Plainfield baseball coach committed to building a winning program
PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — The calendar may say January, but the Indiana high school baseball season is two months away.
Schools throughout the Hoosier state are already putting in the work and getting ready for the upcoming season.
Over the next couple of months, I will be highlighting high school programs and players with a baseball season preview series here on WISHTV.com.
As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous articles, when it comes to baseball, I’m biased. I believe amateur baseball in Indiana is some of the best in the Midwest, I’m also a bit biased when it comes to my town’s team, let’s go Plainfield. With that said, I’ll kick off my high school preview series with the Quakers.
The Plainfield Quakers will start the season looking to make some noise in the Mid State Conference under second-year head coach Steve Mirizzi.
“We started up the first week of December when limited contact period allowed. We’ve been really challenging our guys mentally and physically. They‘ve responded well and continue to work hard toward our goals this season.” Mirizzi said.
Mirizzi came to Plainfield last season after a very successful coaching career at Indian Creek High School, where he led the Braves to sectional crowns in 2018 and 2019 and a regional tile in 2018. Mirizzi is looking to build upon his first season at Plainfield.
“We left a lot of winnable games on the table last season. When you look at our results from last year, we started the season off strong before we hit a lull in the middle of the season where we were competitive in a lot of close score games.” Mirizzi said. “The conference is loaded with talent that matches up with some of the best in the state. We don’t get any nights off and we enjoy the challenge.”
Mirizzi points to several seniors and a few underclassmen as the backbone of the team. Mirizzi says he’s expecting good seasons from seniors Carter Orner (RHP), Nathan Holowka (RHP/IF), Grady Broughton(MIF), Max Mantooth (RHP/OF) and Gabe Hansen (1b/LHP); junior Alex Holsclaw (C/UTL); and sophomore Gavin Lykins (1B/RHP).
Orner is a Purdue Fort Wayne commit, while Holowka has committed to Marietta College.
Mirizzi said his goals don’t just stop at the season; he’s also committed to building a winning program from the ground up.
“You look at the teams around the state that are consistently at the top, they always reload with talent, that’s the goal.” Mirizzi said. “I want to try to be involved with our youth players as much as possible. It’s fun to watch guys get into your program that you’ve seen at the youth camps over the years. It’s really an opportunity for them to showcase themselves to our coaching staff before they even get to high school. I know we have guys in the feeder programs and guys playing on competitive travel programs. As long as we can continue growing the numbers where our future players can develop, we’ll be able to build a strong program.”
The Quakers will kick off their season March 25 against the Highland Trojans.