By Steve Heath | The Times-Post
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LAPEL — Dustin Glant wasn’t looking to go anywhere.
He was happy as the pitching coach at Ball State University.
He loved it.
But, when the New York Yankees call, you’re going to listen.
The former Lapel High School head coach, who led the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking in Class 2A in 2015, accepted an offer from Major League Baseball’s winningest organization and will head to the Yankees training camp facility in Tampa, Florida, later this month.
Initially, Glant will spend time learning the Yankees’ system with the likelihood of being the pitching coach with one of the Yankees’ minor league affiliates next season.
“This was my third season, and I have learned so much from (Ball State head coach Rich Maloney), and had the system where I wanted it,” Glant said. “It was a tough decision because of how much I love Ball State and the kids. I thought we would have a better staff (next season) and I was excited about it, so it was tough to leave.
“If you get a chance to work for the Yankees, you don’t say no.”
The Yankees were one of a few teams who reached out about Glant’s services. He met with Yankees representatives a couple of times, including a trip to the organization’s facilities in Tampa.
“It’s amazing their vision of pitching and where player development is going,” Glant said. “To learn inside the Yankees organization, with their history and tradition, I was like a kid in a candy store.”
Glant’s Ball State club led the nation in strikeouts in 2019, averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Ball State pitchers fanned 628 hitters in 508.1 innings pitched. He helped hone Greenfield-Central’s Drey Jameson, who was a first-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the June draft.
Another BSU pitcher, John Baker, was selected by the Miami Marlins. In 2018, Cardinal Evan Marquardt was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, and in Glant’s initial season, Colin Brockhouse was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays and Kevin Marnon signed a free agent deal with the Minnesota Twins.
Glant humbly deflects the recognition to his players and coaches Mahoney and Scott French, who recruited some great talent for him to work with.
Jameson, though, credits a lot of his development to working with his pitching coach.
“I don’t know how other pitching coaches are, but I can tell you that no one works as hard as him at his job,” Jameson said. “He was a phenomenal coach. I talk to him about once a week still.
“Without Coach Glant …, he’s the one who kind of helped me figure out my routine. He picks out different stuff with each guy and he remembers it. He knew each one — if they are doing something wrong, he knows what they’re doing. Just countless hours of just putting work into his craft.”
Glant said professional baseball has been looking more to the college ranks in the past few of years for pitcher development, noting Wes Johnson being hired away from the University of Arkansas by the Twins and Derek Johnson, who went from Vanderbilt University to the minor league pitching instructor for the Chicago Cubs and is now the pitching coach with the Reds.
A standout pitcher himself at Purdue, Glant was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. He played six years in Arizona’s farm system and two more in independent leagues before starting his coaching career.
He was the head coach at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville in 2012 before becoming a volunteer coach at Ball State in 2013. Glant got back into head coaching in 2015 at Lapel.
Along with leading the Bulldogs to a No. 1 ranking, Glant’s lone season at Lapel saw the Bulldogs go 23-10, win a sectional and take home a Madison County title, the first one in 50 years.
“Lapel, it’s the best place to work on earth,” Glant said. “I loved it there and love the people there. I had no intentions of leaving.”
But Glant did move on when there was the opportunity to be a head coach in the college ranks. He was hired to lead a stellar NCAA Division III Anderson University program in 2016 before taking his most recent post at Ball State prior to the 2017 season.
As Jameson mentioned, his coach works hard. Glant said a lot of his growth as a coach has come in the past five years. He spends a lot of time going through books, computer and networking with coaches to become better at his trade, taking that knowledge onto the field and sharing it with his players.
“I work hard and I want my guys to get as far in this game as they want to go,” he said.
He also gives a lot of praise to his soon-to-be former boss, Mahoney.
“I benefited working for a winner and a winning coach and the culture and foundation he has,” Glant said.
The coach has made a few stops along the way and he still follows and roots for those teams from afar. The next stop is Tampa, Florida, and the New York Yankees organization.
“You always hear about players getting drafted,” Jameson said. “You don’t really hear much about pitching coaches who take jobs at the beginning, because they go to affiliates like the Hillsboro Hops. They have to work their way up like we do. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see him make it to the big leagues as a pitching coach.”
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Former Pendleton Heights standout Chayce McDermott was one of the pitcher’s on the Ball State staff under the tutelage of former Lapel coach Dustin Glant.
McDermott, a red-shirt freshman in 2019, had his season cut short by injury.
“I think he was on pace to be the Freshman Pitcher Of The Year in (the Mid-American Conference),” Glant said. “He had some arm issues. It’s all been checked out and he has been cleared and started his throwing program. He’s a tough kid from a tough family.
“He shut out (MAC Champion) Central Michigan with a dominating performance. I’m extremely excited about him. If he can stay healthy he will have a big impact for of Ball State.”
McDermott was named the MAC Pitcher of The Week (April 7) after his performance against the Chippewas.
For the season, he finished 4-1 with a 3.64 earned run average. McDermott fanned 54 in 42 innings of work and opponents hit just .228 against him.
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