Carmel boys baseball head coach: ‘The baseball field has always been my classroom’
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — When some people look at a baseball field, all they see is dirt, grass, bases, and chalk lines. For others, there is something special about that grass, something unique about that dirt. Carmel High School boys baseball head coach Ty Neal falls in the latter group.
“The baseball field has always been my classroom,” Neal said.
I wanted to focus on coach Neal and his Greyhounds for this week’s high school baseball season preview story because Neal’s path to coaching baseball at Carmel High School is pretty unique.
“We all get to a certain point and we make decisions that is in the best interest of the family,” Neal said.
That decision came after a nearly 20-year college coaching career, which included several seasons as the head coach of the University of Cincinnati and assistant coaching jobs at IU and Arizona State University.
“My wife and I discussed how I could continue to share my passion for teaching baseball and developing baseball players, essentially, serving the baseball community,” Neal said. “We agreed a transition to teaching in 2021 would allow me to continue to coach baseball while also fulfilling my calling of making a difference.
“Being the recruiting coordinator and pitching coach at IU for eight years (2006-2013), I spent a lot of time in central Indiana and became very familiar with Carmel. My wife is also a Carmel grad and we knew we would have a support system in place. Ultimately, this is the only community I would have moved my family to for a teaching and coaching position.”
After going 19-9 last season, Neal is getting ready for his second season with the Greyhounds.
“My expectations are we continue to keep the main thing, the main thing,” Neal said. “The main thing for us at Carmel baseball is player development and putting our guys in a position to have success. Through our coaching staff, our resources and facilities combined with the high-level families and student athletes at Carmel, we will be prepared for the time. We have arguably the most competitive schedule in the state of Indiana and play in the best sectional in the state of Indiana, and we will embrace these opportunities and be prepared for them.”
With the season’s start still a couple of months away, Neal says his team is getting in as much off-season work that is permitted by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, about two hours per week this time of year.
“We are also allowed to condition,” Neal said. “In total, we see our guys four days a week. We are fortunate to have unbelievable resources and facilities at Carmel high school. We have placed such an emphasis on player development, we have had 14 of our players find a college baseball home in the past 16 months.”
Some of those players include Cincinnati commit Adam Buczkowski, a senior, and Louisville commit JD Stein, a junior. They join the hundreds of other baseball players from the Hoosier state who will go on to play at the next level.
Neal said he’s not surprised.
“Amateur baseball has grown so much over the past 15 years in Indiana,” Neal said. “From Grand Park bringing in quality summer programs to play quality competition and the indoor facilities in central Indiana, providing development resources, the interest in baseball, and the opportunities in development is at an all-time high.”
The Greyhounds will kick their season off in early April against the Hamilton Southeastern Royals.