BY STEVE KRAH
From the Summit City to the Valley of the Sun, Nolan Lebamoff enjoyed his baseball playing career.
As a right-handed pitcher he competed at what is now Wallen Complex, took to the travel ball circuit with the Summit City Sluggers at 14 and spent his prep diamond days at Carroll High School — all in Fort Wayne, Ind.
He was a varsity player for Chargers head coach Dave Ginder as a sophomore and junior.
After breaking his arm while on the mound in the summer of 2017 playing for the Todd Armstrong-coached Sluggers, the son of Andy and Deb Lebamoff went to live with uncle Tommy and aunt Alexia Lebamoff, rehabbed with Mark Sheehan (who has trained with Dr. Tom House, founder of the National Pitching Association) and graduated from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill., in 2018. He did not play for the Wildcats.
After a few games with the Todd Farr-coached 18U Summit City Sluggers that summer, Nolan launched into five collegiate springs and four summers.
He hurled at Kankaee (Ill.) Community College for then-Cavaliers head coach Todd Post in 2019 and 2020, Beacons head coach Brian Schmack at Valparaiso (Ind.) University in 2021 and 2022 and Sun Devils head coach Willie Bloomquist at Arizona State University in 2023.
Lebamoff credits words from Post for taking him through his college pitching career: “You don’t have to be great, you just can’t be bad. You just need to be level.”
Says Lebamoff, “You’ve rather be the guy who stays steady and consistent. I learned the mental part of baseball my freshman year and that carried me all the way through.”
Post and assistant Bryce Shafer (who is now head coach at KCC) decided to make Lebamoff their closer and his 11 saves ranked third in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II in 2019.
“I wasn’t throwing very hard, maybe touching 83 (mph),” says Lebamoff. “But I had a really good year.”
Many conversations with Schmack involved making a mark.
“What do you want your legacy to be?,” says Lebamoff. “What do you want to be known for in life?”
The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder made 81 of 82 mound appearances in relief and went 9-3 with 12 saves (including 11 in 2019), a 4.03 earned run average, 127 strikeouts and 64 walks in 116 innings.
Those are the numbers, but they are not what stick out most to Lebamoff.
“I got a lot of friendships, a lot of good experiences, a lot of good memories and incredible stories,” says Lebamoff. “I took a lot of life lessons like how to deal with adversity.”
He is to be in the wedding of former Kankakee teammate Owen Behrens in November.
“That’s what I live for — meeting people, making friends and seeing where they go in life,” says Lebamoff.
Summer stops for Lebamoff included the Northwoods League‘s Ronnie Richardson-managed Wisconsin Woodchucks (Wausau, Wis.) in 2019, College Summer League at Grand Park‘s Joe Thatcher-managed Park Rangers (Westfield, Ind.) in 2020, Prospect League‘s Michael Keeran-managed Lafayette (Ind.) Aviators in 2021 and Northwoods’ Marcus Pointer-managed Duluth (Minn.) Huskies in 2022.
Lebamoff follows the careers of many of his summer teammates and coaches.
“It’s fun to root for them and hope they chase their dreams just as much as I did,” says Lebamoff.
That final season of summer ball with Duluth, Lebamoff made 22 bullpen appearances and went 5-1 with three saves, a 1.38 ERA, 38 strikeouts and 12 walks in 32 2/3 innings.
He finished his year at Arizona State with 25 games, a 3-0 record, 4.50 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 18 walks in 26 innings for a squad that went 32-23 overall and 16-13 in the Pac-12 Conference.
Lebamoff, who turned 24 in April, earned a Political Science degree from Valpo U. and exhausted his playing eligibility at ASU in the spring.
“I wanted to be the best college baseball player I could,” says Lebamoff. “I think I achieved that.
“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do (next). I said I’ll figure it out and something will come my way.”
After the season, Bloomquist asked Lebamoff about his plans and the former pitcher is a graduate assistant coach for Sun Devils baseball while studying at the school in Tempe, Ariz., to be a Master of Organizational Leadership.
This past summer, he combed through the Transfer Portal and watched their Synergy Sports reels while doing research on players.
He also called donors and helped get Name Image Likeness (NIL) deals for ASU players and helping them grow their brand on social media.
“When I was playing NIL money didn’t entice me,” says Lebamoff. “I just wanted to play.”
Shirts with his name and Arizona State number (37) were produced and family members purchased them.
Lebamoff is in charge of 14 ASU student managers, serving as their line of contact with the coaching staff and organizing their schedules and practice duties.
During the season, Lebamoff will help out on the field. Right now, the team is in the individual skills phase of fall practice.
“I enjoy it,” says Lebamoff. “They’re good kids. A lot of them were here last year. I already know a lot of them.
“It’s a lot of fun.”
Lebamoff has become very close with Bloomquist, who played 14 years in the big leagues and became head coach his alma mater in June of 2021.
“I love him,” says Lebamoff. “In a way, he’s like a second father to me. “As soon as I got here I fell in love with the culture he brings. He’s a fun guy to play for. He expects a lot out of you.
“He works his butt off every single day. He loves this program more than anybody else. He takes great pride in it and expects that out of every player and every coach.”
Lebamoff says Bloomquist is always willing to learn.
“He’ll always listen to you,” says Lebamoff. “I’ve never been disrespected by him as a coach, staff member or player.
“He’ll shoot you straight. I have nothing but good things to say about him. He gave me two unbelievable great opportunities. I cannot thank him enough.”
Andy Lebamoff is retired from Cap n’ Cork in Fort Wayne. Deb Lebamoff was a stay-at-home mother since Nolan was young.
Nolan has two older sisters. Olivia (Lebamoff) Miller is married and lives in Park City, Utah. Natalie Lebamoff played soccer at Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger High School and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, earned her Master of Business Administration and Master Sports Administration at Ohio University and now works in corporate partnerships with the Chicago Bulls.
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