Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Bishop Luers’

Former Bishop Luers standout, Michael Morrison joined the Louisville Cardinals’ 2009 recruiting class. The first baseman is currently a sophomore at Gulf Coast Community College in Flordia. He is Luers’ school record holder in average (.514) and home runs (13 as a freshman). He was a three-time All-State selection in high school and was named a Louisville Slugger High School All-American.

Louisville had recruited Morrison out of Luers, but Morrison felt it was best for his career potential to begin at Gulf Coast; which is a junior college.

Read More at: Louisville Baseball | Panama City News Herald

Think that Indiana doesn’t complete with the rest of the nation on the ball diamond? Perhaps you should reconsider those thoughts.

Take for example, the St. Joe’s Little League. Five of the league’s baseball teams recently won Little League District 10 championships in leagues that range from 11 to 15 teams from Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana area. Three of those squads have already advanced through far enough state tournament berths.

“We’ve got a talented group of kids,” [league vice president, Greg] Hadden said. “My 12-year-olds alone, 10 of them have been playing together since they were 9- and 10-year-olds. That’s where you start” [source: Disney’s Wide World of Sports Baseball Complex in Orlando, Fla. from Aug. 3-10.

“When we went into this, we were not on anybody’s radar; teams from Indiana don’t get a lot of hype compared to Texas, Florida and Alabama,” said Shane Stout, the coach of the U13 team, as the organization had only one team reach this level previously. “You’ve got to pinch yourself to realize what has happened” [source: IndyStar].

And as local players go on to excel in Little League or High School, look also to the tremendous number of local standouts who are excelling at the college level. Several others are playing in Minor League Baseball and even at the Major League Level. These homegrown players have learned to play the game the right way through solid leagues; like the St. Joes Little League, like Wallen Baseball, like Wildcat Baseball.

It’s the coaches and parents who volunteer their time and experience to serve as teachers and mentors. Folks like, Gary Rogers, who has served the sport over two decades at Bishop Luers. His record there is a 352-302 (that’s over 600 games folks), he’s worked with Wildcat Baseball and within the SAC and the state’s coaches’ associations. He coached Luers to its first state championship with a 14-8 win over Elwood this past June, and then served as head coach of the North All-Stars in the three-game series against at Notre Dame’s Eck Stadium.

Along the way, there are a number of lives he’s touched and kids he’s developed. The same is true for the many other coaches at local high schools, middle schools and on the Little League diamonds. It’s that being the case, it’s no wonder so many of our stars are excelling on and off the field.

You say baseball is all about ballparks, money, commercialism and merchandising? I say your watching the wrong game. Look to the smaller fields with the smaller stars. You see big time talent and big time hearts of those who help build their character.

Yes, the spirit of the game is alive and well in Fort Wayne and all of Northeast Indiana.

Congratulations are in order to the Bishop Luers baseball team. They also become the first school in Indiana high school sports history to win the football, boys basketball, and baseball titles in the same school year. Reade more at Wane.com and Fox 28 South Bend.

Update – 06/15/08 (1:10PM): The achievements of the Luers team has drawn more widespread attention. See more coverage at:

• Chicago Tribune
• (Anderson) Herald Bulletin
• (Indianapolis) ESPN 1070
• (Evansville) Courier Press
• (Louisville) Courier-Journal

• Bluffton Native, Mark Grove in 24th Year as Busco head baseball coach (June 3) – I’m a bit late getting to this one, but it’s a great read from the Bluffton News-Banner. It details the longevity of 1973 Bluffton High School graduate, Mark Grove as he approaches the quarter century mark as baseball coach at a school he began teaching at in 1979.
• Luers Has Shot at Historic Set of Championships – From the June 11 Journal Gazette. If the Knights are able to win Saturday in the IHSAA Class 2A state championship baseball game at Victory Field in Indianapolis, it would be Luers’ third state championship this school year, winning in football, boys basketball and baseball. No other school in state history has ever accomplished that feat. Greg Jones does a wonderful job of providing the “story behind the story”.
• D-backs Draft Q & AL 6th Rounder Justin Parker - Futurbacks.com chats with Justin Parker, who put up great numbers at Wright State and was a draft selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jarrod’s elder brother answers fourteen questions about his draft selection and the type of player that he is (subscription required).