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A conversation with Grant Dowty

Jimmy Lafakis/MDN Minot Expos head coach Grant Dowty throws a pitch at Corbett Field. Dowty pitches for the Minot State baseball team.

Grant Dowty is the head coach of the Minot Expos and a pitcher for the Minot State baseball team. The Minot Daily News spoke with Dowty about coaching the new summer baseball team, his baseball journey and more. Some responses are edited for brevity and clarity.

MDN: How did the Expos come together?

GD: So, (Minot Vistas head coach) Pat Arnston sent a message to me one day. He said, ‘Hey, do you want to coach? We made a third team because we have enough guys this time to make a third team. We’ll make sure that they play and that everyone else plays.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to coach.’ I got one of my pitching buddies from Minot to come in, help me out and be my assistant coach.

MDN: How does it feel to be back out on the diamond with the players?

GD: Oh, it’s amazing. They can at least be experiencing being on the field and playing baseball. It’s an amazing feeling, just to be able to go out there. We can throw. We can help them. We can teach them. We can instill our knowledge into them.

It’s a good feeling when you know that you’re teaching people the stuff that you know that they don’t.

MDN: Throughout the time off, what did you learn from the players?

GD: A lot of them, they go out and throw. They hit. They find stuff to do that’s baseball-related, even when everything is closed. It just shows that guys really want to play. They care about the game. They want to better themselves at the game. That’s good to see.

A lot of times, you see guys when you have breaks who don’t care about it. They just want to go and have fun with their friends.

MDN: What does summer baseball represent to you?

GD: It’s a grind. Summer baseball is an absolute grind. Once you get through it, you’re so blessed that you did it. It’s the memories you make playing summer ball. You don’t have to worry about school. You don’t have to worry about getting a paper that’s due done on time.

You’re with your guys for a lot of the time. You just make a lot of memories that you will cherish for the rest of your life.

MDN: What does it mean for you to pass the game along to the youth?

GD: It’s hard to describe. It’s pretty cool. Growing up, you’ve always been getting your brain hammered with a lot of info from guys that used to play in the pros and your coaches that used to play baseball. You were the one that was learning all the stuff. Now, I’m still playing the game. I’m teaching them a lot of stuff.

Maybe, they’ve never learned it because they’re still in high school. Coming from Arizona, I’ve had a lot of good memories of my coaches that used to play pro ball. They instilled what their pro ball coaches instilled in them. They take it to you. You can pass that on to another generation of kids playing baseball. Coming from another state, they’ve probably never heard some of the stuff that I can share with them.

MDN: In your time here, how have you seen the Minot baseball community members support each other?

GD: We’ve been getting a lot of support. I was not expecting that because there is such a long period of time in Minot where it snows and it’s really cold. You can’t go outside and play. These kids keep going. They’re preparing for the season, no matter what. It just proves that they’ve been working through the winter. They’re dedicated to baseball. They just want to be here and play.

MDN: What was it like to come from Arizona to North Dakota?

GD: It’s a big difference. Pitching in 90-degree weather compared to 30-degree weather is a whole different ballgame. It takes you a lot longer to get warmed up. You have to stretch and make sure that you’re loose before you start to throw, or your arm will start to hurt. Your body will start to ache.

You’ve got to make sure that you stay warm throughout the day, throughout the game and throughout practice. We went to Kansas to play some baseball. I mean, it was 35 degrees. You’ve got to make sure that you stay warm and ready to go. When your name gets called, you have no time to say, ‘Coach, I’ve got to get warm. I’ve got to get ready.’ It’s go time. You’ve got to start throwing. You’ve got to get ready to go into the game. It was a big learning curve.

MDN: Growing up, did any MLB players inspire you?

GD: One guy I used to look up to in ‘The Show’ was Randy Johnson. He’s been my role model since I was a kid. I wanted to be ‘The Big Unit’ when I was growing up. For my 18th birthday, I met Randy Johnson at Chase Field. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’ll never forget.

He told me some personal stuff that you would never expect Randy Johnson to say. You wanted to be Randy Johnson.

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.

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