Next spring will be the final season for longtime Crawfordsville baseball coach John Froedge.
The Crawfordsville school board accepted Froedge’s retirement following the 2020 season at a meeting earlier this week.
“After much prayer and discussion, Deb (Froedge’s wife) and I made the decision a couple of months ago that 2020 spring would be my last season at CHS,” Froedge said.
With four young granddaughters becoming active in athletics and many other things, Froedge says he wants to be a part of it, and plans to pursue things in life he has never had time for while coaching.
Froedge took over the Crawfordsville program in 1982, and has turned it into one of the most successful baseball programs in the state. Under Froedge, the Athenians have won 13 IHSAA Sectional championships, five Regional titles, and the Class 3A State Championship in 2008 and 2011.
“The time is right to move on to another chapter of life,” he said. “It has been a blessing beyond measure that I have had the privilege to coach at CHS for so long. I have loved all of it.”
Froedge noted his coaching staff and the way they work together will be one of the things he will miss most.
“I have the absolute best coaching staff imaginable,” he said. “We really enjoy working together and are all passionate about baseball and helping young men along their journey. I will miss that most of all. Our very long term success is a reflection of the amazing coaches and players we have had for nearly four decades.”
After making his decision, Froedge felt like it was the right thing to tell Crawfordsville athletic director Bryce Barton, and the Crawfordsville Community School Corporation administration.
“Since my decision had been made, I felt it was the right thing to tell Mr. Barton and the administration now so that they would have the opportunity for continuity in the baseball program going forward,” he said. “I want nothing more than for CHS Baseball to continue to be a program of excellence long after I’m done.”
Froedge told the team at their annual World Series get-together in late October, and is excited for the upcoming season.
“With all that said, we are looking forward to another great season this spring,” he said. “We have a very talented and dedicated group (led by five seniors) coming back from a championship summer season.”
Froedge, a 2010 Indiana High School Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, will enter his 39th season at Crawfordsville closing in on 800 wins — an achievement only four other Indiana High School coaches have accomplished
