Grant Desme
Head Baseball Coach
Phone:
Email: Grant.Desme@avemaria.edu
Grant Desme was named the head coach of the baseball program at Ave Maria University in September. Demse, a former prospect in the Oakland A's organization, brings a high-quality baseball mind to the Gyrene program.
Desme was drafted in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics, and spent three seasons in the Oakland farm system. Desme, an outfielder, was drafted out of Cal Poly after winning the Player of the Year award in the Big West Conference. His junior season, where he won conference player of the year honors, saw him hit .405 with 15 home runs and 53 runs batted in.
In three seasons in professional baseball, Desme recorded a .286 batting average. His only full season came in 2009, when he hit 31 total home runs and stole 40 bases with the Stockton Ports and Kane County Cougars. After the regular season, he was named the Most Valuable Player in the Arizona Fall League in 2009, playing against many of the best young players in professional baseball.
Desme left professional baseball after the 2009 season, deciding to persue the priesthood. He served as an assistant coach at St. Michael's Preparatory School in California during his time in the seminary. During the 2016 season, St. Michael's Prep posted a 12-0 record in Express League play, and put together a winning season.
Chuck Lennon
Assistant Baseball Coach
Charles Lennon is in his fifth year as assistant baseball coach at Ave Maria University. Coach Lennon, a native of Joliet, Ill., settled in South Bend, Ind. in 1961 after graduating from the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Coach Lennon was a two-year monogram winner with the baseball team. He served as an assistant baseball coach for seven years ('61-'67) at Notre Dame and also six years ('62-'67) as an assistant basketball coach for the Fighting Irish.
While living in South Bend, Coach Lennon served as director of several local public agencies, including South Bend's Model Cities Program and the city's Redevelopment Department. He became direcrtor of the ND Alumni Association in 1981, and in 1999 was named associate vice president for university relations.
Coach Lennon retired from Notre Dame on June 30, 2011, and is now on emeritus status. At Notre Dame's 2011 commencement, he received an honorary doctor of law degree. The Notre Dame Monogram Club awarded Coach Lennon the Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award in 2011.
Charles Lennon and his wife, Joan, have five children, three of whom are Notre Dame graduates: Sean, Molly, Brian, Colleen and Kevin. Coach Lennon and his wife reside in Ave Maria.
Conor Sullivan
Assistant Baseball Coach
Email: Conor.Sullivan@avemaria.edu
Conor Sullivan is entering his first season on the baseball staff at Ave Maria. Sullivan was a four-year standout for the Gyrene baseball program from 2012 to 2016, and is currently playing professional baseball, one of just three players in school history to sign a professional contract.
During his time at Ave Maria, Sullivan was one of the best catchers in the nation, earning three Sun Conference Gold Glove awards and a national Gold Glove honor in 2013. The Chicago native holds Ave Maria school records in runners caught stealing (84) and career fielding percentage (.994).
He was a First Team All-Sun Conference selection during his junior season, and a Second Team selection following his sophomore season. He played 197 games in an AMU uniform, fourth most in school history, and places in the top ten in school history in most offensive categories.
Following his Ave Maria career, Sullivan signed a professional baseball contract with the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. He quickly moved up the independent baseball ladder, playing the final two months of the 2016 season with the Joplin Blasters of the American Association.
He spent the 2017 season in the Frontier League, playing for the Windy City ThunderBolts and the Lake Erie Crushers, to whom he is currently signed.
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Benny Mendizabal
Assistant Baseball Coach - Infield
Email: Benito.Mendizabal@avemaria.edu
Brett Rosin
Pitching Coach
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Mike Miller
Assistant Pitching Coach
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Matthew McConkey
Recruiter
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