The third Coy brother to represent Center Grove baseball over the past decade starts, appropriately enough, at third base.
Sophomore Noah Coy, he of the .447 batting average and team-high 27 runs scored, is one of many reasons the Trojans are the state’s No. 1 team in Class 4A.
A roster filled with college commits — including several of the Division I variety — has allowed Center Grove to score a gaudy 12.2 runs per game this season.
Coy, whose brothers Nathaniel and Nick were catchers for the Trojans before graduating in 2015 and 2017, respectively, sprinkles a sizable helping of legacy into what is shaping up to be a memorable springtime of baseball for a team with state championship aspirations.
Keith Hatfield, who’s coached all three siblings, says their differences outnumber the similarities, at least between the lines of a baseball diamond.
“Personality-wise, they’re all similar, but as a player, they’re three extremely different kids,” said Hatfield, who became Center Grove’s coach in 2014 when Nathaniel was to start his junior season.
Nathaniel, he said, was a prototypical catcher. Strong, durable. Nick Coy was initially groomed as a second baseman at Center Grove, switched to left field and eventually moved behind the plate.
Noah, all 5-foot-10, 165 pounds of him, could likely throw on catcher’s gear and be effective — but strike zones aren’t his comfort zone.
“Noah is strictly an infielder,” Hatfield said. “He’s playing third for us now, but he’s really a middle infielder. He’s the only one who hit left-handed. He runs a little bit better than the other two.
“He’s a really athletic kid with a lot of baseball instinct. Just a fun kid to be around who works his tail off.”
Noah is nine years younger than Nathaniel, meaning he spent many a spring day watching Trojan squads of the past.
He wouldn’t trade those days — or these — for anything.
In the fall, he helped Center Grove’s football team capture another 6A crown by finishing the season with eight receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown. Coy made three catches for 35 yards in the championship game, a 27-21 win over Westfield at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Coy also played for the junior varsity in boys basketball.
“I’m probably best at baseball, but I’ve never had a favorite,” Coy said. “It’s just the competitive edge in me. I love playing with all my teammates, and have loved all three sports ever since I was little.”
Nolan Coy, the third of Greg and Jenny Coy’s four sons and a 2019 Center Grove graduate, is the lone non-baseball player of the quartet.
He is, however, a hit in his own right.
“Nolan is the academic of the family,” said Nick, who played baseball at Indiana Wesleyan, primarily as an outfielder, where he hit .303, belted five home runs and drove in 37 during the 2021 season.
“He’s the smartest person I’ve ever met,” Noah added of Nolan.
Being the youngest of four boys makes Noah an easy target for his brothers, yet his siblings are also among his most ardent supporters.
“Baseball is one of those things that’s always been in my blood. Ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, I was swinging off a tee and looking up to my brothers,” Noah said. “Having three awesome role models and getting to compete against them in everything I do in life, it’s one of the best gifts I could ever have.
“But it did suck when they were kicking my butt.”
While doing so, Nathaniel, Nick and Nolan Coy might have been sensing what little brother was capable of long before the rest of us.
“We love on him all the time. Noah knows we know that he’s good,” Nick Coy said, laughing. “But all four of us are hypercompetitive. I think we all think Noah might be the best of us, but we won’t tell him that.
“We coach him up, but he’s the youngest of the four, so we’ve got to give him a hard time when we can.”
