Submitted by Denair Unified School District
One of Denair High School’s best baseball players in the past decade will return this spring to take over as varsity coach.
Shawn Stuart was a standout pitcher, infielder and outfielder for the Coyotes who graduated in 2007. He went on to star as a pitcher at Merced College and Long Beach State University before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 31st round in 2012. He spent two years in that organization’s minor-league system before deciding to leave pro baseball to pursue a teaching career.
“Teaching was always part of the plan. I knew I wanted to become a teacher. Obviously, I hoped it would be after a long pro career,” said Stuart, whose time in the minors was cut short by an arm injury.
He has one semester left in an online program offered by Fresno State to earn his teaching credential. He aspires to teach at multiple grade levels during his career, with a long-term goal of ending up on a college staff.
In Denair, he replaces Darrin Allen, the school’s athletic director and fill-in baseball coach last season when the Coyotes were 3-13.
Stuart plans to lean on his own network of former coaches and teammates for coaching advice as well as his own pro baseball experience. He helped during the pro offseason at Merced College and has coached youth baseball and basketball teams, but never a high school club.
“Practice begins in February. … We’re going to do the little things right. We might not have the most talent or big-name players from cities, but we’re going to do all the fundamentals,” he promised.
A right shoulder injury suffered in Stuart’s first year at Long Beach never quite healed, reducing his college fastball from the low 90s to the mid-80s by his final season in the Rockies’ system. Surrounded in the minors by younger players drafted much higher (and paid much more), he accepted his status as middle reliever and mentor to the kids. Continue reading “Former Coyote Shawn Stuart Hired as DHS Baseball Coach” »
