Kouts’ Landon Garrett decided he wants a future in baseball beyond high school.
That prompted Garrett to make changes in the present.
“With the recruitment process coming up, I knew my junior year was going to be a big year for me, and I just needed to take the next step, to put more into the game and into myself if I wanted to be an elite player at the next level,” he said.
That dedication is paying dividends for Garrett, a junior pitcher/utility player who has a 1.09 ERA and is hitting .466 with eight doubles, a team-high 26 RBIs and 24 runs scored for Porter County Conference co-leader Kouts (15-3, 6-1).
Mustangs coach Jason Dorshorst also said the addition of underclassmen like freshman infielder Billy Miller has allowed Garrett to move out of the leadoff spot. Garrett, who batted .295 with 10 RBIs and 28 runs scored last season, and Miller are tied for the team lead in doubles.
“We’ve put him back in the three spot, which is a more natural fit for him,” Dorshorst said of Garrett. “He’s not focused on seeing pitches. He’s focused on punishing the ball.”
But opposing hitters aren’t punishing Garrett, who has strengthened his repertoire on the mound, according to Kouts junior catcher Cooper Whitaker.
“He took a lot of time in the offseason to improve his off-speed pitches, and they’ve worked a lot better this year,” Whitaker said. “I haven’t looked at the numbers, but it definitely feels like he’s getting more strikeouts this year.”
Whitaker’s hunch was correct. Garrett is averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning — he has 37 in 19 1/3 innings — after posting 44 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings last season. Garrett said he couldn’t take sole credit for that, however.
“That goes back to coach Dorshorst and the rest of the staff,” he said. “They really worked me hard in the offseason on throwing first-pitch strikes and just attacking hitters.”
That wasn’t Garrett’s only offseason project. Soon after his sophomore season ended, he had conversations with his coaches and his family that led him to the conclusion that he needed to devote more time to baseball off the field to improve his performance on it.
Garrett began working with a personal trainer to add home workouts to the strength training he was already doing with the baseball team and to keep building muscle during basketball season, when he helped Kouts reach a Class 1A semistate final. Garrett said he added 10-15 pounds and noticed the difference during batting practice earlier this year.
“I thought the ball was jumping off of my bat more and the bat felt lighter in my hand,” he said.
Garrett, who also joked that his clothes suddenly felt tighter, wasn’t the only one who noticed the changes.
“He looks like a full-blown adult now,” Dorshorst said. “We’ve lifted a ton as a team in the offseason, but a lot of that work was on his own because he was in the middle of basketball season. He took it upon himself.”
Dorshorst said Garrett also took it upon himself to be a leader this season.
“His stats are really good, but he’s also a calming influence for us,” Dorshorst said. “He’s a big-time leader for us, along with our junior class, and the young guys look to him for that leadership.”
Garrett said that could be the most significant impact he makes for the Mustangs, who haven’t won a sectional title since 2011. He learned that during the boys basketball team’s postseason run.
“We had our leaders, but everyone bought into the idea that we were going to do anything we needed to do to win,” he said. “Having those clutch hits and strikeouts are one thing, but it’s also about being a role model for all of those younger guys out there, even when they’re struggling.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
