By Pete Cava
PBR Indiana Correspondent

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WESTFIELD, IND. – On March 20, the first day of spring, Kentucky Wesleyan College took the field against University of Missouri-St. Louis in the Midwest Region Crossover Baseball Showcase at Grand Park.  

The tourney was a homecoming for KWC senior Johnny Eberhardt, a former Pike High School standout from the Indianapolis Westside.  

The right-handed hitting outfielder led the Panthers last year with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in.  During one four-game stretch, he clubbed five homers – three in a single contest – scored a dozen runs and knocked in 11 more.  

Along the way, the 5-9, 184-pound Eberhardt earned enough accolades to fill the back of a bubblegum card:  second-team American Baseball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region;  Daktronics All-Midwest Region second team;  All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference first team;  three-time G-MAC player-of-the-week honors.  

But on this cool, breezy Palm Sunday, all he could do was watch as his Kentucky Wesleyan teammates dropped a 13-5 decision to UMSL.  With Eberhardt looking on from the stands in civilian clothes, the Panthers went 0-3 in the tournament. 

Eberhardt, who turns 22 on April 4, is out for the season with an injured right wrist.  But he’s overcome far greater obstacles. 

“It was around January 12, January 13,” said Eberhardt.  “I was swinging a baseball bat in practice.  It was a funky swing, and I kind of heard a pop.  I couldn’t hold a bat any more after that.”   

Eberhardt is scheduled for an operation the week of March 21.  “Dr. Arthur Rettig [team physician for the Indianapolis Colts] is going to perform the surgery,” said Johnny.  “It’s going to be here [in Indianapolis] next week.  They say the timetable for recovery is about four to six months.” 

That puts Eberhardt’s season on ice.  “It’s a real Debbie Downer,” he said.  “I especially wanted to play in front of my parents (Charles and Darlene, who were on hand for the game), and not only carry my team through my senior year.  This injury’s not allowing me to do that.”     

“It’s a major loss for us,” said KWC senior right-hander Andrew Moralez, a Bishop Chatard High School alum from Carmel, Ind.  Moralez and Eberhart played together in high school as members of the Indiana Pony Express travel club.  They teamed up again at KWC in 2013.  Last year, they helped the El Dorado (Kan.) Broncos to a first-place place in the summer collegiate Jayhawk League’s North Division. 

“He was a really big bat in (the KWC) lineup,” Moralez continued.  “He’s a pre-season All-American and an All-Region player last year.  He swung it really well, produced a lot of runs.” 

Eberhardt graduates this year, but still has one more season of college eligibility.  “My degree’s going to be in business administration, but I’m going to have an emphasis in marketing,” he said.  “And I’m hopefully going to go to grad school after that, and try to continue to play.” 

If Eberhardt suits up in 2017 it won’t be in a Kentucky Wesleyan uniform, since KWC has no graduate school.   

It won’t be the first time Johnny Eberhardt has faced adversity.  At an early age, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. “I was in pre-school when I found out I had it,” he said.  

Eberhardt’s family physician encouraged an athletic lifestyle.  “Insulin and exercise keep the blood sugar down,” Johnny explained.  “Doctors told me that if you play sports, you need to check your blood sugar often and monitor your exercise and activity.”  

Eberhardt also played basketball and football as a youngster.  “I was all right,” he said, “but baseball is what I really enjoy.”  

At age nine Eberhardt joined the prestigious Pony Express baseball squad, under the vigilant eye of coach Jon Richardson.  “There were times when Johnny would be in the field,” said Richardson, “and he’d have a glazed look and get kind of sluggish.”   

Whenever that happened, Richardson would scan the stands for Johnny’s mother, Darlene.  “We had a signal that said, ‘Hey, we need to get Johnny’s blood sugar tested,’” Richardson explained.  “I’d pull Johnny out of the game, and his mom would take his blood sugar levels.  Then we’d do what needed to be done accordingly – give him insulin, or give him candy to get his levels up.” 

At Pike High School, Eberhardt tried out for the baseball team and cracked the starting lineup as a junior in 2011.  The Red Devils won just three games that season, as Johnny shuttled between third base, second, pitcher and catcher. 

In 2012, Eberhardt’s senior year, Pike’s victory total improved to 12 games.  Johnny won team MVP honors, batting .402 with four home runs and 26 RBI.  He was named to All-Marion County and All-Conference Indiana teams. 

By then, Eberhardt had accepted a baseball scholarship from Kentucky Wesleyan.  “Johnny was one of our highly recruited players,” said Jon Richardson.  “As I talked to different teams, I wanted to make sure they were aware he’s a type 1 diabetic, so they would understand the whole thing.” 

Appearing in a dozen games as a freshman in 2013, Eberhardt batted .269.  As a sophomore in 2014 he was named to the All-Midwest Region second team.  

Next came that impressive junior season in 2015, when Eberhardt started all 50 games in left field.  He batted .363 with a .658 slugging percentage, hitting safely in eight consecutive games and reached base in 15 straight contests.  “It felt good,” he said, “because every ball you hit, if you hit it well, you kind of knew it’s gonna go somewhere.” 

Scouts showed interest.  There was speculation Eberhardt might go in the June draft – in 2016, if not sooner.  “A lot of them said, ‘We’re gonna follow you next season, and see how things go from there,’” he said.  

Eberhardt went undrafted last year, there’s no chance he’ll be selected this season.  That’s no problem for Johnny, who claims his studies have top priority, not baseball.  “My parents always told me, grades come first,” he said. 

“It’ll be interesting to see if he has the opportunity to play professionally,” said Jon Richardson, who now lives in Florida but returned to Indiana for the tournament.  “But even if he doesn’t, I think his future’s pretty bright.”

Pete Cava is the author of Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players:  A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014, now available from McFarland Publishers.