Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, visit murrysvillestar.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner, click the “New Article” button and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.
As a child, Brandon Nania of Murrysville saw the passion his father Donald had while coaching baseball players, “and how he wanted to impact their lives through the great game of baseball.”
It made quite an impression on Nania, 25, who has spent more than two decades with the game he loves and is now the head baseball coach of the Virginia-based Martinsville Mustangs in the Coastal Plain League.
“As soon as I finished my collegiate career, I knew I wanted to be involved in college baseball, but I wasn’t sure of the avenues to get there,” Nania said.
Through social media, the 2014 Franklin Regional graduate saw that one of his former coaches had taken a head coaching job at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville. After reaching out, he found himself hired as an assistant coach. Shortly thereafter, he earned the same title with the Mustangs in the Coastal Plain League, a 15-team collegiate summer league featuring top players from across the nation.
When the Mustangs’ head coach decided not to return, Nania interviewed and was offered the position for the summer 2021 season.
“The biggest challenge I think is going to be managing different personalities in such a short amount of time,” he said. “I’m looking forward to coaching some talented players and getting to know them better. I’m also excited to mold them into better young men.”
Nania said he notices things as a coach that he missed in his playing days.
“As your career wraps up you think, ‘Well, I should’ve done this or that,’” he said. “As a coach, you get to push your players down the right paths of life and in the baseball world.”
As an assistant coach with the Mustangs in 2020, Nania guided outfielder Joe Simone to become a Coastal Plain League first-team selection and hitters Brady Slavens, Matt Goodheart and Christian Easley to earn second-team honors during the squad’s successful 19-12-1 campaign. He said he can’t wait for this summer’s season to begin.
“The town loves the Martinsville Mustangs, and I can’t wait to see Hooker Field packed with people,” he said.
