Nanny takes assistant role at NAIA power LSU Shreveport

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

At 24, Daylan Nanny just might be the youngest recruiting coordinator in college baseball.

Nanny, a 2017 graduate of Plainfield (Ind.) High School who hit .313 (197-of-629) in 161 games as lefty-swinging outfielder with National Junior College Athletic Association member Arizona Western College (2018) and NCAA Division I Western Carolina University (2019-21), was put in charge of talent procurement when he became a full-time assistant on the staff of Brad Neffendorf at LSU Shreveport in July.

“My paid title is recruiting coordinator,” says Nanny of his position at the institution on northwest Louisiana. “It’s one of the 392 hats I wear.

“I’m blessed. I really am. They took a chance on a young guy for a big role. The bloodline of your program is recruiting. I’ve been able to take it and run with it and be aggressive.”

Right-handed pitcher and Lawrence North High School graduate Calvin Shepherd (who pitched at the University of Illinois in 2022 and Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill., in 2023) is part of the NAIA’s No. 1 junior college recruiting class according to college baseball influencer Noah Sharp.

LSUS is 167-38 in Brad Neffendorf’s four seasons in Shreveport and went to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2021 and 2022 and earned Red River Athletic Conference regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023. The RRAC has schools from Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico.

The 2023 Pilots finished 47-10 overall and 27-3 in RRAC and were ranked No. 2 in the final poll after finishing one win short of Lewiston as an Opening Round host under the brother of new Indiana University Southeast head coach Brett Neffendorf.

LSUS is ranked No. 5 in the 2024 NAIA preseason poll. One of the toughest schedules in the country awaits the Pilots with 17 of 26 opponents ranked or receiving votes.

Six of the team’s first 10 games are against Top 25 foes including an Opening Day doubleheader  with No. 12 Webber International on Jan. 26.

In early February, the Pilots play preseason No. 23 Rheinhardt (Ga.) and No. 18 Mobile (Ala.).

LSUS will get what they hope is an early look at Harris Field in Lewiston with a four-game series at No. 3 Lewis-Clark State April 12-14.

Pilot Field features a turf infield and an indoor training facility.

“We’ve got a chance to do something special,” says Nanny. “Neff does a good job of making sure we’re all organized.”

The Pilots staff, which also includes two other newcomers in Robert Pickett and Zach Sanders, was to convene today (Dec. 28) after a holiday break and welcome players back Jan. 2. 

Former IU Southeast head coach Ben Reel was among those who has given advice to the young coach.

“I was lucky to have so many people in my corner,” says Nanny.

The American Baseball Coaches Association Convention — which will be Nanny’s second as a member — is Jan. 3-7 in Dallas, about 190 miles west of Shreveport.

“I’m excited to get down there and build relationships,” says Nanny, who has already built wide network in the baseball community. “I turn 25 in February. This is my window. I’m going to dive into this and try to make it a lifelong profession.”

Two Indiana schools and members of the Crossroads League — Taylor University and Indiana Wesleyan University — are preseason No. 9 and No. 14, respectively.

Two players from central Indiana — 2018 Ben Davis High School graduate Zyon Avery (2022 and 2023) and 2017 Indianapolis North Central High School alum Allbry Major (2022) — played at LSUS.

Nanny played against Avery at Ben Davis Little League and against Major during travel ball and then in the Cape Cod League (2019).

Prior to joining the LSUS Pilots, Nanny was a volunteer assistant specializing in recruiting and offensive player development for head coach Marc Rardin in his first season at NCAA D-I Western Kentucky University (2023).

During Nanny’s season in Bowling Green, the Hilltoppers won 33 games — a 15-win improvement from he previous season. WKU also got better in 18 different offensive categories.

Before Western Kentucky, Nanny was recruiting coordinator/hitting coach for Rob Fournier at perennial juco powerhouse Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill. 

Nanny followed Fournier to WKU when the veteran coach became a Hilltoppers assistant. Rardin and Fournier are both the the NJCAA Hall of Fame.

“I’m lucky to now have recruited at three levels,” says Nanny.

For a short time before becoming a college coach, Nanny joined buddies Kalib Clark (a 2016 Plainfield grad who played at Indiana University Kokomo and MidAmerica Nazarene University) and Cooper Trinkle (a 2017 Columbus North High School alum who played the University of Evansville, John A. Logan College, Indiana University and Saint Leo University) to form and briefly run HitClub Player Development Services.

Trinkle is now lead scout for Prep Baseball Report Indiana.

One of Nanny’s other duties at LSUS is guiding hitters.

“Our mentality is to change the score and win pitches,” says Nanny. “We want to play the game pitch-to-pitch.

“Playing the scoreboard and the opponent is almost like a lost art.”

Nanny expects batters to produce no matter than ball-strike count.

“Our goal is to have hitters that are so comfortable within what they’re doing they don’t panic when they get to two strikes,” says Nanny. “You’ve got to take what the other team and the game is giving you.”

To do this, hitters will see many situations in practice so they are at ease in games.

It’s not always a home run or bust.

“Sometimes you hit it the other way and take your single,” says Nanny. “You don’t have to be a hero.”

Daylan Nanny (left) and Brayden Johnson at Western Kentucky University. (WKU Photo)

Daylan Nanny at Western Kentucky University. (WKU Photo)

Daylan Nanny at Western Kentucky University. (WKU Photo)

Leverton going from NJCAA World Series runner-up Wabash Valley to Western Kentucky

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Luke Leverton has pitched a baseball for teams based in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina and is bound for Kentucky — all before his 21st birthday.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder right-hander was born and raised in Richmond, Ind., and attended Seton Catholic Schools from start to graduation in 2021.

In high school, Leverton was a slugger and star pitcher for the Dave Marker-coached Cardinals and selected to part of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches North/South All-Star Series after his senior season.

He made three appearances for the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s Richmond Jazz that summer then headed to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. 

With the Redhawks in 2022, Leverton appeared in 16 games (11 in relief) with a 5.36 earned run average, 35 strikeouts and 19 walks in 45 1/3 innings. He split that summer between the Richmond Jazz and Coastal Plain League‘s Wilmington (N.C.) Sharks.

He transfered to Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill.

In 2023, the righty made 22 mound appearances (19 in relief) and went 4-4 with five saves, a 3.98 ERA, 58 strikeouts and 17 walks in 52 innings.

Leverton, who turns 21 in February, delivers five pitches from a high three-quarter arm slot — four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, change-up, slider and curveball.

His four-seamer has more carry and two-seamer more arm-side run and sink. They both top out at 92 mph and sit at 88-91.

Leverton says his “circle” change has “a lot of depth and a little arm-side run.”

The sweeping slider has more horizontal than vertical break.

The curve is a true 12-to-6.

Whether starting or relieving, Leverton is up for the challenge.

“Whenever it’s time for be to perform I’m just going to do my thing,” says Leverton. “I’ll do whatever the team needs.”

Wabash Valley (57-13) finished second in the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.

“It was amazing,” says Leverton. “It was probably the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field in my entire life. The energy there was nuts. The fans there were awesome. We signed autographs before and after the game. 

“It was a really cool experience with all my friends.”

At WVC, Leverton played for Warriors head coach Aaron Biddle and pitching coach Jared Proctor.

“He’s a great coach,” says Leverton of Biddle. “He knows what he’s doing. He keeps people in-check. He pushes us to do our best day-in and day-out.”

Leverton appreciated that Proctor would answer all his pitching questions while letting him do this own thing.

“If something’s working for you he says if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” says Leverton.

This summer, Leverton has been honing his craft at PRP Baseball in Noblesville, Ind.

Next month he goes to Western Kentucky University to begin his time with the NCAA Division I Hilltoppers.

Marc Rardin was very successful at Iowa Western Community College, winning three NJCAA World Series championships and making 12 World Series appearances in 20 years. He took a WKU team that won 18 games in 2022 to 33 victories in his first season on 2023.

“I really just believe in his coaching,” says Leverton of Rardin. “I felt it was in my best interests to go there to develop as a player and a person.”

Daylan Nanny, who played at Plainfield (Ind.) High School and Western Carolina University, join the WKU coaching staff as a volunteer in 2023.

Leverton plans to major in Sport Management and minor in Kinesiology at WKU.

“Eventually I want to be a pitching coach,” says Leverton. “Sports Management is like getting into the coaching world and seeing how that whole process works. Kinesiology, which is the study of how your body moves, is a really important factor in pitching.

“They kind of go hand-in-hand.”

As a grade schooler, Leverton played youth league T-ball and for Seton Catholic. His first travel team was a Seton team. 

He was then with the Stateline Sluggers, Hitters Hangout, Midland Redskins, Dayton Sluggers, Canes Midwest and the Greg Vogt-coached 18U PRP Mambas.

Curt and Mary Leverton have two sons — Jake (24) and Luke (20).

Curt Leverton is a detective captain for the Richmond Police Department, where he has worked 27 years. 

Mary Leverton is a longtime fifth grade teacher at Seton Catholic.

Jake Leverton played soccer at Seton Catholic, worked at the Indianapolis Zoo and is now a librarian in Indy.

Luke Leverton. (Wabash Valley College Photo)

Luke Leverton. (Wabash Valley College Photo)

Luke Leverton. (Wabash Valley College Photo)

Luke Leverton. (Wabash Valley College Photo)

Luke Leverton. (Wabash Valley College Photo)

After four years at Butler, Bosecker bound for Western Kentucky

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Cory Bosecker spent the past four college baseball seasons at Butler University in Indianapolis.
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound left-handed pitcher, the Evansville, Ind., native took the mound for the Bulldogs 39 times (30 starts) and posted a 5.93 earned run average while amassing 165 strikeouts and 71 walks in 162 1/3 innings.
In 2023, Bosecker made a team-high 14 mound appearances (all starts) with 5.20 earned run average, club-leading 72 K’s and 33 walks in 72 2/3 innings.
He played for two head coaches — Dave Schrage and Blake Beemer — and was also a Sports Media major.
Now — with an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shortened the 2020 season — Bosecker has found a new diamond home.
As a lefty, he drew plenty of interest when he entered the Transfer Portal and has landed at Western Kentucky University and will be with the Hilltoppers for his final year in 2023-24.
“I almost forgot what the recruiting process was the first time around,” says Bosecker, who signed at Butler out of Evansville Central High School where he graduated in 2019. “This has been a little more intense. It’s been fun and stressful week.”
Marc Rardin is WKU’s head coach.
Bosecker, 22, says his best qualities as a pitcher include his experience and his ability to give his team a chance to win each time he takes the mound.
“Sometimes I go out there and don’t have my best stuff, but I battle through that,” says Bosecker. “This year it helped to solidify that by adding a third pitch.”
Throwing from a three-quarter overhand arm slot, Bosecker adopted a slider to go with his four-seam fastball that sits from 90-92 mph and “circle” change-up.
“This year it went through a couple of different stages,” says Bosecker of his slider. “At the beginning of the season it was tighter. Throughout the season I got some more depth on it.”
Bosecker grew up on the north side of Evansville.
He played at Highland Little League until 12U.
Travel ball teams included East Baseball at 13U (coached by Houston Dillman), Golfmoor Baseball at 14U (Mike Fetcher and Andy Cook), Southern Illinois Bullets at 15U (Tyler Choate), Indiana Spikes (Choate) at 16U and Ironmen at 17U (Ryan Wheeler). He took his 18U summer off before heading to Butler.
Bosecker’s high school head coach was Mike Goedde.
“Coach Goedde was one of the favorite coaches I’ve had,” says Bosecker. “He was willing to help anybody and everybody.
“He’s definitely that old school coach. He wasn’t scared to tear into somebody. He was also right there to build you back up. Overall, he was a really positive guy.
“He was always dedicating his time to helping us and helping the program.”
Considering his spring workload and looking for a new college team, Bosecker opted not to play this summer.
He was with the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s North Adams (Mass.) SteepleCats in 2021 and 2022.
Cory is the son of Kevin and Jean Bosecker and older brother of Sydney Bosecker.
His father is a warehouse manager, mother a computer consultant and sister a Butler student majoring in Criminology and minoring in Psychology. The former Evansville Central tennis player just finished her freshman year.

Cory Bosecker. (Butler University Photo)

Cory Bosecker. (Butler University Photo)

Cory Bosecker. (Butler University Photo)

Glant, Dykes Triple-A coaches for New York Yankees

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

A pair of coaches at the beginning of their professional baseball coaching careers with Indiana ties are together in the New York Yankees organization.
Former Ball State University assistant Dustin Glant is the pitching coach and one-time Indiana University assistant Casey Dykes the hitting coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pa.) Railriders of Triple-A East (formerly the International League).
Both were hired by the Yankees in the summer of 2019. After getting their bearings in the system, they went to instructional league that fall and their first big league spring training in 2020.
Glant and Dykes both reside in the Tampa, Fla., area near the organization’s training headquarters during the offseason — Glant with wife Ashley, daughter Evelyn (4) and son David (who turns 2 in December); Dykes with wife Chaney (a former Western Kentucky University basketball player), sons Jett (4) and Kash (2) and daughter Lainey (going on 3 months).
At Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Glant and Dykes serve on a staff that features manager Doug Davis, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, infield coach Caonabo Cosme, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke.
With their busy daily schedules, Glant and Dykes don’t spend much time together during the day. They say hello in the morning and then wind down together after games.
Glant, 39 (he turns 40 July 20), guided pitchers at BSU from 2017-19 for Cardinals head coach Rich Maloney.
As a player, Glant pitched for Generals head coach Dave Fireoved at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wayne High School and Boilermakers head coach Doug Schreiber at Purdue University and had pro stints in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and independent ball.
Glant coached at Marathon (Fla.) and Mount Vernon (Fortville, Ind.) high schools, was a volunteer at Ball State then head coach at Lapel (Ind.) High School and Anderson (Ind.) University before returning to BSU late in 2016 as pitching coach.
Dykes, 31, was the hitting coach at Indiana under head coach Jeff Mercer. Dykes played at Western Kentucky for Hilltoppers head coach Chris Finwood and was a graduate assistant to head coach Matt Myers when Mercer was a WKU volunteer.
A 2008 Franklin (Tenn.) High School graduate, who played for Admirals head coach Brent Alumbaugh, Dykes spent four seasons at Western Kentucky (2009-12) and served two seasons as an assistant, becoming volunteer when Mercer left for Wright State University.
Before Indiana, Dykes was hitting coach and recruiting coordinator on Keydets head coach Jonathan Hadra’s staff at Virginia Military Institute (2015-18).
Glant says his gameday at the pro level is similar to what it was in college.
“I try to get as much one-on-one and small-group time as possible,” says Glant. “If I don’t I feel I miss things.”
The difference is that in college, Glant spent a lot of time in front of a computer reviewing video on how to attack hitters. The process is more streamlined at the pro level.
“It’s more development focused here,” says Glant, who might focus on a pitcher’s need to improve at holding runners or locating his fastball in a certain count. “We want to win, but we work on the big picture (getting players ready for the big leagues).”
Dykes says there more a sense of urgency in pro ball, especially at the Triple-A level where players have more experience.
“You don’t have the background with them (like college players who have been recruited and are usually around for years to build a relationship and go through a fall development season),” says Dykes. “In the pros, you’re playing so many games and you don’t have an offseason with them.
“Things are changing constantly.”
Glant’s gameday starts with preparing for the day and looking at video of the previous night’s game. In the afternoon, he reviews that with pitchers and finds the positives.
Then he oversees staggered bullpen sessions for starters and — just before batting practice — relievers, who might go through a full bullpen or just “touch and feel” to stay sharp.
BP is also the time he sits down with that night’s starter, both catchers and analyst Shea Wingate to map out a attack plan.
Glant says Wingate’s insight is helpful.
“He may find that a pitcher needs to throw more sliders,” says Glant. “We look for places where there are good spots to throw more sliders.”
Once the game starts, Glant is right by Davis to make pitching-related decisions. Dykes watches his hitters and offers suggestions if necessary.
At Triple-A, there are a mix of veteran players with MLB service time and younger ones trying to earn their first big league call-up.
“It’s almost all like assistant coaches,” says Glant of having vets around. “They educate guys in the bullpen. It happens naturally. Guys get together and they start start talking.
“They’re kind of mentors to the young guys. It’s been great.”
Dykes, who starts his gameday with a workout and video study followed by plenty of batting cage time, sees his job as providing the last piece of the puzzle for players trying to return and debut at the big league level.
“I want to help these guys maximize who they are as a player,” says Dykes. “It’s good to work with guys who have experienced it.
“This is what they do for a living. They’re all-in.”
Like the rest of the world, Glant and Dykes learned a different way of doing things thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused cancellation of the 2020 minor league season and separated coaches and players from in-person interaction.
“It went from being the worst thing ever to — honestly — the best thing ever,” says Glant. “We learned how to train our guys remotely via Zoom and video-conferencing. We were good at it.
“We had a lot of people get better without being at the complex during that time.”
Led by director of pitching Sam Briend, manager of pitch development Desi Druschel and Director of Performance John Kremer (an Indianapolis native who pitched of the University of Evansville and in the Yankees system), the organization devised a plan and found a way to develop during COVID.
“It was mind-blowing,” says Glant. “We had pitchers buys in.”
When Glant got a call in the fall of 2020, he went back to training face-to-face with a few 40-man roster players in Tampa and that rolled into 2021 big league camp.
Being away from the clubhouse and the dugout, Dykes missed the relationships.
“It made me appreciate that even more,” says Dykes. “It also taught me that you didn’t have to be hands-on and in-person with a player to help them develop.
“It was a unique challenge, but made me a better coach. It got me after my comfort zone.”
Using technology and video tools became part of Dykes’ coaching world and that will continue.
“The world we knew has completely changed,” says Dykes. “It’s definitely more efficient. There’s no arguing that.”
Dykes expresses thanks to the men who helped him along his baseball, path including Alumbaugh, Finwood, Myers, Hadra and Mercer as well as former Western Kentucky assistant and current DePauw University head coach Blake Allen and current Indiana assistants Justin Parker and Dan Held.
“(Alumbaugh) had a ton of influence,” says Dykes.”He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He saw the potential in me. But he wasn’t going to tell me. He was going to make me work for it.
“He had high expectations for me. He really challenged me during some important times in my life.”
Dykes, who was a catcher that turned into a third baseman, played three summers during college for Alumbaugh for the Texas Collegiate League’s Brazos Valley Bombers (College Station, Texas).
“(Myers, Finwood and Allen) taught me a lot about the work and mentality it takes to be successful,” says Dykes. “They knew that as soon as my playing days were over I wanted to coach.”
Dykes learned from Hadra about the importance of being detailed and fine-tuning the process to be able to communicate the message to players.
“He’s incredible at that,” says Dykes of Hadra. “He was still a fairly young head coach at that time, but you would never know it. He clings to that process.”
With Mercer, Parker and Held at Indiana, Dykes was part of a Hoosiers team that went 37-23 and won the Big Ten title in 2019. IU lost to Texas in the final round of the NCAA Austin Regional.

The 2021 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders field staff (from left): manager Doug Davis, pitching coach Dustin Glant, hitting coach Casey Dykes, outfield/baserunning coach Raul Dominguez, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Larry Adegoke. Caonabo Cosme is the infield coach. (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Photo)