By John Rohlf
The Message assistant editor
Evansville native and Mater Dei High School alumnus Adam Schiff will take the reins of the Mater Dei baseball program.
Schiff brings experience and familiarity to the dugout. He is a former three-sport athlete at Mater Dei and was a member of the 1999 Mater Dei state championship baseball team. Schiff also played baseball at the University of Southern Indiana. He brings over 10 years of coaching experience to his new role.
“I think it’s always something I’ve had in the back of my mind is wanting to get back to Mater Dei and coach and coach baseball if it was ever a possibility,” Schiff said. “I think a window opened up here that makes sense. And I think it was just a great opportunity for me to give back to a school and a baseball program that meant so much to me.”
The hire was recently announced by Mater Dei Athletics Director Sam Fleming, who believes the Mater Dei Athletic Hall of Fame inductee will lead the Mater Dei baseball players in positive ways both on and off the field.
“Coach Schiff has had a lot of success while coaching Top Tier and will be implementing his training programs that have allowed him that success here at Mater Dei,” Fleming said. “We are excited to continue the tradition of success that Mater Dei baseball has established with talented alumni like Coach Schiff and his staff.”
Since his days as a student and baseball player at the University of Southern Indiana, Schiff has stayed close to the game. He coached his sons’ baseball teams for a number of years.
He will now take a step away from coaching his sons’ teams to focus on his new role at Mater Dei.
Schiff confirmed he already met with the baseball players who are not currently involved in a fall sports program. He looks forward to meeting the entire group sometime later this school year.
While personnel will dictate much of their strategy on the field, Schiff wants to provide “a standard of competing” in everything they do, from practices to games and in the weight room.
Schiff believes strong pitching and defense is a formula that will help the Wildcats compete in many games.
“I think if you can be consistent pitching and defensively and base running, I think you put yourself in a position to compete and give yourself a chance to win every single game,” Schiff said. “And then certainly, if bats coming around and you’re swinging it the way you want, you can be a really good, a really dangerous team.”
Schiff is a big believer in the fundamentals, developing skills and improving those skills on a daily basis. He thinks there is a process of improvement in baseball.
“I think it takes a constant amount of hard work. And I think it can be a really tough game at times,” Schiff said. “Because a lot of that hard work doesn’t always show up immediately. It’s a process and it takes time. And I think for that reason, baseball can mentally challenge you in terms of how you’re working to get better.”