Jim Gantt has mixed emotions as he heads into his first season as Rowan County’s American Legion baseball coach.
“I’m definitely excited about it, but I’m also pretty nervous, too,” said Gantt, who is also Catawba College’s head man.
There have been only two coaches in the previous 34 years at Rowan, Joe Ferebee and Jim DeHart. Gantt was an assistant under DeHart the past 11 years.
Ferebee won four state championships (1955 with Salisbury, which finished third in the nation, then 1969, 1971 and 1984 with Rowan). DeHart’s 1993 team took the state title, and the 1996 club won the Southeastern Regional and finished fourth nationally.
“There’s no way I’m going to come in and do a better job as far as the success rate and winning,” said Gantt. “Coach Ferebee and Coach DeHart: You can’t argue with the success that this program’s had. It’s the best in the state.”
Rowan went 32-13 last year and finished second in the first state tourney held in Granite Falls.
He might be nervous about following in the footsteps of great coaches, but he’s excited about the challenge.
“It’s also where I work during the year,” he said of Newman Park, where he’s also in charge of the field. “It’s about as close to a minor league program as you can get with the way you’re treated and the Legionnaires and the people that support the program, along with the fans and all the players and families. It’s a great situation. It’s a hobby.It’s not like going to work.”
The 34-year-old Gantt was involved in a controversy during the past season when DeHart dismissed him as assistant coach.
“It was a strange controversy,” said Gantt, without being specific. “If me not coaching here any more maybe got a point across or made somebody think about it, maybe helped somebody, then that’s OK with me. That’s part of coaching, too, getting points across other than just baseball.”
The 34-year-old Gantt, however, makes it clear that he’s indebted to DeHart and that he has a similar coaching philosophy. He played for DeHart at Catawba and coached under him both at Catawba and with Rowan.
“Being with someone that long and playing for them, it (coaching philosophy) would have to be very similar. I owe a lot of baseball knowledge to him. I spent a lot of time with him,” said Gantt.
His philosophy?
“I think the first thing is, they have to want to play, maybe not more than I do, but as much. That’s a lot of hard work. I think I’m pretty demanding. It’s not that it’s a personal thing, or I’m being critical of them or negative about them. I’m just trying to point out things that they need to get better at,” said Gantt.
“We’re going to work hard and we’re going to come out here to play and try to get better. I think the best thing, especially with Legion ball, that I can do as a coach is to prepare these guys for the future. Really, I’m a failure if I don’t attempt to do it.”
He emphasized that how a player acts on and off the field is of vital importance in his program.
“Baseball’s fun. It ought to be that way. It ought to be a family oriented thing. That’s what we’re going to try to do, have the parents involved. The best fans of anywhere in the state are here. They support it,” he continued.
On the field, Gantt considers pitching and defense to be crucial.
“Defensively is where you’ve got to get it done first. If you don’t keep other teams from scoring, you can go crazy in those 13-12 games,” he said.
“I would like to say I’m pitching-oriented. We were second in ERA this year with Catawba. The toughest thing in Newman Park is how short it is. You make good pitches and that thing still goes over the fence,” he added.
Gantt spent a lot of time with hitting instruction while he was DeHart’s assistant and is still strong on fundamentals at the plate.
“I like to see guys score runs, but you can’t wait around for a three-run homer. You need to be able to do some other things offensively. I never could run myself, but I like guys that can steal bases,” he said.
He doesn’t see a lot of difference in college and Legion coaching.
“To a certain extent, it (Legion) is different, because you may be trying to prepare people to go to college. It’s also maybe not as extensive. Guys that are here (Catawba) on scholarship are here to play baseball and get their education. There are some people that go to college simply because of baseball. A lot of administrators don’t want to hear that, but people get degrees, too, because they play a sport,” he explained.
He will have two of Rowan’s former stars, Sandy Moore and Michael Lowman, as his assistants. Moore played under Gantt at Catawba. Lowman is still playing at High Point.
“Both those guys kind of typify what I look for,” he said, adding that they would be valuable additions to the program.
n
Contact Ed Dupree at 704-797-4258 or edupree@salisburypost.com
.
Today's News
