Head Varsity Coach
mcherry@hse.k12.in.us

Coach Matthew Cherry begins his sixth season as the only head coach of the Tigers guiding the program to a 62-89 overall record (56-66 with a senior class). Last season, the Tigers finished 19-13 (10-8 in the HCC – 5th place) before losing to Westfield in the Sectional Final. The 2011 Tigers won the Mudsock Trophy for the second year in a row, won the Battle for the Bluegrass Tournament (Grayson County, KY), and set 19 school records including wins (19), conference wins (10), runs scored (186), hits (252), and stolen bases (78). For the Tigers 2011 performance, Coach Cherry was named the Hamilton County Sports Daily Co-Coach of the Year. Coach Cherry has coached 2 Indiana All-Stars (Ant Roach – 2011 and Ray Calloway – 2009) and has sent 8 Tigers on to play collegiate baseball, including 2011 graduate Nick Tirro (Manchester College), 2010 graduates Colin Brooke (Hanover) and Ben Taylor (Danville Community College), 2009 graduates Calloway (Kishwaukee JC), Zach Foley (Anderson University), and Kevin Schlotter (Ball State University) and 2008 graduates Brice Davis (Indiana Wesleyan University) and Matt Hitt (Eastern Michigan University).

Coach Cherry is a 1998 graduate of New Castle Chrysler High School where he was a 1st Team Class 4A All-State catcher as a senior and a 2 time 1st Team All-NCC selection. Cherry continued his education at Anderson University where he was a 1st Team All-HCAC catcher as a freshman. Prior to a career ending arm injury, Cherry had the privilege to play for Athletes In Action in the premier Alaskan Collegiate Wooden Bat Summer League. After receiving his BA in secondary education, Coach Cherry served as an assistant coach for two seasons at Anderson University helping guide the Ravens to a 3rd place finish at the 2003 NCAA Division III National Championship. After leaving the college ranks, Cherry served as a volunteer assistant coach at Pendleton Heights in 2005 and as the junior varsity head coach at Hamilton Southeastern in 2006. Cherry received his master's degree in sport administration and sport pedagogy at Purdue University in 2007. Coach Cherry teaches mathematics at Fishers and is a member of the ABCA and IHSBCA (where he currently serves as a District Representative). He lives in Fishers with his wife, Sara, son Henry (2), and newborn daughter Sophie.

Assistant Varsity Coach
dsimms@hse.k12.in.us

Coach Darren Simms begins his sixth season with the Fishers baseball program and his second as a varsity assistant. In his first four seasons in the program, Simms served as the head junior varsity coach compiling a 64-34 overall record. Coach Simms will be responsible for outfielders, base running, and bunting throughout the program. Simms is a 2002 graduate of Taylor High School where he was an honor athlete for receiving ten varsity letters in baseball, basketball, and football and was chosen as the male recipient for the Howard County Student Athlete of the Year. In baseball, he was a member of the 2000 state baseball team and received 1st team All-Area and 2nd team All-Conference. In football, he was All-State Honorable Mention, 1st team All-Area, and 1st team All-Conference. Coach Simms continued his baseball career by playing at Anderson University for three years. Prior to being sidelined because of numerous injuries, Simms was a part of the baseball team that finished 3rd in the nation at the 2003 NCAA Division III National Championship. Simms has also coached a Special Olympics basketball team winning the state title in 2007. Currently, Coach Simms is a physical education teacher at Fall Creek Intermediate and also serves as the head freshmen girls’ basketball coach at Fishers. Simms resides in Fishers with his wife, Kayla.

Assistant Varsity Coach

Coach Eric Sprague begins his first year in the Fishers baseball program as the pitching coach and varsity assistant. Last year in the same position, he was a part of the Mt. Vernon(Fortville) staff, which captured their first sectional championship since 1995. Previous to last season, Sprague served in various coaching capacities in six seasons at Defiance High School (OH). One of the top baseball programs in the state of Ohio, Defiance has produced six MLB draft picks in the past nine years and twelve 90 MPH Club members in the past ten years. As a player at Defiance High School, Sprague was a member of the highest ranked team in school history (1999 – 11th in the nation, USA Today). He currently holds the school record for fewest average walks allowed in a career, giving up only 13 in 87 2/3 innings of work, an average of 0.148 per inning. He is 3rd in strikeouts to walk ratio with 71 Ks to 13 Walks. Sprague also became a member of the prestigious 90 MPH Club at Defiance in topping out at 91 MPH. At Defiance College, he was an All Conference pitcher in 2002 with an ERA of 1.58 in conference games. Coach Sprague is currently an assistant History teacher at Sycamore School, 8th grade boys’ basketball coach at Creekside Middle School, and the pitching instructor/16U coach for the Indiana Nitro. Eric currently resides in Carmel with his wife Erica.

Assistant Varsity Coach

Coach Eric Osborn begins his third season as an assistant varsity coach with the Tiger Baseball Program and will serve as the hitting and infield coach for the entire program. Osborn came to the high school level after serving as a college assistant for two seasons. Most recently, Osborn was the assistant baseball coach at Valparaiso University in 2009 working primarily with catchers, outfielders, and hitters. While on staff at Valpo, Osborn also served as the third base coach, assisted with recruiting and organized and ran the Crusader baseball camps. Coach Osborn also served as an assistant coach at Indiana Tech in 2008 working primarily with infielders, hitters, and base runners. He was the Warrior’s first base coach and aided in recruiting as well as served as the program’s camp coordinator. Osborn spent the fall of 2007 as an undergraduate assistant at Purdue University assisting with day-to-day operations of the baseball program. With the Boilermakers, he worked with the infielders, base runners, and hitters. Prior to coaching, Osborn was a four-year starter at second base for Purdue and was twice named as an Academic All Big-Ten selection. Coach Osborn graduated from Purdue in 2007 with a degree in management and a minor in marketing. He currently works as a sales representative for Lids Sports and lives in Fishers with his wife Molly.

Head Junior Varsity Coach
jharkin@hse.k12.in.us

Coach Jeff Harkin will begin his third season with the Tigers and his second as the head junior varsity coach after serving one season as the assistant junior varsity coach. Coach Harkin led the 2011 JV Tigers to a 14-8 record. Coach Harkin is responsible for the catchers throughout the entire program. Harkin is a 2002 graduate of Hoffman Estates High School in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. While at Hoffman Estates, Harkin lettered in Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Harkin was the starting catcher for the Hawks his junior and senior seasons. During high school, Harkin served as an umpire for little league baseball and eventually became an IHSA umpire during his time home from college. Harkin attended Indiana University where he graduated with a BS in Secondary Social Studies Education. Harkin also serves as the head freshmen football coach at Fishers and the assistant 8th Grade Basketball Coach at Riverside. Coach Harkin is an 8th grade social studies teacher at Riverside Junior High School and currently resides in Indianapolis.

Assistant Junior Varsity Coach

Coach Brad Purvis will begin his fifth year with the Fishers baseball program and his first as a junior varsity assistant. During his first three seasons with Tigers, Purvis served as the head freshmen coach where he compiled a 29-27 overall record. Purvis is a 2001 graduate of New Castle Chrysler High where he lettered in Football and Baseball. He was the starting catcher and captain his senior year and earned the Joseph Shapiro outstanding baseball player award while playing for the Trojans. In 2001, Purvis also received the distinguish athlete of the year award from the United States Marine Corp. Coach Purvis continued his education at Indiana University where he graduated with a BS in Criminal Justice. During summer breaks from college, Purvis served as a volunteer umpire for a local little league baseball association. While attending Indiana University, Purvis began work at the Indiana University Police Department. He graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 2003, where he placed in the top 3 for physical fitness. In 2005, Purvis accepted a job with the Noblesville Police Department where he is currently assigned to the K-9 Unit in the Uniform Patrol Division. Coach Purvis resides in Noblesville.

Head Freshmen Coach

Eric Schellhammer begins his second season as the head freshmen coach in the Tiger Baseball Program. Last season, Coach Schellhammer led the Freshmen Tigers to a school record for Freshmen team wins finishing 16-9. Schellhammer hails from Grand Ledge, MI, and one of the most successful high school baseball programs in Michigan’s history. Baseball continued to be a huge passion after he made the jump to the world of college basketball. Coach Schellhammer began his collegiate basketball career at Glen Oaks Community College. In his freshman season, Schellhammer earned All-Midwest Region 12 honors and was an honorable mention Junior College All-American. After leaving Glen Oaks, Coach Schellhammer spent three seasons with the Western Kentucky University women’s basketball program, serving as a graduate assistant on the 2008 NCAA Tournament team. Schellhammer was also part of the Lady Toppers’ staff in 2006 and 2007, in which WKU advanced to the WNIT semifinals. At WKU, Schellhammer was primarily responsible for coordinating all film exchanges and film breakdown. He also assisted with player development, individual workouts and coordinated the Lady Topper summer basketball camps. Schellhammer spent the 2008-09 basketball season with the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, where he focused on coaching the team’s post players. A 2007 and 2010 graduate of Western Kentucky, Coach Schellhammer holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in sports administration/recreation. Schellhammer spends the winter months as an assistant in the Fishers High School Boys Basketball program. Schellhammer and his wife, the former Jamie Britt, now reside in Fishers with their 2 year-old daughter Riley, newborn daughter Britt and Rottweiler Nala.

Assistant Freshmen Coach

Coach Larry Mangano begins his fifth season with the Fishers Baseball program and his first as a coach. Mangano graduated from Fishers High School in 2011 where he lettered in baseball. He is the first Tiger to play for Coach Cherry and return to coach at the high school level. Mangano is enrolled at IVY Tech Community College and wishes to graduate from a four year university with a degree in Computer Science.

Assistant Freshmen Coach

Coach Hale begins his second season as an assistant coach for the Fishers freshmen baseball team and will serve as the pitching coach for the freshmen. Coach Hale is a 1997 graduate of Malden High School (outside of Boston) where he lettered in Football, Basketball and Baseball. After high school, Hale continued to play baseball at Brandeis University. He transferred to Curry College in 1999 where he played football and baseball. His senior year, he was among league leaders in strikeouts and wins as a pitcher and earned Male Athlete of the Year along with All-Conference All-Academic honors. He received his degree in Business Management in 2001, graduating Cum Laude. Hale continued to play in Boston’s MABL wooden bat league for two more years. Hale resides in Fishers with his wife Megan and their one-year old son Jack.