Lasher-led Oakland City Mighty Oaks posted 65 wins over last two seasons

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

Oakland City (Ind.) University won more baseball games in 2023 than in 2022 and that team set the single-season school record.
The power blue-clad Mighty Oaks got off to an 8-0 start, mixed in another seven-game win streak and went 34-24 this spring after posting a mark of 31-23.
“We did a really good job of the mound all year,” says third-year OCU head coach Andy Lasher. “We threw a lot of strikes.”
The staff was bolstered by sophomore right-handers Gehrig Tenhumberg, Christian Burgrabe, Ben Simmons, Hunter Callahan, Owen Spears, Milan van der Breggen and freshman lefty Evan Price.
Tenhumberg (Evansville Reitz Class of 2019) made 16 mound appearances (14 starts) and went 7-3 with 4.54 earned run average, 68 strikeouts and 18 walks, 83 1/3 innings.
Burgrabe (Marion, Ill.) made 18 appearances (11 starts) and was 5-5 with one save, a 4.50 ERA, 36 strikeouts and nine walks in 64 innings.
Simmons (Evansville Harrison Class of 2021) was in 15 games (all starts) and went 4-8 with a 4.72, 56 strikeouts and 26 walks in 74 1/3 innings.
Callahan (Cisne, Ill.) made 16 appearances (10 in relief) and went 4-1 with a 3.58 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 18 walks in 37 2/3 innings.
Spears (North Posey Class of 2021) was in 20 contests (17 in relief) and went 4-0 with a 3.91 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 14 walks in 48 1/3 innings.
van der Breggen (Netherlands) made 13 appearances (all in relief) and went 3-0 with a 5.40, 10 strikeouts and three walks in 25 innings.
Price (Rossville Class of 2021) was in 17 games (all in relief) and went 3-0 with five saves, a 3.00 ERA, 24 K’s and seven free passes in 21 innings.
“We had an entirely new infield from last year,” says Lasher, who had senior Jared Kirkman at third base, sophomore Xander Willis at shortstop, junior Sam Pinckert at second base and senior Treven Madden at first base in 2023. “There was new faces. We were athletic. We were able to score runs without having to hit the ball over the wall every inning.”
The Mighty Oaks stole 100 bases in 117 attempts.
“We had some guys step up and play really well for us down the stretch,” says Lasher, whose club qualified for the River States Conference tournament and then turned attention to the National Christian College Athletic Association tourney.
Oakland City went 3-1 in winning the NCCAA Mideast Regional in Wilmore, Ky. The ’23 season came to a close Monday, May 22 at the NCCAA World Series in Kansas City, Mo.
Pinckert (Heritage Hills Class of 2018) hit .337 (70-of-208) with seven home runs, 38 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases.
Freshman right fielder Garrett Causey (Evansville Central Class of 2021) posted marks of .309-5-37 with 36 runs.
Junior left fielder Noah Baugher (Louisville, Ky.) went .302-1-33 with seven triples, 35 runs and 15 steals.
Senior outfielder Victor Alvarez (Venezuela) chipped in .302-1-13 with 21 runs and 15 steals.
Willis (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) produced a .289-7-45 line with 44 runs and 18 steals.
Junior center fielder and lead-off man Aron Busick (Paoli Class of 2020) went .285-2-19 with 39 runs and 10 steals.
Kirkman (Memphis, Tenn.) contributed .272-0-17 with 24 runs.
Freshman catcher Oliver Hamilton (Gibson Southern Class of 2022) hit .265-2-18.
Madden (Vincennes Lincoln Class of 2017) added .260-4-26 with 30 runs.
Junior designated hitter/first baseman Conner Oxley (Southridge Class of 2020) tossed .214-2-28 with 26 runs into the offensive mix.
There were a number of transfers on the 2023 Mighty Oaks.
“We had to get them from anywhere and everywhere,” says Lasher. “It’s hard to win right away when you’re only freshmen though we have some younger guys who do play.”
Alvarez came from Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill., and van der Breggen from Indian Hills Community College in Centerville, Iowa.
A private school with less than 1,000 students, OCU’s recruiting base is generally southern Indiana, southern Illinois and western Kentucky.
A 2009 graduate of Castle High School (Newburgh, Ind.) who played at Olney (Ill.) Central College and the University of Evansville, Lasher was an assistant at Olney Central, Eastern Illinois University and the University of Southern Indiana (Evansville) as well as manager of the summer wood-bat Dubois County Bombers at League Stadium in Huntingburg, Ind., before taking over at Oakland City.
Lasher, 32, took over the program in April 2020 as T-Ray Fletcher ended his 26-year run as head coach and became athletic director and the team went from NCAA D-II to NAIA.
The 2020 season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic and that contributed to Lasher inheriting a roster of 18 players.
True seniors Kirkman and Madden have used up their eligibility, but most of the teams is expected back in 2023-24.
With renovations to Oakland City’s baseball stadium (formerly Pinnick Field), the Mighty Oaks played and practiced most of this spring at League Stadium, working around the needs of the Gene Mattingly-coached Southridge Raiders.
Groundbreaking for Mathew and Lindsey Konkler Stadium took place in November 2022. When completed, the facility will have turf infield with dugouts, backstop, press box, lights, scoreboard and outfield fence.
“We should be able to practice on it in the fall,” says Lasher.
His 2023 coaching staff included second-year assistants Joey Drury, Jack Murphy and first-time coach Ben Wilcoxson.
Drury (Center Grove Class of 2016) played for Lasher at Olney Central and then Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich.).
Murphy is from the Chicago area and played at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and was an assistant at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill., before coming to Oakland City.
Lexington, Ky., native Wilcoxson played at Kentucky Wesleyan University in Owensboro, Ky., and for Lasher’s Bombers. He was with OCU from August to May before going to play in the United Shore Professional Baseball League in Utica, Mich.

Oakland City (Ind.) University’s 2023 National Christian College Athletic Association Mideast Regional baseball champions. (Oakland City U. Photo)

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Mattingly grateful for chance to make impact with Asbury U.

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

The Eagles of Asbury University are on the rise in the NAIA baseball world.

The private school 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky.,  went from 18-35 in 2017 to 20-22 in 2018 to 24-22 in 2019 to 14-4 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season with Manny Cervantes as head coach. 

In 2018, the Eagles lost many pitchers and position players to injury and still had a chance to be one of the six teams in the River States Conference tournament.

Asbury was hot and cold in the first half of 2019. After being swept in a three-game series with Cincinnati Christian University, the team re-focused and went 15-9 the rest of the way with the Eagles’ first-ever series win at Indiana University Southeast.

Before 2020 was cut short, Asbury won 11 of its last 13 games.

Cervantes brought Brandon Mattingly on board as Asbury as pitching coach in ’17 and the team earned run average has shrank each year from 6.68 to 5.78 to 4.28 to 2.47.

Mattingly, 35, has earned a reputation as a pitching instructor and top-flight recruiter.

In 1998, Mattingly played for a team — St. Matthews American — that came one game from making the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

At 18, he was in a very different place.

A 2003 graduate of Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Mattingly went to West Lafayette, Ind., to be a pitcher for Purdue University. 

An injury to the right-hander kept him from getting into a game for the Boilermakers and Mattingly moved on from the game and transferred to Ivy Tech Community College in Lafayette and received an Associate of Arts degree then moved back to Louisville.

Mattingly was studying Political Science and in the Pre-Law honors program at the University of Louisville when he shifted and started his own real estate title business. He now works as a title examiner, doing a lot of jobs with Sutton Real Estate.

He stumbled into the opportunity to coach with the Vipers Baseball Club travel organization and was with 18U and 17U teams in 2014 and 2015.

“Barry Pennybaker gave me the opportunity to work with pitchers,” says Mattingly. “I built a rapport with those young men quickly.”

Mattingly was later made the main pitching coach for 16U through 18U Vipers.

It was while coaching the Vipers in a summer tournament hosted by Asbury in 2016 that Mattingly met Cervantes.

“He let me know that his pitching coach had just moved on,” says Mattingly. “He told me his vision of building into the top team in the region.”

Cervantes encouraged Mattingly to apply for the position.

“He was very gracious in allowing me that opportunity,” says Mattingly of Cervantes. “He spoke highly of me to board members and the athletic director. He put himself on the line for me.

“I had no experience coaching college baseball.”

Mattingly does not regret his decision.

“This is a place I belong,” says Mattingly. “They have allowed me to come into their world and be involved with some of the best people I’ve ever met.

“It’s important to me that I’m able to express how grateful I am to be at Asbury.”

Mattingly started at Asbury in the fall of 2016.

“We had talented young men on the roster, but not as much depth as other schools,” says Mattingly. “We were still shifting the culture to winning while reflecting God’s grace.”

With hunger for championships, Mattingly began using his relationships built through the Vipers to bring in student-athletes that could have an immediate impact for the Eagles.

“We made it pretty clear pretty quickly that we were going to be a player in recruiting baseball talent,” says Mattingly. “The ability to develop relationships with younger players gave us a leg up.”

Not as stringent as the NCAA recruiting calendar, the NAIA allows for this.

“Developing relationships is the priority,” says Mattingly. “You get a lot of opportunities to talk with these young men and their parents.

Mattingly lets them know they are interest in them as an athlete, student and a child of God.

“We treat them with respect,” says Mattingly.

Besides Asbury, baseball-playing schools in the River States Conference are Alice Lloyd College (Pippa Passes, Ky.), Brescia University (Owensboro, Ky.), Indiana University Kokomo (Ind.), Indiana University Southeast (New Albany, Ind.), Midway (Ky.) University, Oakland City (Ind.), University, Ohio Christian University (Circleville, Ohio), Point Park University (Pittsburgh, Pa.), University of Rio Grande (Ohio) and West Virginia University Institute of Technology (Beckley, W.Va.).

Among others in the area are the University of the Cumberlands (Williamsburg, Ky.), Campbellsville (Ky.) University, Georgetown (Ky.) College, Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, Ky.), University of Pikeville (Ky.) and Thomas More University (Crestview Hills, Ky.).

“Eyes pay attention to this part of the country,” says Mattingly. “We want to make dents in those recruiting classes.”

After the COVID lockdown, some Asbury players were able to play in the College Summer League at Grand Park (Westfield, Ind.) and the Commonwealth Collegiate Baseball League in Lexington, Ky.

Granted an extra year of eligibility, four Kentucky-bred seniors — right-hander Will McDonald, left fielder Colton Back, first baseman/designated hitter C.J. Compton and righty reliever Austin Jennings — decided to come back for a fifth year in 2021. McDonald is the ace of the pitching staff and joins back Back as a second-year team captain. 

First baseman Paul Haupt and center fielder Garrett McIntire — a pair of juniors — can track their relationship with Brandon back to the Vipers.

Mattingly has also been pitching coach for the Ohio Valley League’s Henderson (Ky.) Flash since 2017 (minus the canceled 2020 season) and has built relationships with coaches and players in the southern part of Indiana.

The Asbury roster features junior right-handed pitcher/infielder Walker Paris (Mt. Vernon), sophomore infielder Gabe Falcone (Silver Creek) and three freshmen — right-handed pitchers Wes Allen (Southridge) and Cameron Crick (Greenwood Community) and infielder Alex Stroud (Roncalli).

Payton Mattingly (no relation to Brandon) was an Asbury senior in 2020 after playing at Southridge High (for father Gene) and Olney (Ill.) Central Community College.

Former Flash left-hander Andy Samuelson (a graduaate of LaPorte, Ind., High School) was drafted in the 12th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Atlanta Braves.

Brandon Mattingly has been the baseball pitching coach at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., since 2017. He is also the recruiting coordinator. He has been pitching coach for the summer collegiate Henderson (Ky.) Flash since 2017 and got his coaching start with the Louisville-based Vipers Baseball Club. ( Henderson Flash Photo)