By RICHIE HALL
When Terry Coomer entered Noblesville High School back in 1969, the Millers baseball team had never won a sectional championship.
By the time Coomer graduated, Noblesville had won four sectional titles and Coomer was on his way into the Major League Baseball draft. The Millers were on the baseball map, thanks to Coomer and his teammates.
Coomer will be honored for his achievements this winter as one of the 2020 inductees to the Noblesville High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Coomer shared his achievements with the Reporter and spoke about many of the memorable games and experiences he had playing for the Millers.
Just by stepping on to the field for Noblesville as a freshman, Coomer made history. He was the first baseball in NHS history to play varsity as a ninth-grader. Coomer proved right away that he belonged, as he hit .400 for the season. During the sectional, he tied a record by getting three hits in one game.
“Dunker took a lot of heat for that,” said Coomer. “But after I got three hits, everybody shut up.”
An accomplishment like that would be enough to get noticed in the high school baseball world. But that attention was amplified when Don Dunker, Noblesville’s baseball coach at that time, invited Coomer to attend a Kansas City Royals tryout camp at NHS while he was still a 15-year-old freshman.
“Most of these guys in this camp were 18, 19, 20 years old,” said Coomer. He was understandably scared at the notion of pitching against such experienced players, but he got through the fear – and struck out six straight hitters, three of whom were college All-Americans. “How old did you say he was?” yelled a player from the outfield.
“A couple of those guys I struck out were 22 years old,” said Coomer. “So that was what started it.”
Coomer was named the outstanding player of the camp. Don Jellison, then the sports editor of the Noblesville Ledger, wrote about Coomer’s accomplishments at the camp. Jellison was already well aware of Coomer’s talents, as he picked him to be on his 13-15 year old American Legion team. Jellison and Dunker became mentors and good friends to Coomer.
“I was really surprised,” said Coomer. “I got a letter from the Ledger, saying you’ve been picked for this team. I didn’t have really any interaction with him prior to that letter. He must have saw something.”
Coomer went on to have a great high school baseball career. He made history as a sophomore by pitching a perfect game – the first in Noblesville history – in the 1971 sectional championship game. The Millers played Tipton, but no Blue Devil got on base, as Coomer struck out 19 of 21 hitters and issued no walks.
The starting catcher in that game was Tom Knotts, who went on to play at the University of Illinois and would return to Noblesville, becoming a longtime and successful wrestling coach for the Millers. During the first half of the game, Knotts was hit in the head at the plate and had to leave the game.
Freshman Alan Dunlap came in, and was understandably petrified. At one point, Coomer went 3-0 on a hitter. Dunlap called time and ran out to the mound.
“What do you want to throw,” asked Dunlap.
“We’re going to just throw a fastball here,” said Coomer. He wound up striking out the hitter.
“That pretty much was the defining moment,” said Coomer. “I believe that was about the fourth or fifth inning. That was the closest I came to walking anybody. The same hitter actually hit the ball twice.” Those were the only two balls put in play, but they were picked up for outs.
“The game was surreal to me,” said Coomer. “It was in the groove. You’re in the zone. Pure focus. And that was what started Allen on his baseball career. He called a good game and he caught a good game. Don wrote about him the next day in the Ledger. That was really a tough thing for him to do coming in for Knotts, who was a senior. And we won the game 6-0. The Tipton coach walked out and shook my hand and said, that was a great game. He said ‘We’ll see you again.’”
Noblesville did see Tipton again in the 1972 sectional, where Coomer threw a no-hitter against the Blue Devils. Coomer compiled a 6-1 record during that season. That record swelled to 19-1 after summer baseball, where Coomer pitched Noblesville to the Advanced Babe Ruth State Championship.
As he moved into his senior year, Coomer was being scouted heavily by the professional teams. In the first game of the 1973 season, the Millers opened their season against Cardinal Ritter with Gene Thompson, the San Francisco Giants head scout, in attendance. Coomer tallied 16 strikeouts and allowed only hit during the game, which Noblesville won 4-0. That prompted the Giants to draft him.
In Coomer’s final sectional game as a senior, the Millers played Carmel for the championship. The Greyhounds were responsible for Coomer’s only loss of his junior year.
“Tubby McDonald was the coach at Carmel, and his goal was to beat us,” said Coomer.
Jellison wrote an article in the Ledger imploring people to come out and support the team, noting that Coomer would likely be drafted the next day.
“Terry Coomer is a product of Noblesville Baseball and has come up through our program, Little League, Babe Ruth, American Legion and Noblesville High School,” Jellison wrote. “He is an outstanding player. We want to support him tomorrow.”
The Noblesville community showed up, with 2,000 people attending the game. Coomer rose to the occasion, even though he was nervous and coming back from a broken hand that kept him out of the lineup for eight weeks.
Coomer’s first pitch was 95 mph, which was measured by a radar gun. One person who saw that number was Coomer’s girlfriend Kim – now his wife of many years – and she happily yelled the number out loud.
“I knocked a kid down three times,” said Coomer. “I was overthrowing.”
First baseman Mark Hood walked over to Coomer and asked “How’s it going?”
Coomer said, “if I was going to get beat, I was going to throw as hard as I could.”
“Take a little bit off,” said Hood. “If they do hit you, that’s why we’re out here.”
The Millers won the game 4-1, clinching their fourth consecutive sectional title. After his chat with Hood, Coomer struck out 14 hitters and didn’t give up any earned runs.
As for McDonald? At the end of the game, Coomer ran over and tossed the ball to him. “Game ball,” he said.
Noblesville went on to play in the regional at Anderson, and won its morning game over Kokomo Haworth 2-1. Coomer gave up only three hits in that game.
After the sectional final, it was made official: Coomer was drafted by the Giants, as the 78th player in that year’s MLB draft.
“I worked at Sears while I was in high school, worked on Saturdays if I wasn’t playing ball,” said Coomer. “The manager was John Randall, and John was a great guy. The day of the draft, I was supposed to work. I came to work that morning of the draft, and John said, you go home. I want you to call me when you get the call. The next day, he took me out to lunch. Just told me that he was really proud of me.”
Coomer signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Ball State University, but ultimately decided to join the Giants system. He went through spring training in Arizona, and remembers traveling all around the western part of the United States, from Casa Grande to Great Falls, Montana.
“It was low-level minor league baseball,” said Coomer, thinking back to the 14-hour bus trips. “Buses breaking down and no sleep.” He also quickly became aware of the talent level of pro baseball.
“This is a huge adjustment, these are some of the best baseball players in the world,” said Coomer. “You may be the best baseball player in your community, or your college, but the other guys are the same thing. All of a sudden, the level of player that you’re pitching against is your level. So you’re facing a lot bigger talent.”
Coomer enjoyed his brief time playing in the minor leagues. But soon, his priorities changed – “I came to know the Lord as my Savior,” he said. “I decided I was not going to play anymore, and a year later I was at Bible college.”
Coomer said he knew “the Lord had something different for me,” so at the age of 20, he went to Tennessee Temple Bible College in Chattanooga.
“I’m very happy with the decision I made,” said Coomer. He worked for a time in the newspaper industry, then went back to school and received a Doctor of Theology degree from Southern Indiana Baptist College and Seminary. Coomer has pastored at five churches in Ohio, Indiana and Arkansas, and currently serves as the pastor of Hope Baptist Church in North Little Rock. Coomer and his wife will mark 10 years at North Little Rock in February, and recently purchased and paid for a building for the church.
“We also have a worldwide ministry out of the church called Hope Biblical Counseling Center,” said Coomer. “I’ve greatly enjoyed it and I’ve written 15 books and booklets that are used in the counseling center and around the world to help others.”
Coomer said, “All the different things you do in life play a part in what you’re culminating in.” He said his work in the newspaper industry was invaluable, as getting to write for the newspaper helped him to articulate the things he wanted to say to help people. What Coomer learned is being used in his ministry, which has taken him and his wife to many different countries, including Israel, Singapore, Canada and Ireland.
“I’ve been in the ministry for 42 years,” said Coomer. “For me it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. I’ve enjoyed it and been able to help a lot of people.”
Terry Coomer provided many memorable moments for the Noblesville baseball team, including this one when he pitched a perfect game in the sectional championship over Tipton. Coomer played varsity all four years for the Millers, helping them win the sectional each year, and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants after high school. (Photo provided)