Lakewood Ranch High School Baseball Program in Good Hands with Coach Desmond

Ian Desmond, the former pro, is right where he’s supposed to be – coaching the Lakewood Ranch High School baseball team.

One conversation with Desmond and it’s clear that he loves teaching kids. With school starting next week, Mustang baseball will ramp up shortly thereafter.

“The fall schedule begins the second week of the school year. We’ll have tryouts then,” Desmond said during a phone conversation. “We certainly have a lot of interest in our program. We had about 60-70 kids try out during the spring last year. Altogether, we kept 40 kids for the fall, which is basically everybody that came out for the fall. I imagine it will be similar this year. That’s between JV and varsity.”

With 10 full MLB years of service time (Desmond played in 21 games with the Washington Nationals in September 2009), the former shortstop turned outfielder accomplished much of what he set out to do. Drafted by the Montreal Expos (kids, ask your parents) in the third round of the 2004 MLB Draft, Desmond patiently put in his time with years in the minor leagues preparing for a career, so few achieve.

“Kids need to know where they stand. I want to be an honest evaluator in a way where I can be respected and appreciated. I think this is important,” explains Desmond, who was selected to two MLB All-Star Games (2012 and 2016), and won three National League Silver Slugger Awards (2012-2014).

As far as why Desmond last played in an MLB game with the Colorado Rockies in 2019, and subsequently officially retired from the game in April 2022 after voluntarily sitting out the 2020 and 2021 seasons, there is no mystery surrounding his decision.

“I had two intentions,” Desmond says of going into professional baseball. “I wanted to retire my mom, and play (MLB) for 10 years. I accomplished those. “First and foremost, I am right where I’m supposed to be. It ended up working out great. I learned from other people’s mistakes. I just love the game.”

Declaring that he was “through with it”, at the same time Desmond points out that he wasn't frustrated with playing in t

MLB. Quite the opposite. Desmond was pleased where he was leaving the pro game. Now, he has the pleasure of seeing his five children carrying on fulfilling their dreams.

The stability of living in one area year around and focusing on growing the Lakewood Ranch baseball program is simplifying Demond’s life. No more road trips and leaving his family in the city for the franchise who he played for. Communicating with his players and their parents gets his undivided attention.

“I did find in my high school coaching a lot of value in having deep conversations with parents,” Desmond said. “Kids today just don’t communicate well. I was able to draw a lot out of their parents about their kids. But I’m not making it a habit to talking to parents a lot.”

When the Mustangs’ season concluded in April, Desmond said many of his players participated in year-round programs in some capacity. By his estimation, about 35 kids were signed up for a summer development program separate from Lakewood Ranch.

The passion Desmond, a Sarasota native, has for baseball shows no signs of diminishing. He proudly tells of watching games on TV every day and never tires of talking about baseball. With the game serving as an outlet for him for many years, Desmond is the perfect leader at Lakewood Ranch to accept his players sharing that same passion and having someone who understands their need for an outlet.