Tommi Stowers gets a hit during a sectional softball game her senior year at Columbus North on May 26, 2016, at Shelbyville High School.
Submitted photo
Last fall, IUPUC announced its intention to start an intercollegiate athletics program.
The Crimson Pride took a big step in that process when it hired former major league baseball player Zach McClellan as its first athletics director in January. Now, McClellan has assembled a head coaching staff for the four sports that IUPUC plans to offer next school year — baseball, softball and men’s and women’s cross-country.
Tommi Stowers, a 2016 Columbus North graduate, will be the Crimson Pride softball coach.
“I was born and raised here in Columbus, and I just want to give back to the community that gave me so much,” Stowers said. “I took on this role because I’m extremely passionate about softball. I’m extremely excited to see what IUPUC will have in store for next season.”
Tommi Stowers
Stowers played three years at Western Kentucky and two years at Monmouth and currently is an assistant coach at Seymour High School.
“As of right now, I am a high school coach, so I’m a little nervous about the transition (to college coaching),” Stowers said. “But I want to give back what I’ve learned over the years and help these girls grow as individuals.”
About a half-dozen players have committed to play for IUPUC when they begin competition next spring, including local graduates Katie Taylor (Hauser), Kaitlin Brummett (Columbus East) and Katie Mahoney and Brooke Mowery (Jennings County). She and McClellan are seeking to fill a recruiting coordinator position for softball.
“We have a few kinks to work out and need to find a few more players,” Stowers said. “We would love to have Indiana girls, but we welcome girls from other states. There’s a lot of players that thought their careers were over, but with the extra COVID year, they can still play, and we welcome those girls, as well.”
Stowers graduated from Monmouth in 2021 with a degree in business administration and management. She works for the Bartholomew County Parks Department and umpires USSSA youth tournaments on weekends.
“She played at a high level,” McClellan said. “She’s from Columbus, which I think is important, and her energy level was second-to-none in our (interview) process. She had a detailed practice plan. It’s exciting for the community and for her and for us.”
McClellan will be the head baseball coach. Last week, he hired Scott Bickel as associate head baseball coach.
Bickel currently is assistant head coach at Ivy Tech in Fort Wayne. He has been an assistant at Fort Wayne Snider High School and St. Francis University.
“I hired a really good staff around me,” McClellan said.
Among the players who have committed to play baseball for the Crimson Pride are Hauser graduate Jackson Paradise and East senior Alex McComb.
“We’re starting to see a lot of interest from community college players who want a four-year degree,” McClellan said.
Tim Hoeflinger will be the men’s and women’s cross-country coach. A teacher at Northside Middle School, he has coached track, cross-country, basketball, baseball and hockey, but his background is in running. He was the 1996 cross-country state-runner-up in Michigan and ran in the NAIA nationals three times at Taylor University.
“(Running is) really where my heart is,” Hoeflinger said. “I love sports, but in terms of where my passion lies and where my expertise is best placed, it is in distance running.”
A 2021 Ironman Wisconsin finisher and 2020 CoronaMan champion, Hoeflinger is on the board for the Tri-812 triathlon club and was co-creater for its junior club program. He also has coached in youth cross-country and track with the Indiana Pathfinders.
“He’s very well connected in the distance running community,” McClellan said. “I feel very confident that he has the energy with that sport. He has great experience as a runner.”
Hoeflinger has begun the process of reaching out to coaches and athletic directors and developing a list of student-athletes he wants to contact as recruits.
“That’s Job No. 1 for me, putting a team together,” Hoeflinger said.
The cross-country and baseball teams will use Ceraland for meets and games, and the softball team will practice there. IUPUC is looking for a place to play softball games.
Kyle Hawkins has been named Sports Information Director/compliance officer and will be an assistant baseball coach. Hawkins played baseball at IU-Southeast and was athletics operations assistant at that school.
“He has experience in a lot of different things,” McClellan said.
NAIA officials came to Columbus for a site visit on Feb. 28 and March 1, and met with representatives from IUPUC, as well as Ceraland and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
“That was a total community effort,” McClellan said. “NAIA was impressed with our presentation. The community did a fantastic job.”
IUPUC is awaiting official approval for NAIA membership. In the meantime, McClellan plans to fly to Kansas City for the NAIA convention, which runs from April 7-12.
“We’re still pursuing ‘22 grads and people all over who have eligibility left,” McClellan said. “Columbus, Indiana, is now part of the college recruiting process.”
