First-Year Whitnall Baseball Coach Has Falcons Flying High

With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Whitnall varsity baseball team finds itself in the thick of a conference title race.

And leading the way is first-year head coach Ben Krey, whose Falcons were 10-5 overall and 8-3 in the Woodland Conference Black Division, as of Monday, just a half-game behind the front-running Greendale Panthers (13-6, 8-2).

Greenfield Patch caught up with Krey for this week's edition of Names in the News:

Patch: Non-baseball stuff first: How long have you been a teacher? How long have you been with the Whitnall District?

BK: I am entering my fourth year of teaching. I just finished my second year at Whitnall. Before that I taught at Verrado High School in Buckeye, AZ. My wife, Beth, and I were sick of the sunshine and warm weather, so we moved back to Wisconsin. I am 29 years young.

Patch: Now some baseball talk — Tell us your baseball history. What school did you play for? How long have you been coaching? Where have you coached?

BK: I grew up playing baseball with my twin brother, Nate; that was all we did during the summer with all the kids in the neighborhood. We played high school ball for Pius XI under Kevin Kehoss, 2001 state champs! After catching for him, he gave me the opportunity to coach, which really helped me solidify that I wanted to teach and coach.

This is already my ninth season coaching high school baseball (first year as a head coach) and I enjoy every minute of the competitive atmosphere. I've coached at Pius XI, Verrado, and now Whitnall.

Patch: You coached with former Whitnall coach Brian Johnsen, who's now at Greendale, for one year. What did you learn from him that's helped you transition to the head-coaching gig this spring/summer?

BK: When I met Brian, we had a great baseball conversation and he invited me to work with him on the varsity. Brian taught me a lot about running the Whitnall program; it is really hard to narrow that down. He does a great job and I learned a quite a few things from both him and Kevin Kehoss. I enjoy having a great relationship with both of them, so I can ask for their expertise and just talk baseball.

Patch: Coincidentally, your team is right near the top of the Woodland Conference Black Division with Brian's Panthers. Has your team played to its expectations or exceeded them? Who are some of the guys that have been key leaders and contributors so far?

BK: We are right near the top and with some help we hope to get locked into that top spot. We started the season slow against some tough teams and are starting to get on a roll, winning five of six games this past week against some top-notch competition. We beat Eisenhower twice, Brown Deer, Pius and Germantown, but lost to New Berlin West.

Our pitching has been very solid; Josh Serio has been dominant.

I do not believe that we have played our best defensive game yet. Luke Mentkowski plays an excellent shortstop; some of the balls that he comes up with are incredible. Zach Sutton is also our anchor behind the plate; he sets the tone for the defense and gives our pitchers the confidence that they need to throw any pitch in any count. John Caron plays a nice third base for us as well.

Our offense is really starting to mash the ball right now. Sam Mentkowski puts good at-bats on the ball, Ian Ray has come up with many clutch hits for us this season and we are just waiting for everybody to get hot at the same time.

Patch: What are your expectations for the rest of the season? And give me one or two things your team will need to do to stay in the Woodland Conference hunt?

BK: As a team we expect to compete to win on a daily basis and play fundamentally sound baseball. In order for  us to stay in the Woodland hunt we will need to throw strikes, make the routine defensive plays and have some timely hitting. We hope that recipe leads us to daily success.