By Jacob Ervin, Student Reporter
Ethan Swanson stood on the mound, staring down the batter at home plate. Swanson needed just one more strike.
It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and Northwestern Oklahoma State had a one-run lead over its rival, Southwestern Oklahoma State.
This was the final game of a three-game series between the Rangers and the Bulldogs, with both teams having one win each.
With a runner on second, two outs and two strikes, this was Swanson’s chance to deliver the Rangers one last win before graduating.
Swanson wound up the pitch and delivered his signature fastball. And with the signaling of a strike by the umpire, the game was won.
This was a fitting end to more than a decade of dedication to becoming the best pitcher he could — and the beginning of a new chapter in the young man’s life.
Shortly after winning that game, Swanson graduated from Northwestern with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Swanson is described by his peers as an incredibly hard worker, and he said he hopes that his hard work will one day lead to him playing in the Major Leagues.
The Alva native is a pitcher for the Great Falls Voyagers, which is a member of a Major League Baseball partner league called the Pioneer League.
EARLY CAREER
It all began with an 11-year-old boy who thought he was the worst pitcher to have ever thrown a baseball, but he refused to ever give in to adversity.
Swanson started playing coach-pitch baseball when he was eight years old for the Alva Cardinals with his longtime friend and teammate, Thomas Beiswanger.
The two played together throughout their childhood and reunited as teammates when Swanson transferred to Northwestern in 2020.
Beiswanger recalled that, even when they were young, Swanson was always the hardest thrower on the team despite not always being the most accurate.
“Any time he would go up on the mound, even when we went out of state, everybody knew this guy was the guy who throws really hard,” Beiswanger said. “Back then, he didn’t really know where it was going at all, but he would just be throwing so hard that people were so scared of him, which is effective.”
When Swanson took the mound for the first time against a little league squad from Del City, control was definitely an issue.
He gave up multiple hits and walked several batters before eventually being pulled from the game.
The Cardinals lost after being run-ruled in the first inning, and an 11-year-old Swanson was crushed, but that didn’t mean he was ready to give up.
Swanson spent the following years determined to become a better pitcher under the tutelage of his stepfather and little league coach, Greg Grimsley, who played baseball at Northwestern in his younger years. He trained with Swanson five nights each week from the time he started little league baseball until he graduated from Alva High School in 2017.
While Swanson largely credits Grimsley’s mentoring for his success, Grimsley points to how consistently Swanson works at it.
“Once he gets to the gym, he will work as hard as he needs to get better,” Grimsley said. “We would go hit and throw five days of the week, and we did that all through high school, so I think it was his consistency at working hard.”
Swanson not only enjoyed playing baseball, but other sports as well, including basketball and football.
HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
Swanson decided to focus on baseball after tearing his ACL during a football practice in his sophomore year of high school.
While this was a painful experience for him, Swanson recalled the experience in a positive way.
“I convinced my coach to let me run the Bootleg play,” Swanson joked. “Little did I know the Bootleg was going to put my leg in a boot.”
Swanson said he believes this injury actually may have helped him in the long run, as it got him to focus more time on his true calling.
After once again working hard in the face of adversity, Swanson was able to rehabilitate from his injury and went on to become Alva High School’s leading pitcher for the next two years.
His pitching prowess, combined with the 17 home runs he hit during his last two seasons of high school, earned him scholarship offers from several colleges to play baseball.
After considering his options, he chose to attend Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, which is known for its premier junior college baseball team.
COLLEGIATE CAREER
Swanson said his time at Cowley was important to his development as a player and helped him to improve physically.
“The workouts were like nothing I had ever done before,” he said. “I had never been at college before, where we would play a game and then lift right after.”
After an up and down freshman year with the Cowley Tigers, Swanson helped the team make it to the NCAA Junior College World Series as a relief pitcher.
During the fall of 2018 at Cowley, Swanson committed to play at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he would face a new type of adversity: trying to stay eligible.
Swanson said he struggled during his time at UCO to pass calculus, and despite his best efforts, he made a D in the class, which made him ineligible to play baseball in the spring and cost him his scholarship.
While this may have been the end for many young players’ careers, Swanson was determined to get back on the mound.
To do this, he chose to transfer back home and play for Northwestern under coach Ryan Bowen.
Bowen said he was excited when Swanson transferred to the team. Bowen tried to recruit him when he was still playing at Cowley College.
Bowen spoke highly of Swanson’s work ethic, even when things were not going his way, and mentioned how humble he is about his talent.
“He’s probably even a little better than he thinks he is,” Bowen said. “I always tried to make him know that he’s got a chance to be one of the best pitchers I’ve ever coached.”
During his first season at Northwestern, Swanson managed to fit perfectly onto the team both on and off the field.
In the six games he pitched that season, he went 3-3 and was highly regarded by his teammates, including fellow pitcher Kyle Moran.
Moran said that, after Bowen introduced Swanson to the team, the two spoke and immediately hit it off.
Similar to Bowen, Moran pointed to how humble Swanson is about his speed at the mound.
“He never wants to talk about it,” Moran said. “He knows he’s good, but he never talks about it, and I respect that because, if I could throw 97 mph, I would be bragging.”
After a final season at Northwestern that Swanson capped off with a bottom-of-the-ninth win against Southwestern, Swanson had one bachelor’s degree and no college baseball eligibility left, leaving him unsure what was next in his journey.
“I graduated and assumed I was basically done with baseball because no one had contacted me,” Swanson said. “But then I got a call from Michael Keeran.”
Keeran coached a baseball team in the Expedition League called the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs in Minot, North Dakota. He offered Swanson a job as a relief pitcher for the team, and just like that, Swanson was back to doing what he loves.
LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
After a successful year with the Sabre Dogs that saw them win the Expedition League, he was offered his current contract to be a pitcher for the Voyagers.
Swanson said he’s unsure exactly what the future holds for him, but he is happy where he is at.
“I wouldn’t mind making it to the league someday,” Swanson said. “But I love that I have the this opportunity to keep playing the game and to just keep working to get better.”