Brotherly glove: Gannon, Grady Grant give Center Grove baseball talented duo up the middle
GREENWOOD – Watching brothers Gannon and Grady Grant play in the middle of the Center Grove infield is almost like looking into a mirror.
Older brother Gannon, a junior, wears a white compression sleeve on his right arm. Sophomore Grady sports double red wristbands. Without those differences, it may be hard to tell them apart.
Both have smooth and fluid actions as they gather ground balls and fire them around the diamond. Both are great athletes, allowing them to cover a lot of ground when the ball is hit in their area. The duo has helped Center Grove get off to a 18-4 start, but having great middle infielders is nothing new to the Trojans.
From Bryce Eblin (Alabama, Chicago White Sox) to Tyler Cerny (IU), to Drew Culbertson (Oklahoma State), Sam Griffith (Oakland) and Noah Coy (Notre Dame), Center Grove has had Division I-caliber players up the middle for years, but the program has never had brothers in the infield until now.
"I'm really grateful to play shortstop at Center Grove and I learned a lot from Coy," Gannon said. "Grady plays shortstop when I'm pitching, so I try to teach him everything I can right now so he's the next guy.
"Our chemistry has always been there. ... We're always outside throwing a baseball, working on new pitches."
The brothers are just 18 months apart, but Gannon was always bigger than Grady, making it clear he was the oldest. The size difference never prevented Grady from playing up in age, using his advanced feel for the game to offset anything he lacked in size against older players. Gannon is Center Grove's everyday shortstop. When Gannon is on the mound, Grady plays shortstop. The game before or after Gannon pitches, he moves to second base and Grady slides over to shortstop.
"When they were little before school, they'd go hit in the garage, they worked with each other on ground balls," said the boys' father, Michael. "They've always been each other's biggest fan. They always root for each other, and they've been working together since they were little.
"With Gannon being so good, it pushed Grady. It's worked out well the way they've played together."
Gannon is the No. 5-rated player in the state and 100th overall, per Prep Baseball Report. He committed to reigning national champion Tennessee in September. The 6-2, 185-pound right-hander wants to play both ways as long as he can, but his future may be on the mound. Baseball America has him rated as the 57th high school prospect in the 2026 class as a pitcher, citing an explosive fastball that touches 93 mph with arm-side run to go along with a tight slider and a tumbling changeup.
Over five appearances, Gannon is 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 25 ⅔ innings. At the plate, he leads the Trojans with a .400 batting average, 17 runs scored and 18 RBIs. Grady is second on the team with a .367 average, 14 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
Ultimately, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello will use Grant as best as he sees fit, but for now, the Trojans junior is embracing the challenge of hitting and pitching.
"It's definitely really hard," Gannon said of being a two-way player. "At practice it's hard to get all your work in. I do my hitting first, then I do all my pitching stuff. It definitely puts a lot of stress on my body, so I take the recovery really seriously. So, when I get on the field, I'm 100% to pitch, and when I'm pitching, I get to hit too."
Team chemistry can make or break even the most talented teams. Center Grove has the talent with Gannon and sophomore IU commit Drake McClurg being two of the top players in their respective classes. Cal Schembra (Valparaiso), Kyle Boots (Eastern Illinois), Kellen Thomson (Ball State) and Hudson Stewart (Dayton) are all headed for Division I programs. A change in recruiting protocol prevents schools from contacting sophomores before this summer, but Grady is expected to get interest from a lot of the same schools that recruited Gannon.
Talent has never been the Trojans issue, but with the Grant brothers helping elevate the team's chemistry, a trip to Victory Field for the Class 4A state championship remains a possibility.
"It's fun to watch them interact with each other up the middle," Center Grove coach Keith Hatfield said. "It's something that I don't think they realize how cool it is sometimes. It has definitely helped this team.
"If they come together, they have a chance to be special with the talent that they have. I've had a lot of good shortstops, never had a brother combo. A lot of times our shortstops aren't playing second, they're always over at third. So, for Gannon and Grady to be able to go back and forth, save each other's arms. ... It's pretty awesome."
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