is Wanatah School. There are plans in the Tri-Township Consolidated School Corporation to change the high school location eight miles north to Wanatah.

Tiger Field is the home of the LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball program. There have been many upgrades to the facility in the past year. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

New stone graces the dugout at Tiger Field, home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball —  has gotten quite a facelift since Eric Snyder returned as Tigers head coach leading into the 2020 season, which was canceled because of the pandemic. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Baseball players — young and old alike — work to get better at LaCrosse (Ind.) High School. The Tigers’ head coach is Eric Snyder. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

A new backstop and wall is part of the upgrades at Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Another view of Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

The press box at Tiger Field — LaCrosse (Ind.) High School’s baseball home. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Youngsters in the LaCrosse (Ind.) baseball program are taught the skills they will need when they reach high school. Eric Snyder is the Tigers head coach. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

There was plenty of work done at Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball — in 2020. Nearly $60,000 — mostly donations — was and will be put into the facility, (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

A view of the area behind home plate at Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

There’s been plenty of sprucing up at Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

The new brick wall extends from dugout to dugout at Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Laying new sod is part of the upgrades to Tiger Field — home of LaCrosse (Ind.) High School baseball. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Eric Snyder, a 1986 graduate of South Central High School in Union Mills, Ind., is in the second year of his second stint as head baseball coach at LaCrosse (Ind.) High School. He first led the Tigers 2000-04 with an IHSAA sectional title in 2002. (LaCrosse Tiger Baseball Photo)

Manaea continues to make adjustments as part of Oakland rotation

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Succeeding in baseball involves a series of adjustments.

Sean Manaea knows this to be true from experience.

A starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, Manaea (pronounced muh-NYE-uh) has made — and will continue to make — the necessary changes to be effective on a Major League Baseball mound.

“It’s been a winding road,” says Manaea, a northwest Indiana native who was selected in the first round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Indiana State University by the Kansas City Royals and made his big-league debut with Oakland in 2016. “When I first got to pro ball I was trying to strike out the world and go max effort. But I found that I can’t sustain that so I toned it down.

“But I toned it down too much and was getting lit up. I’m still trying to find that happy medium and have some gas left at the end of the game.”

The 6-foot-5 left-hander who played three seasons at South Central (Union Mills) High School and his senior year at Andrean High School (helping the 59ers win the 2010 IHSAA Class 3A state championship) has been known to reach 97 mph on the radar gun, but strives to mix velocity and deception to get hitters out.

“I threw a four-seam fastball about 75 percent of the time (in 2017),” says Manaea, who turns 26 on Feb. 1. “At the end of 2016, I started messing with two-seamer.”

What better — velocity or movement?

“A combination of both is the best,” says Manaea. “You don’t have to throw 97 to 100 mph every pitch to get guys out. The main thing is to be able to throw strikes no matter what kind of movement you have.”

When Manaea’s slider is biting down it provides plenty of swings and misses and groundball outs.

“That’s the pitch I need to get down and throw for a strike,” says Manaea. “That’s one of my main focuses this off-season.”

Taking advantage of the weather and the ability to work out with Athletics trainers at the team’s spring training complex, Manaea spends his winters in Arizona.

“Being physically fit throughout the season is going to help me,” says Manaea. “I played all of 2016 at 255 pounds and felt sluggish and had trouble recovering between starts. Last year, I was at 230 to 235 (after losing appetite while dialing in the proper dose for attention-deficit disorder medication) and I lost muscle and had trouble with recovery. I feel that if I’m at 240 to 245, that’s about right.”

Manaea says his twisting delivery has looked the same most of his life with one exception.

While in the Royals system in 2014, he was asked to pitch more over the top and more direct to the plate.

“It worked out for a little bit,” says Manaea. “But I was thinking about it way to too much. I went back to what was natural to me.

“Everything is a learning process. I feel like I’m on the right track. I’m trying to find it again and be more consistent. I do not want to be not be overly rotational or over the top.”

Making 29 appearances (all starts), the tall southpaw went 12-10 with a 4.37 earned run average. In 158 2/3 innings, he struck out 140 and walked 55. In 2016, all but one of his 25 appearances were starts. He was 7-9 with a 3.86 ERA. He fanned 124 and walked 37 in 144 2/3 innings.

As of this writing, MLB.com lists Manaea No. 1 on the Oakland depth chart among starting pitchers.

“It doesn’t mean anything to me,” says Manaea. “At the end of the day, all I want to do is win b all games and get to the World Series and win that. It doesn’t matter if I’m the No. 5 guy or the No. 1 guy. It’s all the same to me. If we all pull together this is a team that can do something special.”

The 2017 Athletics finished in the basement of the American League West (the same division occupied by the world-champion Houston Astros). It was the sixth full season as Oakland manager for Bob Melvin.

While Manaea has picked up in-game advice from the manager and other pointers from his pitching coach (currently Scott Emerson) or bullpen coaches (currently Philip Pohl and Jeremy Dowdy), the ultimate responsibility for his performance falls on him.

“At big league level, you’ve got to have your own routines,” says Manaea. “The pitching coach is there to have you. But you have to make adjustments on your own. You self-diagnose problems along the way. At the end of the day, you’re the one making those pitches.”

Manaea, who is of American Samoa heritage, was born in Valparaiso to Faaloloi and Opal Manaea and grew up in Wanatah. He played for Kevin Hannon and Ron King at South Central. He took part in the first All-Indiana Crossroads Showcase Series after his junior year before transferring and joining coach Dave Pishkur at Andrean.

Sean draws comparisons from Melvin to Pishkur.

“They are both into stats and doing things the right way,” says Manaea, who was 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA, 36 strikeouts and 16 walks in 24 1/3 innings in 2010. “(Pishkur) is one of the favorite coaches of all-time. He taught us to be on-time and polite to other people. It goes outside of baseball. He was a very much professional coach. He is considered one of the best in Indiana and you can see why.

“He loves the game of baseball and wants to pass it on to the younger generation. He’s definitely a student of the game.”

Pishkur has amassed more than 900 victories at Andrean since 1980. The Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer has led five Class 3A state champions (2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015) and one 3A state runner-up (2004).

“He knows how he wants done in the classroom and on the baseball field,” says Manaea of Pishkur. “He wants things done the best way possible. You must give it your best every single practice and every time you are on the mound.

“Andrean helped me out with my academics. They got on me about being more productive. Baseball definitely came second at the time.”

Manaea played for head coach Rick Heller and assistants Tyler Herbst and Brian Smiley at Indiana State University.

“I definitely wouldn’t be where I’m at today without those coaches,” says Manaea. “PFP’s (pitchers’ fielding practice) was the bane of my existence. I just couldn’t do it. (Heller) just wanted the best for me.”

There was adjusting to be done in college after his stellar high school career.

“The fall of my freshmen year (2010), I was only throwing 82 to 85 mph, but I was getting hitters out,” says Manaea. “Then in the winter, after working out for the first time on a structured program I saw my velocity jump. I hit 90 mph for the first time. It was one of those milestones.

“My freshmen season wasn’t that great (5-5, 4.32 ERA, 82 K’s, 48 walks, 83 1/3 innings), but I was maturing as a pitcher.”

In the summer of 2010, Manaea played for the Dubois County Bombers when that Huntingburg, Indiana-based team was in the Prospect League. He drew the attention of pro scouts at the all-star game with his 93 mph stuff and was named league MVP.

“My sophomore year (at ISU) was a little better (5-3, 3.34 ERA, 115 K’s, 37 walks, 115 innings),” says Manaea. “Then I had a really good summer on Cad Cod (5-1, 1.22 ERA, 85 K’s, seven walks in 51 2/3 innings with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks). That was when I realized I could play professional baseball.”

In his last season with the Sycamores, the lefty went 5-4 with a 1.47 ERA. He whiffed 93 and walked 27 in 73 1/3 innings and was drafted in the first round by the Royals.

He was with the KC organization until being traded to the Athletics in July 2015 with Aaron Brooks for Ben Zobrist.

Sean Manaea is a left-handed starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. The former South Central (Union Mills) High School, Andrean High School and Indiana State University player made his Major League Baseball debut with Oakland in 2016. (Oakland Athletics Photo)