Dillard University’s baseball team makes history
20th February 2023 · 0 Comments
By Romalice Brown
Contributing Writer
Jaylen Ayers.
Ty McCollough.
Dallas Christian.
Three answers to three trivia questions when talking Dillard University Baseball.
Jaylen Ayers collected the first base hit in Dillard baseball history—a second inning single against Louisiana Christian.
Ty McCollough scored the first run for the Blue Devils on a wild pitch in the team’s first game vs. Louisiana Christian.
Dallas Christian was vanquished by Dillard for the program’s first win, a 6-5 decision coming on February 4, 2023.
Believe it or not, for the first time in the sterling athletic history of Dillard University, the school has a baseball team.
The man charged with building the baseball program from scratch is Trennis Grant—young but experienced with seven years as an assistant at three Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) institutions, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alabama A&M and Southern.
“I’ll never get this opportunity again. How many people can say they started a program from scratch and if it’s successful, like we know it will be. It will be tremendous on our outlook and its effect on the City of New Orleans. We are excited, looking forward to it and it’s going to be fun,” said Grant.
Kiki Baker-Barnes, now commissioner of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) which includes Dillard as a member, was athletics director on Gentilly Blvd and tabbed Grant as the man for the job. She says after looking at all of the candidates, Grant was the clear-cut choice.
“He clearly understands what it means to build a program. He’s young and experienced and he has energy. It’s hard to build a program but he understands the key pieces like recruiting and having the right people on the staff. Coach Grant showed up with a plan that was impressive.”
The first order of business in a brand-new situation is recruiting. You can’t have a team without players and it’s not easy selling a program lacking the basic essentials and no history. After signing his first recruit, Ty McCollough, Trennis Grant says the flood gates opened and in a matter of months the roster is now 38-members strong.
“I sold them on me. I sold them on the opportunity to play for a coach who has been at three different Division I institutions, been to multiple playoffs, who has recently been part of a program (Southern) that won a SWAC title. I sold them on Dillard academics because we all know Dillard is a prestigious institution.”
Dillard can claim a degree of baseball history. Straight University and New Orleans University merged to form Dillard University in 1930. “Gentleman” Dave Malarcher, an infielder and the right-hand man of Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League in 1920, was a student at New Orleans University when he was picked up by the Indianapolis ABC’s in 1916.
A 2018 inductee into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches, Louisiana, he was one of the most successful managers in Negro League history, winning two Negro League World Series and three pennants.
Perhaps the highlight of the young season thus far was not the initial win, but win number-three. An exciting, come-from-behind affair on a chilly night at Wesley Barrow Stadium in Pontchartrain Park. An enthusiastic and boisterous crowd saw the Bleu Devils tally five-runs in the top of the ninth inning for an 11-7 victory over crosstown rival Xavier.
“It was big time it was enjoyable! This is what you want it to be and it was absolutely fun to be a part of it,” Grant exclaimed. “It sucks that we have to wait until next year to get this again. Now we will cheer for them because they are from New Orleans. We want them to win their conference and we want to win ours and meet them in a regional.”
The two-day, three-game series was won by Xavier after the Gold Rush swept a doubleheader from the Bleu Devils. Coach Grant was impressed with his young team’s grit and determination but noted “lessons learned.” However he still has high-expectations..
“That’s a three-year program over there. Why can’t we play like a ten-year program. Why must we be immature every game. That’s the Message to the guys. At the end of the day, we’ve got to take our lumps take our lessons and continue to build.”
Scheduling is another year-one problem. A look at Dillard’s 44-game schedule list only 9 home games. The Bleu Devils are looked upon as the ultimate road warriors. Where those games will be played will be determined at a later date.
The newest sport on campus means so much more than runs, hits and errors. Much more than wins and loses as the commissioner explains.
“It gives the Dillard community a chance to mobilize behind the university, says Baker-Barnes.” “During the spring after basketball is over, we hear about baseball teams at UNO, Xavier, Loyola or Delgado. Now during the spring Dillard won’t be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Nowhere during the spring-sports cycle do you hear anything about Dillard. Now you will. It keeps Dillard relevant.”
This article originally published in the February 20, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
