Former three-sport star Mucker entering 22nd year as Oakland Athletics scout

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

Kelcey Mucker grew up in the southern part of Indiana and excelled at multiple sports.
Born in Washington, Ind., and moving to Lawrenceburg, Ind., around 18 months, Mucker would go on to shine at Lawrenceburg High School. The 1993 graduate played in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Boys Basketball Series as well as the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series and the Indiana Football Coaches Association North/South All-Star Game.
At the time, he was told he was the first to ever pull off that three-sport feat.
One of his teammates in the Indiana-Kentucky and IHSBCA North-South games was Jasper’s Scott Rolen. Both were named to the 2018 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team.
Mucker, who swang the bat from the left side and threw the baseball and the football with his right arm, was headed to Indiana University on a football scholarship with plans to also represent the Hoosiers in basketball and baseball when his path turned to professional baseball.
Selected in the first round of the 1993 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins, all-state outfielder Mucker did not sign right away and had time for those summertime all-star appearances.
One day before he was to begin classes at IU — Aug. 9, 1993 — the 6-foot-4 athlete signed with the Twins.
“The offer was good and I weighed my options,” says Mucker, the Lawrenceburg High School Athletics Hall of Famer. “I feel like I could’ve played baseball a lot longer than the other sports.”
Basketball was his favorite and he excelled at football. He did not put the time into baseball he did the other two.
“It was something I could do,” says Mucker, who went on to play 597 pro games, including 109 with the 1995 Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wizards.
Mucker played in the Twins system 1993-99 — seeing time at Double-A the last two years. He hooked on with the Cleveland Indians organization as a minor league free agent in 2000 and was released in April.
The Oakland Athletics hired him as a scout and assigned him to a Deep South territory. He first moved to Metairie, La., outside New Orleans. He was in Baton Rouge, Fla., for 14 years and three years ago moved 20 miles east to Denham Springs, La., where he lives with wife Lisa.
Mucker, who is beginning his 22nd year with the Athletics, is responsible for knowing the baseball talent in Louisiana, Mississippi and southeast Texas (Houston area).
At this time of the year, Mucker is spending much of his time getting ready for the spring season. He meets with potential signees through in-home visits or (since the COVID-19 pandemic) sometimes over Zoom calls.
“Getting into homes was pretty big for us as area scouts — that face-to-face contact,” says Mucker. “That’s still challenging going into 2022.
“I like talking to parents and kids at the ballpark. It’s not so impersonal.”
Mucker’s job is tied to being organized.
“It’s knowing my area and what’s going on on a daily basis — not only for me but my supervisors and everybody above me so they can get that second look,” says Mucker. “We all can evaluate a player. What ballparks are we going to get in?”
Emails let him know when there are changes in games and he’s always on top of the forecast.
“I feel like I’m a weatherman,” says Mucker. “Rain is not good for a baseball game.”
But — generally speaking — the weather is good and baseball can be played 12 months a year in Mucker’s area. In the winter months, that is often a workout or showcase.
“Kids are always working out — sometimes a little bit too much,” says Mucker. “From the draft (now in July during the MLB All-Star break) until start of the season, we’re getting ready for 2022.
“I try to see everybody we can prior to next spring so we have an idea.”
Unlike Indiana when the snow might still be flying in April, high school baseball in Mucker’s territory tends to start the third week of February.
Mucker also keeps tabs on players’ social media accounts.
“They might Tweet something they shouldn’t and be a bigger risk,” says Mucker. “For us as scouts that’s part of the equation.”
Not all MLB organizations bring their scouts together during the draft. With the exception of 2020 with travel restrictions, Mucker and his colleagues go to Oakland during that time.
Mucker is vice president of the Southeastern Scouts Association — a group made up of scouts living in the Deep South and representing all 30 MLB teams.
“We meet once a year and talk about initiaves and giving back to the game within our region,” says Mucker, who has also been part of the Buck O’Neil Professional Baseball Scouts & Coaches Association.
Mucker notes that there is some uncertainty about what will transpire in baseball until the current lockout is resolved.
Scouting has always been competitive, but now that the draft has been cut down to 20 rounds (it was 40 in 2019 and five in 2020) it is even more important to know as much information as possible about players and also what other organizations think about him.
How much do the Reds like that player? Can we wait until the third round or take them in the second?
“It’s another way — on a bigger scale — to be organized within your territory,” says Mucker.
Though he’s lived away from Indiana more than two decades, Kelcey Adair Mucker still has family ties there. His father — retired Indiana State Police trooper of 30 years — Hubert Mucker Jr., is just outside Lawrenceburg. Brother Stacy Mucker and son Kelcey Aaron Mucker live in Lawrenceburg with many other family members in Washington or Indianapolis.

Kelcey Mucker in 1996.

Gathering at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Ind., in 2018 (from left): Hubert Mucker Jr., Kelcey Adair Mucker, Stacy Mucker, Kelcey Aaron Mucker and D’Kari Mucker.

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From baseball-fueled friendship of Furman, Brunke, Marovich comes The Yipps Podcast

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Baseball brought them together as boys.

It’s keeping a trio from northwest Indiana connected as young men even though they are scattered across the country.

Creators of the brand new The Yipps Podcast Aaron Furman, Matt Brunke and Brett Marovich were in grade school when they began playing Saint John Youth Baseball together.

Brunke and Marovich grew up as next-door neighbors and have known each other since before they went to elementary school.

Furman and Brunke played baseball through high school. Marovich played until about 16.

Furman played third base for coach Doug Nelson at Hanover Central High School in Cedar Lake and Brunke second base for Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Dave Pishkur at Andrean High in Merrillville and graduated in 2014. Brunke helped the 59ers to a IHSAA Class 3A state championship dogpile as a senior.

A year younger than the other two, Marovich did not play baseball at Lake Central High School in St. John, but enjoyed lively conversations with Furman and Brunke about sports.

Like it had for years, this would often go on for hours.

Furman and Brunke were roommates during their freshmen year at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

All earned their bachelor’s degrees.

Furman stayed at USI, got even more immersed in baseball, including positions with the Screaming Eagles team, and earned a Sport Management degree. In February, he started with Sports Info Solutions as a Major League Baseball video scout based in Coplay, Pa., near Allentown.

Brunke transferred to Purdue University Northwest (which has campuses in Hammond and Westville, Ind.) and earned a Business degree before moving to Phoenix where he is a Hertz branch manager.

Marovich picked up a diploma for Mechanical Engineering Technology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and is now employed as a quality/mechanical engineer by Regal Beloit Corp., in Valparaiso, Ind.

During all those spirited boyhood conversations at one another’s houses, a parent would sometimes say they should their own show.

Now they do.

This week marked the debut of The Yipps Podcast (@theyippspod on Twitter), a weekly baseball conversation featuring Furman in Pennsylvania, Brunke in Arizona, Marovich in Indiana and a guest from their location.

An introductory episode dropped May 24, followed by an interview with Nick Podkul May 27. Brunke was a teammate of both Podkul brothers — Frank Jr. and Nick — at Andrean. Nick played at Notre Dame and is now in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

The plan is to feature players and coaches in professional and college baseball and show their “normal side” and put out one episode a week — usually on Wednesday nights.

“Our goal is to get their story and take the professional athlete out of them to show that they’re just normal guys who love baseball,” says Furman.

The Nick Podkul episode tells about how he lost his father while in high school and used that to motivate him.

“It’s the stories you never hear,” says Furman.

Brunke says the idea is to give the listener a deeper connection with the guest.

“They still have a life off the field,” says Brunke. “We want to be the avenue to personalize these guys for fans.

“We want to make (the podcast) a platform for all levels of baseball to share stories about normal people rather than have them seen just as athletes.”

Marovich explains his role in the project, which came to fruition over the past few weeks.

“Baseball is the first sport that we played,” says Marovich. “We’ve always had a passion for it. Why not try to explore this avenue of the Podcast space?

“I have friends who wanted to start this journey and I compelled to help them start it.”

Marovich has no previous audio editing/mixing skills.

“But I’m a quick learner,” says Marovich. “I’m a quick learner.

“If it’s something I’m passionate about, I can grind on it heavily.”

Marovich dove into YouTube videos and is teaching himself about it through trial and error.

Right now, podcasts are recorded by taking the audio from a Zoom conference call. He expects to find a method for a higher sound quality in the future.

In baseball, the “yips” usually manifest themselves in the sudden inability to throw the ball accurately. Three famous examples — Steve Sax, Chuck Knoblauch, Rick Ankiel.

So podcast rookies Furman, Brunke and Marovich chose The Yipps as their handle.

“We’re probably going to have mistakes, especially in the beginning,” says Marovich, the executive producer. “You have to learn. It’s all part of the experience.

“The best is yet to come.”

Furman got started with USI baseball when he learned that he needed 20 internship hours for one of his Sports Management classes. He approached assistant coach Jeremy Kuester and wound up being team manager for his first two years of college.

“At that time I really wanted to get into coaching,” says Furman.

Then came a conversation between Furman and Screaming Eagles head coach Tracy Archuleta just before Christmas break in the fall of 2016.

There were thoughts of purchasing some video scouting equipment for the program.

“I had two weeks to learn the system and then we’re off to Tampa to play our first series,” says Furman. “That’s where my career changed for baseball.”

Furman’s last two seasons at USI were dedicated to working with video, analytics and scouting as it related to player development.

“It was not so much about spin rates and launch angles,” says Furman.

Instead, he was gathering information about the hot and cold zones for opponents and Southern Indiana hitters as well as spray charts and defensive shift reports.

Since then, the baseball world has become more analytics-driven.

“We were the first Division II team in the country to implement one of these systems,” says Furman of USI. “It’s become a big recruiting tool for players.”

Before and after graduation, Furman worked at the Kevin Brown Baseball & Softball School, soaking up knowledge from the former big league catcher and current USI volunteer assistant.

“Kevin taught me a lot about the mechanical side of baseball,” says Furman, who learned how to recognize things like hand grip and weight shift. “In 2018, I was helping college hitters at a higher level.”

Furman then worked with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network, which had many MLB organizations as clients. He worked from a list of players near Evansville and evaluated many NCAA Division I and II as well as some high school players.

“It was a really cool experience,” says Furman.

There were several interviews in the baseball industry before the chance came to join Sports Information Solutions.

“I knew this was a great opportunity to take and I didn’t want to pass it up,” says Furman.

During COVID-19 quarantine time, he has been working on small projects.

When spring training was happening, he was at home or in the office watching feeds of games and charting every pitch, running times, ball off bat speed, velocity, defensive shifts, catcher positions and more.

“It takes awhile to get used to,” says Furman. “It’s basically the same thing I did at USI, but probably with 10 times more data.”

As an SIS video scout, Furman can rewind and zoom to get different camera angles. He usually employs three screens per game.

“Once you get into the groove of things, it’s really fun,” says Furman. “Once the season starts I’ll be doing the same thing.”

Scouts work either the morning or night shift. In the mornings, they go over games that have already been charted and make sure the data is inputted and correct. At night, it’s usually about live games.

With this experience, Furman is not the same kind of baseball fan he was growing up, though he still roots for his Chicago White Sox.

“My viewpoint on baseball is completely different,” says Furman. “I can sit and watch a game and I know what pitch they’re going to throw before they throw it based on things like swing patterns.

“I look at baseball differently than I ever thought I would.”

Brunke counts himself fortunate to have been part of Andrean baseball, led by the Hall of Famer.

“(Pishkur) knows how to get the most out of you as a player,” says Brunke. “There was a sense of pride in wearing (Andrean) across your chest. There was competition within the program. Practice was not easy.

“If you’re going to play in the program, you’re going to have to play your tail off and really buy in or it’s not going to work. It was a super-advanced program.”

Brunke recalls tracking things like launch angle and pitch locations and using them to the 59ers’ advantage.

Next up on The Yipps Podcast (available on Spotify): Atlanta Braves prospect Logan Brown.

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The Yipps Podcast is presented by (from left): Aaron Furman, Matt Brunke and Brett Marovich. The trio played baseball together as boys in northwest Indiana and now they talk about it. The podcast was launched May 24, 2020.

Westfield assistant Van Skike accentuates confidence factor

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Confidence and self-assurance was valued by Jason Van Skike as a baseball player and are traits emphasized by him as a coach.

“Baseball is a great teacher of things that happen in your life,” says Van Skike, the second-year pitching coach at Westfield (Ind.) High School. “You focus on the things you can control. There are three things we talk about everyday — work ethic, attitude and confidence.

“You can’t make up for a lost day,” says Van Skike. “You want to always go to bed at night knowing you put in your best effort.”

That’s work ethic.

“You have a choice to have a good attitude or a bad attitude,” says Van Skike. “It’s a mindset. It’s an opportunity to get better.

“If you believe good things are going to happen, good things tend to happen. If you believe bad things are going to happen, bad things tend to happen.”

That’s attitude.

“My job is to make sure (Westfield pitchers) feel that they are the absolute man,” says Van Skike. “That’s all do-able if they’ve done the things they need to do on the days leading to (the game appearance).”

That’s confidence.

Van Skike, who turned 31 in April, was a right-handed pitcher at Gig Harbor (Was.) High School, Treasure Valley Community College (Ontario, Ore.) and Indiana State University before the Chicago White Sox system and the independent professional Wichita (Kan.) Wingnuts. He has coached for Federal Way (Was.) High School, the Kokomo (Ind.) Jackrabbits and Des Moines (Iowa) Area Community College.

Rick Heller, who is now head coach at the University of Iowa, was ISU head coach when Van Skike was in Terre Haute. Heller had him join the Sycamores after seeing the righty at a sophomore showcase while he was at Treasure Valley.

“(Heller) would preach ‘chest out; a lot of confidence,’” says Van Skike. “I would hear that all the time. I found out that body language plays into the game. If you can trick yourself into thinking you’re the man, you might be the man.

“(Heller) was always talking about body language and confidence.”

Van Skike says it was not until the end of his college career that this lesson really began to sink in.

“I was an excuse maker,” says Van Skike. “If I walked a guy, it wasn’t my fault.”

Tyler Herbst, who is now an assistant at Iowa Western Community College (Council Bluffs, Iowa), was Indiana State’s pitching coach when Van Skike was there.

“(Herbst) made me feel comfortable,” says Van Skike. “He didn’t try to change too much of what I was.”

Herbst went on to help steer Sean Manaea, who is now in the majors.

“He was a baby giraffe at Indiana State and didn’t know how to pitch,” says Van Skike of Manaea.

Van Skike had come a long way by the time he pitched for the Sycamores.

He entered Gig Harbor, he was 5-foot-5 and maybe 135 pounds. He didn’t make the varsity squad until he was a senior.

“They kept me around since I had a sense of urgency,” says Van Skike, who played for Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Pete Jansen. “I ran on and off the field. I needed to in order to stand out.”

By the time he was a senior, he had began to fill out and stood 6-3.

He went to Treasure Valley, where Rick Baumann was head coach, with a fastball clocked at 78-82 mph. That’s when he began showing up an hour early for practice every day to do a towel drill. By the end of the fall, he was up to 84 mph. During indoor workouts, he was sitting at 83-86. On a nice day, the team went outside and he was at 88-91 and he was able to sustain that speed.

“I made a 10 mph jump in a four- to five-month span,” says Van Skike. “I needed those extra reps.”

Extra reps is what Van Skike got in junior college, where there is less restriction on the amount of times players and coaches can spend working on the game.

“I loved every moment of it,” says Van Skike of the juco diamond life. “You spend so many hours with your teammates and coaches. You build that brotherhood. Reflecting back, junior college baseball was the most fun for me.”

Van Skike sings the praises of junior college because it also offers a chance to develop. A juco player might get 60 at-bats in the fall between games and scrimmages and around 200 more in the spring. By the end of their sophomore year, they’ve gotten almost 500 at-bats and that doesn’t count summer ball.

Van Skike says a D-I player who does not crack the lineup as a freshman and sophomore — which is often the case — might go into their junior year with less than 100 career at-bats.

“You’ve got to play,” says Van Skike. “You’ve got to get game experience.”

Van Skike left college in 2011 unsure of his baseball future. Scout Mike Shirley (now amateur scouting director) brought him to Madison County for a workout and signed him to a White Sox contract as an undrafted free agent. He hustled to Bristol, Va., of the Appalachian League and picked up an extra-inning victory in his first outing.

His pitching coach at Bristol was Larry Owens, now head baseball coach at Bellarmine University in Louisville.

“(Owens) simplified the game for me,” says Van Skike.

Through 2013, Van Skike appeared in 73 games (64 as a reliever) and went 10-8 with a 3.18 earned run average in 150 2/3 innings. He was 3-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 74 innings at Advanced Class-A Winston-Salem in 2013.

“(Winston-Salem pitching coach) J.R. Perdew was a tremendous help,” says Van Skike. “He told me things I had never thought about before.

“The more simple you can keep baseball the better off you’re going to be.”

Perdew is now the White Sox assistant pitching coordinator.

Van Skike learned to use a cut fastball to be effective against left-handed hitters.

He had a six-month lease on an apartment in St. Louis and expected to be in spring training in 2014 when he was released by the White Sox. He went to live with his parents — Ike and Cathy Van Skike — in Arizona and got a job delivering pizzas. Not having a steady catch partner, he threw into a chain link fence. Occasionally, he would work out with a high school team and they had no trouble hitting his deliveries.

Still, an invitation was extended in Wichita. Even though he did not have a stellar spring training with the Wingnuts, he had enough of a resume on affiliated ball to keep him. The 2014 season saw him start 26 games and got 12-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 110 innings. He started the American Association All-Star Game and helped Wichita win the league title.

It tended to be very breezy out to left field in Wichita. Van Skike used it to his advantage.

“A lot of hitters get big egos when the wind blows,” says Van Skike. “I made my living down and away (to right-handed hitters) and got roll-overs to the shortstop.”

The 2015 campaign was not as successful (7-8, 4.89 in 116 innings) and Van Skike retired as a player.

“Getting into college coaching is extremely difficult,” says Van Skike. He went with friend Arlo Evasick, the head coach at Federal Way and the Eagles qualified for the 2016 state tournament.

That summer, Van Skike ended up back in Indiana on the coaching staff of Jackrabbits manager Matt Howard, who is now head baseball coach at Indiana University Kokomo.

Van Skike was starting to prepare for a chance to play pro ball in Australia when Heller let him know about an opportunity in Des Moines.

“I got extremely lucky,” says Van Skike.

David Pearson was hired as DMACC head coach and soon hired Van Skike as an assistant. The two had to dismantle the roster after the first season and went into the second year (2018) with mostly freshmen.

Near the end of that season, Van Skike began to examine his relationship with baseball.

“It consumed my life and I missed a lot of family events (as a player),” says Van Skike. “I began missing those again as a college coach.

“I need more of a balance. I didn’t know what that was at the time.”

Through a fortunate sequence of events, Van Skike moved to central Indiana and wound up taking a job as an Edward Jones financial advisor in Westfield.

He was at the right place at the right time since Westfield High School head coach Ryan Bunnell was also looking to fill a slot for a pitching coach.

“I’m still heavily involved with baseball and I can still be around my family and friends,” says Van Skike. “That’s what I was searching for.

“I’m extremely lucky I’m at Westfield.”

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic took away the 2020 season.

“We had an extremely talented group,” says Van Skike of a Shamrocks team that received votes in the Class 4A preseason poll. “We could’ve won state. But there’s nothing we can do to control it.

“It’s an awkward time for these seniors,” says Van Skike. “They almost don’t want to hear about baseball.

“It’s still a little tender.

“We’ve been talking with juniors and saying let’s do it next year for these seniors (in 2021). They shouldn’t complain one day. Don’t ever take things for granted.”

To help fill the baseball void, Van Skike and Bunnell talk about the game almost daily. They are also involved in Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Zoom video conference instructional meetings on Thursday nights.

Jason Van Skike is a financial advisor at Edwards Jones and the pitching coach at Westfield High School, both in Westfield, Ind. The graduate of Gig Harbor High School in Washington  pitched at Treasure Valley Community College Oregon and Indiana State University as well as in the Chicago White Sox organization and in independent professional baseball. (Edwards Jones Photo)

Westfield (Ind.) High School varsity baseball coaches in 2020 include (from left): assistant Bill Lindley, head coach Ryan Bunnell and assistant Jason Van Skike. Shamrocks pitchers are led by Van Skike, who played collegiately at Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon and Indiana State University and professionally in the Chicago White Sox system and with the independent Wichita (Kan.) Wingnuts. (Westfield High School Photo)

 

Prep baseball coaches try to lift seniors’ spirits

BY JIM PETERS

For http://www.IndianaRBI.com

“We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t … don’t know when that’s gonna be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we’re all told.” — Moneyball

One of the famous quotes from the movie about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane has hit home for many high school seniors whose playing days weren’t ended by the standard baseball career markers — graduation, injury, a roster cut or retirement — but by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I know how big it was for me,” South Bend Clay coach Joel Reinebold said of his last prep game. “I was playing for my dad (Jim Reinebold). I stood out in the outfield and cried that it was over.”

The moment is etched in time for Reinebold, who went on to play at Mississippi College. In retrospect, he hurts for the seniors who are not getting any such closure this spring.

“It’s a tough way to end your career,” he said. “I can’t imagine.”

Reinebold and other coaches across Indiana are doing a variety of things to try to ease the disappointment of the lost 2020 season for their final-year players.

One of Reinebold’s endeavors is having individual signs made for his seniors and placing them on the infield with their jerseys under the lights of the diamond, which is named after his father.

“Just give them a little salute, hey, we’re sorry you don’t get to play, but thank you for everything you’ve done for three years,” he said.

Clay expected to have nine seniors this spring, four of whom are first-year players. Catcher-outfielder Mark Williams and outfielder-pitcher Jackson Jones would have been in their fourth year on varsity and Hunter Aker in his third. Other veterans were Miguel Penaloza and Tyler Williams. Aker, a first baseman-shortstop-pitcher, will go on to play at Manchester University, while Bethel University is looking at Jones, an outfielder-pitcher.

“Some are going on to college, some are done and it’s time to figure out something else to do, and some may realize with time that they’re not ready to get out,” Reinebold said.

The team last met on the final day of February for a conditioning session. After an initial two-week shutdown, there was hope for a return March 15. When it was bumped back again, teams held on to the prospect of an abbreviated season until that glimmer was snuffed out with the state’s shutdown for the rest of the school year.

“We can’t even meet,” said Reinebold, who is doing all correspondence via text. “We can’t do anything as a group. We can’t make them work out. I was trying to think of the last time we were together. It seems like forever.”

***

Hope springs eternal in March, when everybody is 0-0 with aspirations for greatness. With a whopping 11 seniors, Jimtown had high expectations for the season, led by shortstop Dustin Whitman, a four-year starter, three-year catcher Sammy Schwartz and outfielder-pitcher Brandon Coble.

“Most coaches are saying that now, but we really had our eyes set on moving the program forward,” Jimmies coach Cory Stoner said. “They’ve worked hard. They practice on their own. We don’t have to tell them what to do. It’s a tribute to them for taking charge. It’s a really close group that gets along. They’ve spent a lot of time together growing up.”

The day after the season was officially cancelled, assistant coach Jim Fredwell approached Stoner with the suggestion of turning on the stadium lights, piggybacking on a idea that has been done across the country as a symbolic tip of the cap to seniors.

“We both have little kids, so it seemed like a fun thing,” Stoner said. “A couple people stopped by (Booster Field). My college coach (Seth Zartman) lives down the road and he came down. It was pretty cool to see.”

Given the opportunity, Stoner hopes to do something more extensive this summer, kicking around the idea of a mock senior night with a cookout or, should the social distancing restrictions be eased back by then, possibly an intra-squad scrimmage.

“We’ve got a great group of seniors and we want to honor them in the right way,” Stoner said. “It’s just hard right now to plan much of anything.”

Stoner recently organized a virtual team meeting during which he let each of the seniors talk and their words warmed his heart.

“Clay Campbell was talking about how devastating this is, but we have to look at the big picture, that there are people who are hurting far worse,” Stoner said. “We try to preach selfless leadership, putting others first, and he’s one who really gets it. It was cool to hear.”

***

Goshen‘s five-player senior class will always hold a special place for RedHawks coach J.J. DuBois, now even more so due to the circumstances.

“I coached them on JV before varsity,” DuBois said. “This was my first group that I’ve had since they were freshmen. It’s a great group of kids, the perfect program guys. Goshen baseball doesn’t have a great history of success. We haven’t won a sectional since 2008. This was our best shot to sneak up on people like Northridge and Penn. We didn’t have a ton of varsity experience, but we have good talent. It was the perfect team for this year.”

DuBois is going to great lengths to honor his seniors in light of them missing out on the chance to fulfill their on-field aspirations. Among them, pitcher-shortstop Skylar Reyes, last season’s MVP, will play at Manchester, and Tommy Cartagena Garcia, who came to the school from Puerto Rico as a sophomore, is also looking at a couple schools.

“Losing their season, they’re so disappointed they don’t get to wear the RedHawks jersey one more time,” he said. “You want to give them things to remember, not just the wins and losses, but something special, fun things like dinner with the guys.”

It started with 20-minute Zoom interviews with each player in which they answered a variety of questions, both related and not related to baseball. Preview clips were posted on the Goshen baseball Twitter account with the full segments available on YouTube.

“They got to tell some cool stories that got them laughing,” DuBois said. “It was a good time.”

Borrowing an idea from basketball coach Michael Wohlford, who had posters done for his players, DuBois is in the process of having replica jerseys put in frames for each seniors. His hope is to hold a ceremony where they can gather the seniors and their parents to recognize them.

“Who knows with the timing,” he said. “We certainly have the room (to spread out) on a baseball field.”

***

NorthWood coach A.J. Risedorph has five players in his senior class — third-year regulars Jaden Miller and Cooper Davis, Josh Stratford, Jack Wysong and Kyler Germann — all of whom have been in the program since they were freshmen. Among them, only Miller (Danville Area Community College) is signed to play at the collegiate level, though Wysong is headed to DePauw University for tennis.

“We graduated a pretty good class, so I was more excited about the competition, the young guys who were going to step up,” Risedorph said. “That’s what sports is all about. They put in all the time and have been ready from day one. It’s very unfortunate. A lot of guys are struggling. We want to make sure they’re all right.”

With that in mind, Risedorph has a few projects in the works, starting off with social media posts. After doing some online searching, he’s looking into having personalized bats and replica jerseys done as senior gifts.

“My wife (Jenna) was talking about driving around to the homes and dropping them off,” he said.

The school’s baseball field doesn’t have lights, but Risedorph is thinking about getting the site game ready with bases, batter’s boxes and base lines, then painting the players’ numbers on the grass with the stencils used for football.

“Maybe we can do a drone shot,” he said. “We’d like to get them back out again. It kind of all depends on how long we’re shut down, as we get more information from the state.”

The missed season isn’t impactful on the seniors alone. Risedorph shared the story of junior Sergio Lira Ayala, who came to the school from Puerto Rico during his freshman year.

“He lives and breathes baseball, it’s all he cares about,” Risedorph said. “It’s his escape, with everything he’s dealt with. He just wants to be able to compete. I tell the juniors, you’re the seniors now. The standard of expectations is on their shoulders now.”

***

There’s no protocol, no manual, no reference for coaches on how to tell their seniors they don’t get to play their final season.

“There are guys who like to play and guys who love to play,” Fairfield coach Darin Kauffman said. “I have three of them it was really tough for. I felt awful for calling and leaving a message that we were done for the season. How do you do that? As coaches, it stinks, we want to play, too, but next year, we’ll be at it again. For the seniors, they don’t know if they’ll ever be on a field again and play.”

Of his seniors, just one, Felipe Arevalo, has a possibility of playing in college.

“He’d be really good for a JUCO for two years and go (to a four-year school) from there,” Kauffman said. “He called me right after (the season was cancelled). He was crying. He just loves the game. It was devastating to him. I felt bad. We were talking to colleges and they were planning on seeing him. Now they won’t be able to set up something.”

Kauffman has taken to doing social media posts with pictures of his seniors with write-ups that are going up one a day on the team page, as well as on the athletic department account, which is doing the same for the other spring sports.

“I’d like to have a thing, if we’re allowed to do it, on a nice day, in July even, where we could all meet at the field and recognize all the seniors for everything they’ve done, say some final words,” he said. “They worked hard in the winter. The guys were all for it.”

Fairfield didn’t bring back a great deal of experience after graduating 11 seniors last year, so it will now be in the same boat next season.

“I’m hoping the underclassmen can play at least a couple games,” Kauffman said. “If not, it’ll be almost two years. I don’t know what we’ll do. We won’t have a lot of seniors and it’ll be like really having two freshman classes. We have some young kids who wanted to travel.”

Kauffman has been staying busy with free online clinics and webinars.

“I sent out some things I want them to do, to try to keep their arms in shape,” he said. “Some kids have a back yard big enough to at least go out and do something, but everybody has a different dilemma. We’re all in the same boat on this.”

Follow Jim Peters on Twitter — @JP8185

The lights on Booster Field were illuminated to honor Jimtown High School’s Class of 2020, which did not get to play at senior season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams all over Indiana are finding ways to say thanks to the seniors. (Jimtown Baseball Photo)

 

Mumma uses Baseball Utility Travel to develop players, humans

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Brad Mumma learned decades ago he wanted to help others.

“I was touched as a teenager,” says Mumma, who turned 39 on April 1. “It changed me. It humbled me.”

He had the opportunity to help feed and clothe others — in some cases classmates — living in his community.

Mumma (pronounced MOO-muh) still looks back on his days with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group at LaPorte (Ind.) High School and remembers that feeling.

Dave Krider and wife Lois led the FCA chapter and helped plant that compassion in Mumma, who earned 11 athletic letters for the LaPorte Slicers (three in football and four each in basketball and baseball), where he graduated in 1999.

“My coaches were fantastic role models and leaders for me,” says Mumma.

After playing for Bob Schellinger on the gridiron, Joe Otis on the hardwood and Ken Schreiber and Scott Upp on the diamond, the Slicer lefty went on to play baseball at Bethel College (now Bethel University) in Mishawaka, Ind., and Western Michigan University, where he met his future wife Rose (the Mummas now reside in the Detroit Metro town of Fraser, Mich., with their four children — Madelyn, 8, Bradley Jr., 7 Ellie, 3, and Max, 1).

Mumma was drafted as a left-handed pitcher in the 32nd round of the 2003 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was in the Blue Jays system through 2006 then spent three seasons in independent professional baseball with the Gary (Ind.) SouthShore RailCats, Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers and Joliet (Ill.) JackHammers.

Before his playing days ended, he began teaching lessons through his Mumma Baseball Academy.

He found himself being a sounding board for the parents of his clients. They were telling him about their son’s travel ball experience — some of it was negative.

When the opportunity came for Mumma to expand his reach, he wanted to accentuate the positive.

Adam Rosales, a Western Michigan teammate who made it to the majors by playing multiple positions (mostly in the infield), started an online training business called Baseball Utility. Rosales is now a coach in the Oakland Athletics organization.

When Mumma decided to get into the world of travel baseball and to cross-promote, he decided to call his group Baseball Utility Travel.

“I found some like-minded people,” says Mumma. “We can do this without some undesirable things about travel ball.

“Parents can really put a lot of pressure on their own kids.”

It’s about player development and human development.

Something as seemingly innocent as “Come on, Johnny, throw strikes!” can be a negative cue or phrase.

“Studies show that players don’t want you to say these things,” says Mumma. “We’re trying to help guide (parents) on what is proper to say.

“A clap is sometimes better than saying something.”

Baseball Utility Travel’s mission statement: “Development. Our mission statement could end right there. We are about developing your child into the best player he can possibly be at the age and skill level he is currently at. Striving for that on a year to year basis you will see the growth of your child both on the field and off the field. Nothing, including winning will ever trump the development of your child, period. All of this being done in a positive environment that promotes maximum growth.”

Mumma has crafted a comprehensive Code of Conduct for both players and parents and has them sign a copy.

In part, that code states that players are expected to be on time (which means being ready to go 15 minutes before any activity). If they are going to be late, they are expected to call or text their coach.

Another expectation: Spikes on, uniform on, belt on, hat straight, Shirt tucked in, pants not sagging.

“You can rock your hat backward at the mall, I do myself, but on the field it’ll be straight with no hair showing out the front,” says Mumma. “Take pride in how you look.”

Mumma notes that umpires are going to miss calls and players should get used to it. If you show-up an umpire on the field they will promptly be taken out.

“I don’t care if he blew the easiest call ever, we will play with class,” says Mumma. “When you fail, which you will, act like you’ve played the game before and you understand that failure is a big part of this game.

“If you decide to put on a show after you strike out or make an error a replacement will be sent in without hesitation. The same will take place if you hit a pop up and don’t run it out as hard as you can. We will sprint on and off the field as if we were running from the cops.”

Another lesson to be learned is responsibility. So players are expected to carry their own bag, bring their own drinks and equipment.

“Control the things you can control and this will be a great experience,” says Mumma. “Things players can control: Attitude, effort, preparation, hard work and dedication. Things they can’t: Umps, crappy fields, crappy weather, umps, umps, where you hit in the lineup, and much more. And umps.”

As for parents, they are expected to get their player to practice and games on time and communicate with the coach if they are going to be late.

Mumma also tells parents how to deal with game officials.

“Umpires won’t be great so please understand that,” says Mumma. “It is not your job to communicate with them, you will directly affect your son and our team if you take that matter into your own hands. We’re teaching our coaches how handle them with class, and how to get on them when necessary.”

There is a policy where parents can ask a manager or coach about playing time or the place in the batting order 24 hours after a competition. But they must be ready to hear something they might not want to hear.

Parents are asked to cheer and avoid negative cues. They are to stay away from the dugout unless it is absolutely necessary. They are not to approach a coach in the dugout, after a game or in the parking lot.

“Please wait until the next day to handle your issue,” says Mumma. “After games please tell your kids that you are proud of them and you enjoyed watching them play. Baseball will suck the life out of a growing child because it is a game of failure.

“They do not need to get into the car after the game and hear how they went 0-4 and made two errors. Our coaches will handle that part of it and very rarely will it be in the heat of competition or after. We will take care of those types of conversations in practice and training sessions, the correct avenue for learning.”

There are now about 150 players on 12 teams ages 9U to 18U that train and play based out of a facility shared with the Detroit Diamond Jaxx in Warren, Mich., a northern suburb of Detroit.

High school players participate in six tournaments during the summer, finishing by Aug. 1. The younger kids play in eight and are done by July 1.

“Kids need to be kids and have a summer,” says Mumma. “Rest time — physically and mentally — is important for them.”

The season generally begins when the weather breaks in April.

Baseball Utility Travel has won some trophies. But that’s not the important thing.

“It’s not a prestige thing for us,” says Mumma. “Our ratio of practice to games is 2:1.

“(Beginning in late October), we have 70-80 training sessions and 35-40 games.”

Mumma is one of the lead instructors on a staff of 17 — all being former college or professional players.

“We have no parent coaches,” says Mumma. “All our guys coach all the teams in the winter. We train in big groups.

“All of our coaches) has something to offer.”

Joe Small, a former assistant at Macomb Community College, has come aboard to coordinate defensive concepts and do administrative work.

When Mumma was with the Blue Jays, minor leaguers participated in Baseball 101 class room sessions.

That’s when Mumma realized how much could be taught about the game on a chalk board and has brought that to Baseball Utility Travel.

“In these non-competitive situations, kids learn so much better,” says Mumma. On the field — with so many other players and coaches around — some might have a tendency to “clam up.”

To get messages across to his players, Mumma and his staff have brought in many guest speakers — players, coaches, sports psychologists, nutritionists and more.

On Monday, April 13, more than 100 participated in a Zoom video conference featuring former big league pitchers Zach Jackson and David Purcey, inventor of the Towel Trainer.

While the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has players and coaches physically apart, Mumma wants his players to be ready when baseball resumes.

“We give them things to do at home,” says Mumma. “Throwing the ball is the best way to get your arm feeling good again. Your body wants the consistency of work.

“Make sure you’re throwing.”

Not just about balls and bats, Baseball Utility Travel is also a charitable organization. Mumma says the group annually spends $25,000 to $30,000 in the community. This is done through such deeds as delivering Thanksgiving meals, Christmas gifts or paying the rent for families who lost their home in a fire.

“I always wanted to do that,” says Mumma. “We have the power of numbers. But it’s just a helping hand.”

Baseball Utility Travel celebrates with (from left): Chuck Rinehart, Broc Riggs and Brad Mumma. Rinehart is the father-in-law of organization founder Mumma.

Brad Mumma talks to Baseball Utility Travel players via Zoom conference. The graduate of  LaPorte (Ind.) High School and Western Michigan University founded the organization in the suburbs of Detroit. (Steve Krah Photo)

Fraser, Mich.’s Mumma family (from left): Max, Rose, Madelyn, Bradley Jr., Ellie and Brad. Baseball Utility Travel was founded by Brad Mumma as a way to lead player and human development.

 

Highland graduate Repay’s baseball path leads him to Toledo

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

A colleague once referred to Sean Repay as a baseball version of a “Coaching Chamelon.”

It’s a label that Repay embraces.

“I’ve been pretty much darn near everywhere,” says Repay. “I adapt.

“I’m thankful for every stop that I’ve had.”

Now a volunteer assistant at NCAA Division I University of Toledo, the graduate of Highland (Ind.) High School (2004) and Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa (2008), has served at NAIA Indiana University Southeast (2019), NCAA Division III Lakeland University in Plymouth, Wis. (2015-18), NAIA University of Antelope Valley in Lancaster, Calif. (2014), NCAA Division II Dominican College in Orangeburg, N.Y. (2013). He spent three summers as manger of the Bismarck (N.D.) Larks (2017-19) of the Northwoods League.

Repay also has independent professional experience as a coach for the Frontier League’s Florence (Ky.) Freedom (2016) and American Association’s Gary (Ind.) SouthShore RailCats (2015) and manager for the Pecos League’s Bisbee (Ariz.) Blue (2014).

At Toledo, where Rob Reinstetle is head coach and Nick McIntyre (McCutcheon High School and Purdue University graduate) and Tommy Winterstein are full-time assistants, a big part of Repay’s duties is as camp director. He identifies prospects and brings them to campus. He also coordinates youth camps for the Rockets.

Before the 2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, Repay helped pitching coach Winterstein and also assisted in many administrative details, including making budgets, handling travel details and making practice plans.

“I’ve learned so much,” says Repay. “If you want to do something right and do it at a high level, it’s not just the stuff on the field.”

Repay identifies with Reinstetle’s attention to detail.

“We both know how we want things done,” says Repay.

This is Repay’s first Division I experience. For years, D-I programs have been trying to get the NCAA to approve a third paid assistant.

As a D-I volunteer, Repay would like to see the change.

“It takes to run a collegiate baseball program,” says Repay. “(Adding another paid assistant would be) rewarding people that work their tail off non-stop.

“But I knew what I was getting into this season. I have nothing to complain about. I’m 34 with wife and three children. It’s a mindset in how you approach everyday. I do not going to let no pay effect how much work or effort I put into it.”

With his Northwoods League experience, Repay is also charged with placing players with summer teams.

He notes that the Virginia-based Valley Baseball League has already opted to cancel its season because of COVID-19 concerns and other leagues are likely to follow suit, though there is hope that there will be some semblance of a summer season.

“Summer is huge in their development,” says Repay. “Baseball needs this.”

Toledo was on its spring trip in Georgia when the NCAA season was halted.

“This is an unprecedented moment in our lives,” says Repay. “Per the NCAA, we’re not allowed to instruct our guys. But keeping a constant interaction between coaches and players is very healthy thing.

“We check in with our guys to make sure their minds are right.”

Right after the shutdown, Repay thought about his baseball coaching brethren.

“I made a list of people I wanted to call and check in on to make sure everybody is healthy,” says Repay. “(Coaches are) all fighting the same fight. We’re all on stand-by.

“It’s like time has been frozen.”

Repay commends the coaches that are continuing communication and learning through Zoom conferences and podcasts etc.

“It keeps that knowledge sponge going for everybody,” says Repay. “The more we band together at this time, the stronger it’s going to be when it’s done.

“It’s people helping people at this point.”

Both his wife (Hope) and mother (Gretchen) are nurses. Hope is an LPN for ProMedica at a clinic working with mothers before and after birth.

Due to Coronavirus precautions, when Hope comes home to Sean, Nadia (9), Maddux (6) and Raeleigh (1), she launders her scrubs and showers thoroughly.

“We stay in quarantine,” says Sean Repay, who resides in Maumee, Ohio. On the few trips out of the house, the family wears masks and gloves.

Gretchen Repay is a nurse manager at Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., and works in intensive care and cardiovascular units.

“(Healthcare) workers out there are doing their best,” says Repay.  “This is a serious time. We have to put baseball aside.

“What’s important is family and people’s health.”

Sean’s father, Ed, worked for years in the steel industry. Older sister Nicole is married with three children. Right now, family communication is done via FaceTime and Skype.

Throughout his career, Repay has built lasting relationships with coaches and players. Part of his “inner circle” includes Ben Reel and he still communicates frequently with the IU Southeast head coach.

“I learned so much in such a short amount of time,” says Repay of his time on Reel’s staff. “He’s helped me so much in my career.”

A right-handed pitcher during his playing days, Reel allowed Repay to run the Grenadiers pitching staff. The team won 37 games, a River States Conference regular season title and finished No. 24 in the NAIA rankings.

At Lakeland, Repay learned from then-Muskies head coach Mike Bachar.

“He let me take on every administrative role I wanted to get my hands on,” says Repay. “He was very task-oriented. There was structure. I I knew what I was going to do everyday.”

Bachar also got Repay to think even more about the academic side of collegiate baseball coaching. At the D-III level, there are no athletic scholarships so aid for academics and need really come into play.

As head coach, Bryan Moses took Antelope Valley from a club program to an NAIA power.

Repay appreciates the freedom Moses gave to a young coach.

“He let me off the leash a little bit,” says Repay of Moses, who is now head coach McPherson (Kan.) College. “He let me learn through failure.

“He was such a player’s coach and such a new-school guy. I still take ideas from that season.”

Rick Giannetti became the head coach at Dominican in 1988 and still guides the Chargers program.

Repay had just ended his playing career (McAllen, Texas, Thunder of independent North American League in 2012, Zion, Ill.-based Lake County Fielders of indy NAL in 2011, minor league spring training with the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2011 and El Paso, Texas-based Desert Valley Mountain Lions of indy Continental Baseball League in 2010) and talked things over with his parents and wife and decided to give coaching a whirl.

“I couldn’t stay away from baseball,” says Repay. “It was a no-brainer to start putting feelers out.”

Gannetti gave him his first taste of college coaching.

“I had to flip the script real quick and change from a player to a coach,” says Repay, who suddenly was learning how to run a pitching staff and recruit D-II players.

One of his pitchers was right-hander Matt Festa, who made his major league debut in 2018 with the Seattle Mariners.

At the time, Dominican played in the only D-II district in the country to use wood bats.

“That’s the way I feel baseball was intended to be played,” says Repay.

Florence manager Dennis Pelfrey had been a coach on the staff of manager Greg Tagert at Gary and invited Repay to be his pitching coach.

“He took a leap of faith,” says Repay of Pelfrey, who now manages in the San Francisco Giants system. “There are some very good arms in (the Frontier League). They are very raw. They might be missing command, need to develop an off-speed pitch or it may be mental. My job was to push them out their door again (toward affiliated baseball or a higher independent league).”

Repay’s relationship with Tagert goes back to him coming to Gary to throw simulated games, though he never signed as a RailCats player.

Growing up in Highland, Repay was very familiar with the Gary franchise from its earliest days in the modern Northern League.

Tagert brought Repay in as a bullpen coach and he got to work with bullpen catcher Aaron Ciaburri, who now coaches at Ranchview High School in Irving, Texas.

“It was such an honor to put on that jersey and work with Greg,” says Repay of Tagert. “Gary is the New York Yankees of indy ball to me. It’s first class. Greg treats everybody with respect. The goal is to win an American Association championship and move everybody up.

“Many of my core principles come from that summer.”

Bisbee was a first-year team when Repay managed the team to a 33-30 mark.

“It was a humbling experience,” says Repay. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”

In that league where five-hour bus rides and small crowds are the norm, it’s all about players working hard to chase their baseball dreams.

“You’re looking at the grinders of grinders,” says Repay.

Carl Tebon was Repay’s college coach (2005-08).

“He was fun to play for,” says Repay of the man who still leads the Loras Duhawks. “He had a natural relationship with his players. He didn’t sugar-coat anything and installed the will to want to win.

“He’s relentless at everything he does — in a good way.”

When Repay was at Highland (2000-04), Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Dan Miller was the head coach and current Trojans head coach John Bogner was an assistant.

“(Miller) came in with a plan for it everyday,” says Repay. “He was very organized. He was a very good game manager.”

Repay fondly recalls showdowns with Andrean, Lake Central and Munster and how Miller would pump up the intensity and go after the weaknesses of those teams.

“It was a culture of winning,” says Repay. “But it wasn’t forced. He trusted his players.”

Repay and Bogner have maintained communication over the years.

“He’s an amazing human being,” says Repay. “He’s trying to better his players (on the field) and in their lives.”

Sean Repay is surrounded by his family and the mascots of the summer collegiate Northwoods League’s Bismarck (N.D.) Larks. Repay, a graduate of Highland (Ind.) High School, managed the Larks 2017-19 and is now a volunteer assistant at the University of Toledo. Sean and Hope have daughters Nadia (9) and Raeleigh (1) and son Maddux (6). (Bismarck Larks Photo)

Sean Repay, a graduate of Highland High School and Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, is the volunteer assistant baseball coach at the University of Toledo. He was pitching coach at Indiana University Southeast in 2019. (University of Toledo Photo)