Little League success in Brownsburg is nothing new. Latest group ready for their turn
Indianapolis Star5 days ago
BROWNSBURG – The field of dreams for kids like Carter Spears, Evan Arnold and Adam Poisel is partially hidden now.
From Indiana State Road 267, which turns into Green Street through the main north-south thoroughfare through Brownsburg, you could turn and see kids on a Saturday afternoon — or any weeknight in the spring — playing baseball. Arbuckle Acres Park, originally a 38-acre plot of land, was sold to the town in 1958 by Mattie Arbuckle Tolle on the condition it was named after her father who once farmed the land, Alex H. Arbuckle.
For decades, this is where generations of boys and girls have grown up watching older siblings play baseball, then learning themselves. The view from Green Street was obstructed in name of progress in 2018 as part of a $70 million project to renovate the downtown with new restaurants, apartments and businesses in the area formerly occupied by St. Malachy Church.
There are four Brownsburg Little League baseball fields now instead of five (Diamond 1 was torn out in the renovation). But on a spring night or weekend afternoon, if you pull off Green Street for a minute and drive behind the apartment buildings and restaurants, you can still see parents and grandparents in chairs circling the fences around all four fields (the league leases from the town, which owns Arbuckle Park) and classmates of all talent levels playing baseball together year after year.
'This has been Brownsburg since I don't even know,' Brownsburg Little League president Geoff Ziegler said. 'This is Brownsburg. We're going to make sure we treat it with respect and invest the time and effort into this space and make sure the community knows we're invested into it. And the people who come and participate recognize that we have a history of winning but also that there is plenty of awesome stuff that happens here on a daily and weekly basis. If the kids can have fun, get a little dirty, get a little sweaty, have a snack and smile on your face at the end of the day and want to come back next year, we've done our job.'
In an era where travel baseball often gobbles up the most talented players as soon as they can lift a bat, Brownsburg Little League proves there is room for both — at least up to a certain age. From ages 4 through 16, the Brownsburg program had more than 700 kids participate this spring. The jewel of that group is always the 'Majors' division, mostly made up of 12-year-olds who dream of representing Brownsburg, then Indiana and the Great Lakes Region, in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.
On Saturday night, a group of 12 kids — all but one who have played eight years of Brownsburg Little League baseball on these Arbuckle fields — will look to take one step closer to that dream when they represent Indiana in the first round of the Great Lakes Region against Illinois. The winner of the five-team tournament, which will be played entirely at the Central Region complex in Whitestown, will earn a spot in the Little League World Series.
'I've always had the dream of going to the Little League World Series,' said Arnold, a pitcher, shortstop and catcher. 'Having a team like this is just the best thing that could happen.'
Spears, 12, basically grew up at Arbuckle. First as a 'batboy' for his older brother's teams, then working his way up through the T-ball and coach-pitch leagues. The kids who are selected for the All-Star team to represent Brownsburg in the district tournament must also play in the rec league (won this season by the Cubs).
'The community and how much support we get is awesome,' Spears said. 'The volunteers work on the field and make sure it's always in good shape.'
Four years ago, the Brownsburg Little League team won the state tournament for the first time since Brownsburg won four in a row from 1999 to 2002. Two of those teams, in 1999 and 2001, went on to play in the Little League World Series. The 1999 team was led by future major league pitcher Lance Lynn. Brownsburg later produced two more big leaguers in Drew Storen and Tucker Barnhart, further cementing the community's association with baseball.
'The reality is the odds are very small for kids to go on and play professionally somewhere,' Ziegler said. 'But that's OK. There is still value in Little League being what it is, which is teaching life lessons through the conduit of sports.'
'It inspired me.' Lance Lynn on Little League World Series 25 years ago
In the same breath, Ziegler wants to win. For this group, the goal has been Williamsport for many years. When the 2021 team made the Great Lakes Regional (the first year it was played in Whitestown), Spears attended with his father, Justin. Every year since, they have attended the regional with some of Carter's teammates. In 2022, the Hagerstown team won the regional and represented the Great Lakes Region in the Little League World Series.
Justin Spears, the Brownsburg coach, said connection to past teams and the potential of making a run to the Little League World Series is what keeps Arbuckle hopping year after year.
'They all say the same thing: 'I want to win a state championship,'' Spears said of the team. ''I want to go to the regionals. I want to go to Williamsport.' You are always playing for something. I think you lose that to some extent when you start playing travel baseball. You show up the weekends and you have a team you play for and you are trying to win weekend tournaments, but there is nothing you are working toward at the end of the season. There are not many times you set a goal as an 8-year-old and work on it every single year and four or five years later you can accomplish that goal. That's a life lesson that takes you beyond baseball. That piece of it they are going to remember forever.'
In the days leading up to Brownsburg's regional appearance, Spears asked former major league pitchers Cory Wade and Bill Sampen and longtime major league scout Mike Medici to come in and speak to the team on three different nights at Arbuckle.
'One of the things I took away the most is that we get to be nervous because of where we're at,' Carter Spears said of the message from Sampen. 'We earned it. We all put the work in.'
There have been a few nervous moments already. With the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning of the district championship game against Terre Haute North, Adam Poisel hit a grand slam on a 3-2 count with two outs.
'We were silent for like two seconds,' Arnold said. 'Because it hit the top of the fence and we didn't know if it was going out or not.'
The ball bounced over the fence for a grand slam. Brownsburg closed the door in the top of the sixth inning for a 4-0 win to take the district title. In the state tournament at South Bend, Brownsburg rolled to victories over Silver Creek (9-0), Bedford (16-0) and Munster (7-3) before defeating Silver Creek again (7-2) and Hagerstown (8-3) to win the state championship.
The night after winning the state title, the team was treated to a police escort for a celebration at Arbuckle Park. 'That was pretty cool,' Carter Spears said. 'It was super cool being escorted by police and firefighters.'
The stakes are even higher now. Brownsburg will represent Indiana starting Saturday night in the regional, which will be broadcast on ESPN+. Nerves? Sure. But a good nervousness.
'Nervous because a lot of people are watching what you do,' Poisel said. 'But also excited because you get a chance to go to Williamsport. We just have to be confident doing what we know how to do.'
That is Justin Spears' message to his team this week: Enjoy every moment. Have no regrets. The team had its final practice ever at Arbuckle on Tuesday night. Spears choked up as he addressed the team after it was over.
'From T-ball to tonight, knowing this was the last time we'd be here together as a team,' Spears said of the moment. 'There's a lot of emotions.'
Who knows. Maybe the year '2025' will be added to the street sign that denotes the previous Brownsburg Little League World Series teams on the north and south ends of Green Street. Maybe someday Carter Spears, Evan Arnold and Adam Poisel will see their names on a banner at the new complex Brownsburg is building for its baseball and softball Little League and programs north of town.
Hopefully that place, like Arbuckle, is a place where the young kids gather around the fence after their T-ball games and watch their older siblings.
'It's fun to see the young kids come to watch the older kids play,' Poisel said. 'It's motivation to be like them someday.'
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
Where: Whitestown (7185 S. Indianapolis Road) Little League Central Region Complex
Admission: Free
TV: All games on ESPN+
Saturday: Kentucky vs. Ohio, 10 a.m.; Illinois vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.
Sunday: Kentucky-Ohio winner vs. Michigan, 4 p.m.; Losers' bracket game, 7 p.m.
Monday: Losers bracket game, 1 p.m.; Winners bracket final, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Losers bracket final, 1 p.m.
Wednesday: Championship, 7 p.m.
No. 50: Owen Wilburn, CF/C
No. 7: Carter Spears, C/P/SS
No. 15: Evan Arnold, P/C/SS
No. 24: Levi Buck, 3B/P
No. 27: Clayton Edwards, 1B
No. 99: Wesley Young, CF/RF
No. 13: Taft Gabbard, LF/CF
No. 22: Adam Poisel, P/2B/3B
No. 29: Chase Vaske, P/LF/RF
No. 28: Tyler Gordon, 1B/3B
No. 36: Tanner Alley, P/SS/2B
From Indiana State Road 267, which turns into Green Street through the main north-south thoroughfare through Brownsburg, you could turn and see kids on a Saturday afternoon — or any weeknight in the spring — playing baseball. Arbuckle Acres Park, originally a 38-acre plot of land, was sold to the town in 1958 by Mattie Arbuckle Tolle on the condition it was named after her father who once farmed the land, Alex H. Arbuckle.
For decades, this is where generations of boys and girls have grown up watching older siblings play baseball, then learning themselves. The view from Green Street was obstructed in name of progress in 2018 as part of a $70 million project to renovate the downtown with new restaurants, apartments and businesses in the area formerly occupied by St. Malachy Church.
There are four Brownsburg Little League baseball fields now instead of five (Diamond 1 was torn out in the renovation). But on a spring night or weekend afternoon, if you pull off Green Street for a minute and drive behind the apartment buildings and restaurants, you can still see parents and grandparents in chairs circling the fences around all four fields (the league leases from the town, which owns Arbuckle Park) and classmates of all talent levels playing baseball together year after year.
'This has been Brownsburg since I don't even know,' Brownsburg Little League president Geoff Ziegler said. 'This is Brownsburg. We're going to make sure we treat it with respect and invest the time and effort into this space and make sure the community knows we're invested into it. And the people who come and participate recognize that we have a history of winning but also that there is plenty of awesome stuff that happens here on a daily and weekly basis. If the kids can have fun, get a little dirty, get a little sweaty, have a snack and smile on your face at the end of the day and want to come back next year, we've done our job.'
In an era where travel baseball often gobbles up the most talented players as soon as they can lift a bat, Brownsburg Little League proves there is room for both — at least up to a certain age. From ages 4 through 16, the Brownsburg program had more than 700 kids participate this spring. The jewel of that group is always the 'Majors' division, mostly made up of 12-year-olds who dream of representing Brownsburg, then Indiana and the Great Lakes Region, in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.
On Saturday night, a group of 12 kids — all but one who have played eight years of Brownsburg Little League baseball on these Arbuckle fields — will look to take one step closer to that dream when they represent Indiana in the first round of the Great Lakes Region against Illinois. The winner of the five-team tournament, which will be played entirely at the Central Region complex in Whitestown, will earn a spot in the Little League World Series.
'I've always had the dream of going to the Little League World Series,' said Arnold, a pitcher, shortstop and catcher. 'Having a team like this is just the best thing that could happen.'
Spears, 12, basically grew up at Arbuckle. First as a 'batboy' for his older brother's teams, then working his way up through the T-ball and coach-pitch leagues. The kids who are selected for the All-Star team to represent Brownsburg in the district tournament must also play in the rec league (won this season by the Cubs).
'The community and how much support we get is awesome,' Spears said. 'The volunteers work on the field and make sure it's always in good shape.'
Four years ago, the Brownsburg Little League team won the state tournament for the first time since Brownsburg won four in a row from 1999 to 2002. Two of those teams, in 1999 and 2001, went on to play in the Little League World Series. The 1999 team was led by future major league pitcher Lance Lynn. Brownsburg later produced two more big leaguers in Drew Storen and Tucker Barnhart, further cementing the community's association with baseball.
'The reality is the odds are very small for kids to go on and play professionally somewhere,' Ziegler said. 'But that's OK. There is still value in Little League being what it is, which is teaching life lessons through the conduit of sports.'
'It inspired me.' Lance Lynn on Little League World Series 25 years ago
In the same breath, Ziegler wants to win. For this group, the goal has been Williamsport for many years. When the 2021 team made the Great Lakes Regional (the first year it was played in Whitestown), Spears attended with his father, Justin. Every year since, they have attended the regional with some of Carter's teammates. In 2022, the Hagerstown team won the regional and represented the Great Lakes Region in the Little League World Series.
Justin Spears, the Brownsburg coach, said connection to past teams and the potential of making a run to the Little League World Series is what keeps Arbuckle hopping year after year.
'They all say the same thing: 'I want to win a state championship,'' Spears said of the team. ''I want to go to the regionals. I want to go to Williamsport.' You are always playing for something. I think you lose that to some extent when you start playing travel baseball. You show up the weekends and you have a team you play for and you are trying to win weekend tournaments, but there is nothing you are working toward at the end of the season. There are not many times you set a goal as an 8-year-old and work on it every single year and four or five years later you can accomplish that goal. That's a life lesson that takes you beyond baseball. That piece of it they are going to remember forever.'
In the days leading up to Brownsburg's regional appearance, Spears asked former major league pitchers Cory Wade and Bill Sampen and longtime major league scout Mike Medici to come in and speak to the team on three different nights at Arbuckle.
'One of the things I took away the most is that we get to be nervous because of where we're at,' Carter Spears said of the message from Sampen. 'We earned it. We all put the work in.'
There have been a few nervous moments already. With the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning of the district championship game against Terre Haute North, Adam Poisel hit a grand slam on a 3-2 count with two outs.
'We were silent for like two seconds,' Arnold said. 'Because it hit the top of the fence and we didn't know if it was going out or not.'
The ball bounced over the fence for a grand slam. Brownsburg closed the door in the top of the sixth inning for a 4-0 win to take the district title. In the state tournament at South Bend, Brownsburg rolled to victories over Silver Creek (9-0), Bedford (16-0) and Munster (7-3) before defeating Silver Creek again (7-2) and Hagerstown (8-3) to win the state championship.
The night after winning the state title, the team was treated to a police escort for a celebration at Arbuckle Park. 'That was pretty cool,' Carter Spears said. 'It was super cool being escorted by police and firefighters.'
The stakes are even higher now. Brownsburg will represent Indiana starting Saturday night in the regional, which will be broadcast on ESPN+. Nerves? Sure. But a good nervousness.
'Nervous because a lot of people are watching what you do,' Poisel said. 'But also excited because you get a chance to go to Williamsport. We just have to be confident doing what we know how to do.'
That is Justin Spears' message to his team this week: Enjoy every moment. Have no regrets. The team had its final practice ever at Arbuckle on Tuesday night. Spears choked up as he addressed the team after it was over.
'From T-ball to tonight, knowing this was the last time we'd be here together as a team,' Spears said of the moment. 'There's a lot of emotions.'
Who knows. Maybe the year '2025' will be added to the street sign that denotes the previous Brownsburg Little League World Series teams on the north and south ends of Green Street. Maybe someday Carter Spears, Evan Arnold and Adam Poisel will see their names on a banner at the new complex Brownsburg is building for its baseball and softball Little League and programs north of town.
Hopefully that place, like Arbuckle, is a place where the young kids gather around the fence after their T-ball games and watch their older siblings.
'It's fun to see the young kids come to watch the older kids play,' Poisel said. 'It's motivation to be like them someday.'
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
Where: Whitestown (7185 S. Indianapolis Road) Little League Central Region Complex
Admission: Free
TV: All games on ESPN+
Saturday: Kentucky vs. Ohio, 10 a.m.; Illinois vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.
Sunday: Kentucky-Ohio winner vs. Michigan, 4 p.m.; Losers' bracket game, 7 p.m.
Monday: Losers bracket game, 1 p.m.; Winners bracket final, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Losers bracket final, 1 p.m.
Wednesday: Championship, 7 p.m.
No. 50: Owen Wilburn, CF/C
No. 7: Carter Spears, C/P/SS
No. 15: Evan Arnold, P/C/SS
No. 24: Levi Buck, 3B/P
No. 27: Clayton Edwards, 1B
No. 99: Wesley Young, CF/RF
No. 13: Taft Gabbard, LF/CF
No. 22: Adam Poisel, P/2B/3B
No. 29: Chase Vaske, P/LF/RF
No. 28: Tyler Gordon, 1B/3B
No. 36: Tanner Alley, P/SS/2B
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