LIMA —-The Lima Locos did not have to go far to find their new head coach.
Brian Garman, who pitched for the Locos in 2008 and 2009 and spent the last three years as the Lima pitching coach, was tabbed by the team’s executive board to replace Chad Ehrnsberger who was let go Thursday.
“Being with the Lima Locos is a huge privilege and opportunity for me so I certainly wasn’t going to shy away from that opportunity, so when the board presented it to me I gladly and willingly took it.”
Garman said the board summoned to meet with him Sunday and the Wapakoneta native thought they were going to ask him, as the pitching coach, to offer up some candidates for the managerial job. Instead it became an interview for the position and Garman did not hesitate to jump at the chance to become the new skipper.
“I didn’t expect to be the manager,” Garman said. “It was something they kind of sprung on me. I’m obviously thrilled with the opportunity.”
Being Ehrnsberger’s pitching coach and now assuming his managerial duties was something Garman knows is a somewhat awkward but at the same time he said he had to do what he thought was best for him.
“I’ve had to several questions about that and truthfully the only I can say is it was the board’s decision and I nothing to do it with it one way or the other and I really had no inclination I was going to be offered the position until I was asked to meet with the board.”
Garman, who was named the pitching coach for the University of Northwestern Ohio for the upcoming season, has never been a manager but said he will approach the position much the same way he approached his chores as the pitching coach.
“Coaching is all about preparation,” Garman said. “My role as pitching coach for the Locos the last three years has been a huge undertaking from a time commitment and I was there every day. I don’t want to say I was ruthless but I made sure the pitchers were there before the position players. I took a lot of pride of having the pitchers there first so we could get our job done and work in so when the position players showed up so when they showed up the pitching staff could do there job as the supporting cast such as batting practice.”
Garman added that he will be assembling a coaching staff around him that has a lot of experience and faith to assist him in the transition.
Under Garman, the Locos pitching staff thrived. In the three years under his tutelage Lima pitching has been the leaders in least amount of earned runs and wins.
Expectations have always been high for the Locos to succeed and Ehrnsberger elevated that bar even more in the last three years which included a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate league title in 2015 and a return trip to the championship series last year.
“It’s all about preparation,” Garman said. “I am going to spend a lot of time doing that and working with a staff who we are going to put together and obviously a lot of cooperation with the board. Is there a pressure or expectation to win. Certainly there is an expectation to win. The Locos are tremendous when it comes to bringing a winning product to the field year in and year out. I took the position knowing the expectation is to win.”
A 2006 graduate of Wapakoneta High School, Garman went on to pitch for the University of Cincinnati where he was a four-year letter winner. He was named to the third-team All-Big East Conference team and was selected in the 17th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft by the Brewers.
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