Jim Gantt '89, head coach of the Catawba Baseball team and longtime local American Legion coach, has been named as the Grand Marshal for the "Faith 4th of July Celebration" parade.
Gantt has coached the Catawba College baseball program since 1996. In 2012, Gantt was named the ABCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year and the N.C. Amateur Coach of the Year. Catawba has posted 16 straight 30+ win seasons under Gantt, including seven 40-win seasons since 2004. He has a career record of 683-346.
Gantt has garnered many honors throughout the years, named as South Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year for the seventh time in 2014 and repeating as Coach of the Year in 2013. He was also named the league Coach of the Year in 2011 and SAC Coach of the Year in 2008, 2006, 2004, and 1999.
He currently serves as the coach of Rowan County's successful American Legion team, guiding the team to the World Series for the second time in 2009. Gantt was inducted into the North Carolina American Legion Hall of Fame in 2015 and named the North Carolina Amateur Coach of the Year in 2002.
Gantt graduated from Catawba in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and had an outstanding four-year career as a player for the baseball team. As a third baseman, he was an all-conference performer and helped take Catawba to the 1988 Carolinas Conference championship and to the NAIA District 26 Tournament. He was an all-conference player at Newton-Conover (NC) High School before graduating in 1984.
Congratulations, Coach Gantt!
