Rich Maloney back at The Diamond for his 2nd Annual Fielding Clinic

Ball State University Soft Hands Fielding Clinic on December 1st

Ball State University Head Baseball Coach, Rich Maloney will be having his second Annual Camp in Fort Wayne Indiana as part I of the College Clinics offered in 2012 by the Diamond Baseball & Softball Academy.

For the past 10 seasons, Maloney served as the head baseball coach at Michigan, guiding the Wolverines to a 341-224 (.604) overall record. He led Michigan to three Big Ten Conference titles, two Big Ten Tournament titles and the 2007 NCAA Regional title. He was also named the 2007 and 2008 Big Ten and ABCA Mideast Regional Coach of the Year.

Maloney also guided the Wolverines to Big Ten Tournament berths in seven of his 10 seasons, including a streak of six straight from 2003-08. His teams also made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2005, '06, '07, '08).

Prior to being named the Head Coach at Michigan, Maloney amassed a 256-144-1 (.640) overall record in seven years as BSU's head coach, including a 141-60 (.704) ledger in Mid-American Conference games. Maloney guided Ball State to four MAC West Division titles (1998, '99, 2000,'01) and two MAC Regular Season titles (1998, '99).

Maloney also led the Ball State baseball program to the only two 40-win seasons in program history - - 42 in 1999 and 40 in 1997 - - and was named the 1998 and 2001 MAC Coach of the Year.

Over his 17-year collegiate coaching career, Maloney has mentored 51 different players who have been drafted a total of 57 times. He has coached five first round draft picks, with all five playing at Ball State.

 "We are extremely happy to have Coach Maloney for the 2nd year in a row" Director of Player Development Manny Lopez said, "this is part of our commitment to our players which nobody else around here does" he added.

The College Clinics at The Diamond Baseball & Softball Academy have brought over 15 different D-I as well as several Programs from the D-II, D-III, NAIA & JUCO schools since opening in 2010.

 

Fort Wayne Cubs Tryouts

 

The Fort Wayne Cubs will be holdig tryouts for the 2013 season for age groups 9U-15U on Saturday 8/18 & Sunday 8/19 of 2012.

8/18/2012 @ Havenhurst Park in New Haven

9U & 10U 12-2pm

11U & 12U 2:30-5pm

13U 5:30-7:30pm

8/19/2012 @ Blackhawk Christian HS

14U & 15U 2-5pm

In the event of inclement weather, the tryouts will be moved indoors to The Diamond Baseball & Softball Academy on 5405 Keystone Dr,Fort Wayne 46825.

Stop by The Diamond and Pre-Register today!!

Two Cubs Alumni's go in the 2012 Draft

Brett Wiley (Cubs Alumni for 2010) was selected by the St Louis Cardinals in the 13th Round after a stellar year at Jefferson Community College where he finish the year batting .410 with 27 doubles, 7 homeruns, 65 runs scored, 65 RBIs, and had 28 stolen bases while hitting three hole and playing shortstop all year for Jeffco.  Wiley was consider the 350 prospect of the top 500.

Brandon Alger (Indiana Tech) will be continuing his carreer in the San Diego Padres system (Short Season) as he was drafted in the 26th round . Alger has already seen action in two games with the Padres Short Season affiliate and could be playing full time in Fort Wayne as a Tin Cap as early as next year.

Alger named WHAC pitcher of the year

Fort Wayne, Ind. – Indiana Tech landed three players on the WHAC First Team All-Conference, including the WHAC Pitcher of the Year Brandon Alger (Leo, IN/Leo). The sophomore lefty emerged as the staff ace this season with a 7-2 record and a 2.12 ERA. He ranks near the top of the conference in every statistical category, and ranks 14th in the NAIA in total runs allowed (19). Alger has also thrown four complete games in 11 starts and struck out 70 batters in 76.1 innings pitched.

Indiana Tech placed 15 student-athletes on the Academic All-Conference Team including Tyler Watts (New Haven, IN/Parkland).

Manchester’s Marchant Named HCAC Baseball Most Valuable Player

GREENWOOD, IN – Manchester College’s Corey Marchant (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) has been named the 2012 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player in baseball.

The junior infielder guided the Spartans to a 25-19 overall record and a HCAC tournament championship. Marchant hit .431 (44-for-102) in conference play and had 30 runs, 33 RBI, four doubles, one triple, and nine homeruns. He had a .755 slugging percentage and a .503 on-base percentage during league play.

Overall in 2012, Marchant ranked among the conference leaders in on-base percentage (.485) and led the HCAC in batting average (.395), slugging percentage (.692), runs scored (46), RBI (49), home runs (14), total bases (119) and hits (68).

Smith taken in the first round of the 2012 Frontier League Draft

13U Pitching Coach and Indiana State grad' Brendon Smith was taken in the first round of the 2012 Frontier League Draft http://frontierleague.com/cgi-bin/dist/news.cgi?id=1335929270

Coach Smith will be heading out to Normal Ill. today to pursue his professional career and play with and against players that have been as high as the Major League level.

Smith showcased his low to mid 90's FB earning him a spot on the Normal Cornbelters Spring Training roster.

Follow Coach Smith through the season at http://www.normalbaseball.com/

Cubs win two tournaments in first weekend

It was the first weekend of tournaments and the 11U Red and 11U Blue won their respective tournaments earning the 11U Blue a BPA WS bid.

The boys in blue took the CCAC Spring Classic with a combination of great pitching performances and their bats coming alive at the right time.

The 11U Blue won 11-2 on Friday against the Backyard Dream. On Saturday the team had convincing  wins over the Outcast Thunder 14-1 and Backyard Dream 12-0. On Sunday, they found it's toughest game against the Michiana Scrappers in Semis with a 9-8 win to then get a convincing win against the Duneland Flyers 7-0 and earn their BPA WS bid.

In Huntington, the 11U Red took on the Bluffton Bandits and the TC Spikes to win out in the On Turf Sports Opening Day Invitational.

Alumni's weekend

4.19.12-CEDAR CITY, Utah -- IPFW took game one of the four-game series against Southern Utah by recording a 7-5 victory on Thursday night.


Chuckie Weaver earned his third win of the season after throwing eight strong innings. He struck out 11 batters, while only walking one.


With the win Weaver moves to 3-4 with a 3.45 ERA in 10 Games with 1 CG 1 SHO as well as 63 K in 70.1 Innings Pitched.


4.21.12-Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Indiana Tech baseball team began a key conference series against Madonna University with a split on Saturday. The Crusaders downed the Warriors 7-0 in the opener before Tech bounced back with an 11-2 victory in the nightcap.


Two of the conference’s top pitchers dueled it out in game one as Tech’s Brandon Alger (Leo, IN/Leo) and Madonna’s Jeremy Gooding were throwing shutouts through five innings. The Warriors had chances in the first three innings of the game to take the lead, but were unable to capitalize on the Crusader miscues.


Alger was hit with just his second loss of the season, throwing 7.1 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits while striking out three. Junior Lucas McDaniel (Walnut Creek, CA/Los Medanos) added 1.1 innings of shutout relief with two strikeouts.


For the year Alger is 6-2 with a 2.02 ERA, 71.1 IP, 58 hits and 63 K with 1CG, 1 SHO


4.22.12 - MC SLUGS OUT 19 RUNS IN 19-1 WIN OVER HANOVER Manchester bounced back from a pair of losses Saturday to post a 19-1 win over Hanover on Sunday. Kyle Konarski picked up the win, throwing eight innings and striking out eight.


Trevor Kimm led the way offensively with a 3-4 performance, driving in three runs and scoring two. Cody Schell was 3-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, and Corey Marchant also went 3-4 with four runs scored and an RBI. Brady Murphy finished 3-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored, while Bryce Murphy went 2-5 with three RBIs and a pair of runs.


Manchester improves to 19-14 overall, 11-7 in the HCAC and will close out the remaining seven conference games at home starting with Defiance on Tuesday, followed by Rose-Hulman on Saturday and Sunday.

For the year, Corey Marchant is hitting 424, 12 Hr, 42 RBIs and Bryce Murphy is hitting 381 with a 442 OBP, he is also 5-2 with a 4.66 ERA with 33 K in 46.1 IP

4.22.12-Champaing ILL-Two more strong pitching performances along with some timely hitting helped the Parkland Baseball team win a pair of games on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of Lewis and Clark

 The Cobras would take no time in getting on the board in game two scoring three times in the 1st to put PC on top early. Greene was once again the catalyst for the Cobra offense getting the Cobras started with a lead-off home run, his second HR of the season. PC made it 4-0 in the 2nd on a Joe Trennepohl single and Joel Stucker hit his first career collegiate homer in the 5th to push the lead to 5-0. Parkland would put the game away in the 6th scoring four times as Tom Hooker also hit his first college home run and Trennepohl, Nolan Wilson, and Weitekamp all drove in runs in the inning. Alex Smith drove in the Cobras final run of the game with a single in the 8th. Four Cobras had two hits in the contest as Greene, Hooker, Trennepohl, and Wes Minton paced a 13 hit attack. Josh Witt (4-0) stayed perfect on the season allowing just two runs while striking out five in eight innings of work.
Witt (committed to the University of Indianapolis) has a sub 2 ERA and is now 4-0.

4.22.12-TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - 

Indiana State took the final two games of the series, improving to 31-10 on the season with their ninth consecutive weekend of winning at least two games. Dallas Baptist falls to 27-12 overall, snapping a string of seven straight series wins.

ISU scored first for the first time in the series, getting three runs with two outs in the first inning. Freshman Landon Curry led off the inning with a double down the left field line, scoring with two outs when junior Robby Ort sliced a double to left. Curry scored two runs. ISU tallied 10 hits for the game, improving to 24-3 on the season when totaling double-digit hits. 

For the season Curry is hitting 345 with a 451 OBP while going 10-11 on SB.

No. 3 Vikings and No 4 Spartans in a battle of the undefeated

Class 4A No. 3 Huntington North scored 10 runs over the final two innings — taking advantage of some sloppy Carroll defense — and routed the 10th-ranked and two-time defending state champion Chargers, 11-1 in six innings, Tuesday night in Fort Wayne.

The Vikings were led by Heartland bound Trevor Storie who did it on the mound and at the plate. With the bat, Storie smashed a key fourth-inning, two-run double and racked up three RBIs. He also scored twice and stole a base. On the hill, Storie limited the Chargers to four hits and one run in five innings.

At Homestead the Spartans took care of business with a 10-3 win against Blackhawk Christian led by Jake Weber 3-4 with three RBIs, Austin Plasterer 2-4 and Andre Jernigan 2-3 with three runs.

The stage is set for tonight’s showdown between the third ranked Huntington North (11-0) and fourth-ranked Homestead (10-0). First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Huntington North. 

The Vikings have outscored their opponents 96-23 this season while the Spartans have beaten their foes by an remarkable138-19. Homestead’s team batting average is an eye-popping .449.

It will certainly feel as a family reunion as both of these teams have current and former Cubs Alumni's  such as Trevor Storie, Mitch Trieglaff, Ethan Bartrom, Cody Frazier, Drew Schnitz & Braydin Stell for Huntington. Homestead on their roster have Jake Weber, Brandon Soat, Andre Jernigan, Josh Caccamo, Austin Plasterer, Matt Volz, Tyler Zimske & Joe Ault.

Cubs Alumni's  weekend recap.

Sophomore Brandon Alger (Leo, IN/Leo) earned his sixth win of the season for Indiana Tech going 6.0 strong innings allowing two runs on four hits and struck out five. 

Chuckie Weaver for IPFW picked up the win on the hill for the Mastodons. Weaver threw six full innings and struck out four. He limited the Golden Grizzlies to just two hits and one earned run. Kristian Gayday  picked up two RBI's against Oakland.

Bryce Murphy, Manchester, threw six innings and struck out two batters. He went 1-4 with three RBIs and scored three runs off a home run in the seventh inning.  Also for Manchester, Corey Marchant went 3-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored on Saturday adding a 2-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored with a double and a triple performance on Friday.

Freshman Landon Curry, Indiana State, is leading the Sycamores in hitting .359 an OBP .454 while being third on the team in hits with 46.

Keith Koser is posting a career year with Eastern Illinois, the Panthers closer has posted a 1.69 ERA in 15 appaeances. 16 innings pitched, 14 hits allowed with 19 strikeouts and only 6 walks.

Danny McMahon has added a solid start hitting .327 with a .386 OBP. The Freshman has started 28 games for Swathmore College.

Kevin Kiermaier is making the best of his opportunities with Port Charlotte hitting a robust .455, .600 OBP and leading the team in Runs as well as OPS (.1145).

 

                     Weber, Soat lead the Spartans fast start

After the first nine games, the Class 4A No. 5 Spartans are averaging 14 runs. In three recent games, they combined to score 74 runs.

Not to be outdone, the Homestead pitchers have allowed 16 runs (12 earned) in those nine games. The ERA of 1.53 for Homestead’s hurlers compares with 11.96 for its opponents.

Homestead (9-0) has outscored its foes 128-16 and has a .453 batting average and had 115 RBI among its 128 runs scored.

Among players with at least 20 at-bats, the Spartans had eight players with batting averages of .300.
Brandon Soat had a .514 average and an .829 slugging percentage. Tyler Zimske was at .458 hitting and .917 slugging. Josh Caccamo and Nick Denice had only 27 at-bats combined, but Caccamo was hitting .615 with eight hits in 13 at-bats, and Denice was at .643 with nine hits in 14 at-bats.

On the mound, Jake Weber led the Spartans with a 3-0 record and a 1.00 ERA. Soat and Spencer Doan were both 2-0, with Soat having a gaudy 0.64 ERA.

The road ahead will get tougher for the Spartans when they get into NHC play, particularly against two-time 4A state champion Carroll and 3A No. 1 Norwell.

Caley Pitches Baseball to Split at Huntington

 Michael Caley was stellar on the mound for Indiana Wesleyan University on Thursday to help the Wildcat baseball team secure a doubleheader split at Huntington (Ind.) University.
Caley allowed just one run on six hits in a complete game effort. He walked two and struck out four in a 91-pitch outing as Indiana Wesleyan won the nightcap 2-1.

Indiana Wesleyan supplied all the offense Caley would need in the top of the first. Huntington would threaten in the fourth inning as the first three batters reached via a single, a walk, and an error. Caley retired the next hitter on a strikeout but Huntington scored a run on a balk. With the tying and go-ahead runs now in scoring position with just one out, Caley induced a line out and a ground out to escape any further damage and maintain the lead 2-1.

The Foresters would threaten one last time in the bottom of the seventh. A two out single moved the tying run to second base. But again Caley would induce a ground ball to short that ended the game.

Veerkamp gets no decision

Toledo grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on James Miglin's RBI single. The Rockets actually had three singles in the frame, but Veerkamp settled into a grove.
The right-handed hurler retired 10 of the next 11 Toledo batters with the only Rocket reaching on a second-inning walk.

Notre Dame drew even, 1-1, in the bottom of the second. The Irish loaded the bases with one out on a junior C Joe Hudson single and two walks. Markson came to the plate and lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Hudson.

Markson gave Notre Dame a 2-1 lead a couple of innings later. Freshman LF Ryan Bull  reached and advanced to second on an error from Toledo 1B Mark Lapikas. Senior RF Alex Robinson  followed with a ground out to move Bull to third and Markson slapped a two-out RBI single right back up the middle.

Veerkamp ran into trouble in the top of the fifth inning. Dan Zuchowski singled with one out - Veerkamp had retired 11 of the previous 12 Rockets. The Junior RHP Patrick Veerkamp (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead H.S.) did not factor in the decision. He allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits in 4.2 innings of work. He struck out two and walked two. For the year Veerkamp is 2-0.

                                     Storie goes the distance

Trevor Storie (Heartland CC)) did it all for Huntington North on Tuesday. The Heartland bound Senior pitched a three hitter and also hit a home run in the Vikings 5-1 win over Class 3A #1 ranked Norwell.

It was an early-season showdown of a pair of teams that could make a push toward Victory Field in Indianapolis, yearly site of the state finals. Both entered with 6-0 records, with Norwell as the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A, and Huntington North ranked No. 3 in 4A.

On the mound, Storie stuck out 11. At the plate, he was also 3-4 with a Home Run.

 Soat leads the way to a 30-1 win

                            

Homestead took a commanding lead after two innings and ended up posting it's second plus 20 runs game in as many days. The Spartans were led by Brandon Soat’s (IPFW) four hits, home run and seven RBIs. Soat also limited Dwenger to two hits and struck out 10

The Spartans had 28 hits and drove in 26 runs in their second lopsided game in as many days. Monday, Homestead defeated Marion 20-4.

Adding to the Homestead offensive assault were Jake Weber( Parkland), who had three hits, home run and four RBIs, while Austin Plasterer (Jackson CC) had three hits, three RBI and four runs scored.

            Volz, Weber & Soat pave the way for Homestead win

The host Spartans battered Marion with a 15-run second inning to win in five innings. Matt Volz, Nick Denice, Jake Weber and Brandon Soat all had three hits for the Spartans, who cranked out 19 hits.

Hot start for Kiermaier
Kevin Kiermaier is ready to make the most of the 2012 season and after getting a full year under his belt he is set to play in one of the most talented levels of the Minor Leagues, the Florida State League.

In 2 games Kiermaier is hitting .600 helping his team the Charlotte Stone Crabs to a league leading 3-0 start.

Alger gets no decision in 17 inning game

Lima, OH- Sophomore Brandon Alger (Leo, IN/Leo) threw nine scoreless innings, scattering six hits while striking out eight. UNOH’s Zachary Petrick was just as good going seven strong innings and allowing just four hits, striking out 10.

Senior Brandon Paletta (Richardson, TX/North Texas) delivered the game winning hit against the University of Northwestern Ohio on Friday night, driving a triple to right center with the bases loaded in the 17th inning as the Indiana Tech baseball team knocked off the Racers 4-1.

    Goshen goes the distance

Sophomore Taylor Goshen pitched a two hitter to lead Carroll to an 11-1 win over Churubusco. The right hander had eight strikeouts and one walk.
Peyton Lengacher led the chargers at the plate with two hits and five RBIs, his inside the park grand slam sealed the victory for the chargers. Lengacher also added a triple.
Other notables, Drue Tranquill had two hits.

Freshman sensation Curry making inmediate impact for the Sycamore

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Indiana State baseball team scored runs in five straight innings on Wednesday, plating 14 runs from innings two through six to pick up a road victory at Ball State, 14-3.
The win is the first for ISU at Ball State since sweeping a doubleheader during the 1995 season and snaps a seven-game road losing streak against the Cardinals. ISU's win also breaks a string of 14 consecutive games in the series that had been won by the home side.
Indiana State's big inning came in the sixth, as the Sycamores scored six runs to move in front 14-2. Four of those runs came on one swing of the bat from freshman Landon Curry, as the newcomer from Uniondale, Ind., and Norwell High School launched a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam and his first home run of the season.

Curry is now second in the team in a few categories with a .373 AVG,  .457 OBP & 44 hits while perfect on the bases going 9-9 in steals.

MARCHANT RECEIVES SECOND HCAC HITTER OF THE WEEK AWARD, NAMED NATIONAL BASEBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION HONORABLE MENTION HITTER OF THE WEEK

Manchester College’s Corey Marchant (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) led the Spartans to a 4-2 record during the week and has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for the second time. The junior short stop finished the week 12-of-24 (.500) at the plate with 10 RBI, eight runs scored, and a stolen base. Marchant added five home runs with seven singles, posting a slugging percentage of 1.125 during the six games. He is currently ranked fourth in the nation in homeruns per game and third in total homeruns. Marchant was one of eight individuals nation-wide to be named honorable mention Hitter of the Week by the National Baseball Writer's Association.

                                   

Weaver Named Summit League Co-Pitcher of the Week

ELMHURST, Ill. – Chuck Weaver was recognized by Summit League for his outstanding pitching performance against Nebraska Omaha this weekend. The league office announced that Weaver and North Dakota State's John Straka were named Co-Pitchers of the Week for their performances March 26-April 1.

Chuck Weaver was lights out against Nebraska Omaha in the IPFW home opener on Friday afternoon. Weaver shutout the Mavericks and threw a complete game leading the 'Dons to a 4-0 victory.

The junior only allowed five hits through nine innings of work. He struck out five batters and only gave up two walks. The win moves his overall record to 1-3 on the year, and his ERA is now the lowest on the team at 3.47.

Weaver leads the team in strikeouts (44) and innings pitched (49.1). He has made seven appearances on the year and has kept hitters off balance as the opposition only hits .231 with Weaver on the mound.

                                    Alger Named WHAC Pitcher of the Week

Fort Wayne, Ind. – Indiana Tech’s Brandon Alger (Leo, IN/Leo) was named the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for the first time this season after helping the Warriors to a 5-0 record last week.
Alger, a sophomore from Leo, Indiana, went the distance in Indiana Tech’s 1-0 win over Siena Heights University, throwing a complete game shutout and allowing just five hits while striking out 11. After giving up a double to leadoff the first inning, the 6’3” southpaw settled in and did not allow another hit until the seventh. Alger worked his way out of an eighth inning, bases loaded jam by inducing a pop out before striking out the next batter and then slammed the door shut in the ninth to earn the win.

On the season, Alger owns a 5-1 record with a 1.65 ERA and four complete games in seven starts. His ERA is the best in the conference along with his 50 strikeouts