Grant Ledbetter began his baseball experience like many children do: being signed up to play tee-ball by his parents at five years old. However, it would eventually flourish beyond just a recreational hobby that consumed his Saturday evenings. Ledbetter would go from hitting home runs in the Oklahoma City suburbs to walking up to bat under the bright lights of college and professional stadiums.
Despite baseball being his first love, Ledbetter took a break during college after a rocky relationship with the sport in high school. For his first three semesters of college, Ledbetter was a quarterback for Northeastern State University’s football team.
“I wanted to kind of make my own path, and then there was a lot of pressure from parents and stuff like that,” Ledbetter said. “Looking back on it, they were just looking out for me, but I really wanted to do something different and make my own story.”
Ledbetter couldn’t stay away from baseball for too long, though. After his brother’s sudden departure from the sport once he was drafted for the Miami Marlins, Ledbetter decided to return to the dugout.
“I always wished I had the talent he had, and so when he made that decision, it kind of lit a fire for me to go try it again,” Ledbetter said. “And just with everything football had done for my arm, and how I had matured a lot as a person, I felt like it would be worth it.”
Baseball quickly went from an afterthought to his entire life. Ledbetter spent the rest of his college years pitching for Southern Nazarene University and went on to play two years of independent professional baseball for the Reno Silver Sox and the Edmonton Capitals.
“When I was in high school, there was a lot going on, and I just pushed it off on other people,” Ledbetter said. “But I think I had grown up a lot, and I realized all the good things about baseball that I missed.”
Coaching became an ideal career path for Ledbetter while he was playing professionally.
“Some of those good and bad experiences really help form your perspective and your ideas as a coach, of how you don’t want to be and how you want to be,” Ledbetter said. “It was not necessarily just because of my love for baseball, but really just that I wanted to get back to a place that had been so formative in my life.”
Ledbetter started as a high school coach in the Oklahoma City metro, and then he returned to his alma mater, Southern Nazarene University. In 2025, Ledbetter found himself at Bishop McGuinness, but his job wasn’t his first impression of the school.
“I had a lot of friends that went there when I was growing up, and I’ve driven by the field all my life and have always been attracted to it, so it just felt like the right thing to do,” Ledbetter said.
So far, the school has lived up to his expectations.
“I love the administration here,” Ledbetter said. “Everybody’s taking good care of me, the facilities are great, and the students are unlike anywhere I’ve ever taught. They’re just great people and great families.”
Ledbetter has a clear vision of what he wants to come out of his coaching here.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just helping,” Ledbetter said.
