Beals’ Staff Well-Versed in the Buckeye Brotherhood
11/20/2019 8:29:58 AM | Baseball
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coming off his second Big Ten Tournament victory and third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four seasons, Ohio State baseball head coach Greg Beals is now looking for his program to take the next step in his 10th season at the helm of the Buckeyes. The 2019 Buckeyes finished the season with a 36-27 record, winning a pair of games on the final day of the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha to advance to the program’s 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance and a spot in the Nashville Regional.
“There’s no satisfaction with what we did last year,” Beals said. “We learned a lot last year but the biggest thing was that every single day matters, every game matters and we need to come out and take care of business every day. We’re good, but there’s a lot that we can do better, and we’ve got to keep getting better on a daily basis. Our guys feel that, I feel that, and from the top on down that feeling needs to go through the locker room.”
Part of that process of getting better on a daily basis will fall on the shoulders of Beals’ coaching staff, which has three staff members either new to the staff or in new positions heading into 2020. Dan DeLucia, who has served as volunteer assistant coach the last six seasons, was elevated to pitching coach. The Buckeyes’ 2019 quality control coordinator, Kirby Pellant, was named volunteer assistant coach. And recently, Beals added Brad Goldberg as the Buckeyes’ director of pitching development. The trio, along with second-year assistant coach Matt Angle and eighth-year director of operations Blair Everhart, are all graduates of The Ohio State University.
“The makeup of the staff benefits us on so many levels,” Beals said. “The fact that they’re all Buckeyes, they all played professionally and they all have a passion for the game of baseball and for this University and the baseball program. All four of them bring experience and knowledge to expand our thought process and challenge how we do things. They question the status quo to make sure we’re training our guys at an elite level. We’re always self-evaluating and each of them certainly brings something to the table.”
Seeing Angle and DeLucia prepare for their professional seasons during the first years of his tenure at Ohio State made Beals quickly realize what the two could bring to a program once their playing days were done.
“When I first got the job here, Matt and Dan were still playing professionally,” Beals said. “I was able to see them train in the offseason as they were preparing to start their pro seasons. The way they trained really caught my eye and I shortly thereafter that I wanted those guys to be a part of our program someday. I wanted them to help future Buckeyes and take their same mentality to this next group coming through the program.”
Angle, a 2007 MLB Draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles who played nine professional seasons with four big-league teams, and DeLucia, the only three-time team captain in program history and a 2008 selection by the Toronto Blue Jays, could see during their three years as student-athletes together in Columbus what could one day make them successful coaches.
“The fact that Dan was a three-time captain tells you a lot about his personality and how his teammates viewed him,” Angle said. “He double-majored, was involved in community service and was consistently driven to compete and win on the field. Dan took so many of his younger teammates under his wing, pushed them to understand expectations at a young age and then carried out those same expectations on a daily basis. It wasn’t just talk. It was something he lived out on a daily basis and he continues to do that now.”
DeLucia looks back on Angle’s passion for the program, the game and the University as a driving factor toward his success as both a player and a coach.
“Matt always has had a great passion, work ethic and intuitiveness,” DeLucia said. “Those traits are what brought him to the highest level of our game and are what also will continue to drive him to continue to be a great coach as well.”
Pellant and Goldberg both were brought in by Beals during his first few years with the program. Pellant, a first team All-Big Ten pick in a 2013 and Goldberg, a third team All-Big Ten selection the same season, went on to have their names called in the 2013 MLB Draft. Pellant went on to play in the Los Angeles Angels’ system before coming back to receive his degree in 2015 while Goldberg spent six seasons in pro ball, earning a call up to the big leagues in 2017 with the Chicago White Sox.
Everhart, who has been part of the program since Beals took over prior to the 2010 season, knew both Pellant and Goldberg would go on to be successful in whatever they did on the diamond.
“Both Brad and Kirby were just fun guys to talk baseball with when they were players and not everybody is that way,” Everhart said. “Goldy had two years where he was unable to play and I think that time made him see the game in a different light and is helping him in his current role. Both of them are baseball junkies and competitors. They were talented players but also very strong-willed and that’s benefitting them now.”
Pellant looks back on Goldberg’s presence and passion as qualities that instantly earned the respect of his teammates as a player and will do so again on the Buckeyes’ staff.
“Brad was mature for his age and had a passion for the game of baseball and this University,” Pellant said. “He pushed his teammates with his abilities on the mound and presence on the team. From that time, you had a sense that he might get into coaching and he’s fitting in really well with our staff and our team.”
Goldberg was here when Pellant arrived prior to the 2012 season after a year at Marshall University and another at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in his hometown of Chandler, Ariz., and knew he wanted to be a Buckeye for life.
“I think Kirby fell in love with this place from the second he got here and it’s the reason he’s back now,” Goldberg added. “He loves baseball and he loves Ohio State. Obviously, his play on the field defensively and as a leadoff hitter were exemplary but his love for the program and the game are a really good mix.”
And then there’s Everhart, who was a team manager with the Buckeyes for four seasons, earned his degree in political science in 2012 and now is in his eighth season as director of operations, coordinating video, team travel and camp organization.
“I was fortunate enough to have Blair as a student manager and when he graduated, I knew I wanted to keep him in our program,” Beals said. “We created the director of operations role for him and were one of the first schools in the conference to have that role. Blair earned that in his time as a student and he continues to do so much for this program on a daily basis.”
Angle, a Columbus native, has a unique perspective on the program and sees what the staff can do for the Buckeyes in 2020 and beyond.
“We have an understanding of the expectation of the program, administration and alumni base,” Angle said. “Ohio State’s a really special place. We understand the overall power of Ohio State and what it can do for you as a student in the classroom, in internship roles and career placement and then obviously what it can do for you athletically.”
Ohio State will look to build on those expectations when the 137th season of Buckeye baseball opens Feb. 14 in Port Charlotte, Fla.
