Ethan Glassman applies an in-game hitting pointer from head coach John Bogner and blasts two home runs, including a grand slam, and drives in seven runs in season opener vs. Griffith

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

When dealing with hitters who chat about the finer points of the baseball swing and what that day’s pitcher is featuring as eagerly as Chesterton senior Ethan Glassman does, coaches sometimes tread lightly about stuffing their brains with too much information.
“You don’t want to overanalyze it and get him thinking too much,” head coach John Bogner said.
When Glassman arrived at third base during the Trojans’ 22-run first inning, he expressed frustration about his swing to Bogner, so it seemed like the right time for a little analysis.
“He said, ‘I feel like I’m scooping underneath the ball.’ I said, ‘Are you ready?’ We talked about a backward C,” Bogner said. “He starts with a high hand and it kind of drops. Start at the bottom, up to the top, and now we’ll get to the baseball, because if you start at the top and drop to the bottom, the barrel loops. He’s missing what I call belt shots, and he’s getting underneath them because he’s got that little move. So I told him, ‘Try this.’”
Glassman said he had heard Bogner talk about that with other hitters but this was a first for him.
“He was talking about how he was getting underneath it and the next two at bats he went yard,” Bogner said. “He said, ‘It felt really good that way.’ That’s the only thing I’ve told him that I don’t like about his swing. He’s big and strong and when he makes contact, he just cheats himself with that loop. You need to swing through balls. The pitch could be belt-high and if you’ve got that loop, you’re still going to be underneath it. Start tall and now we barrel up, same plane, and hopefully he gets a little better results.”
Bogner liked it when he saw Glassman working on the adjustment when he was in the dugout.
“Credit him for making an in-game change and being willing to do it,” Bogner said.
Glassman went 3 for 4 in the 25-0 win over Griffith on opening day Monday, homered twice, one a grand slam, and drove in seven runs.
“My first two plate appearances I was kind of collapsing a little and getting under the ball just a little bit. So, I was talking with him at third and he was talking about the backward C,” Glassman said. “So, when I was up at the plate, I was just trying to get my hands above the ball and just hit with my backside and turn into it.”
And he crushed the ball in his final two at bats.
Glassman made his varsity debut in the 2024 sectional title game at Crown Point vs. Lowell. He belted two doubles to help the Trojans win 7-4.
As a junior, he posted a .382 on-base percentage last season but didn’t translate his strength into power and had just three extra-base hits, all doubles, in 104 plate appearances. He struck out 30 times.
Bogner isn’t the only one who believes this will be a much more productive season for the shortstop.
“We were hitting in the cage before the game and his swing is so much better,” senior center fielder Rob Czarniecki said. “After his first two at bats we were talking and I told him, ‘Hey, you’re kind of dropping down a little bit.’ But hey, with the wind blowing out, it’s just natural to be like, ‘Oh, I want to absolutely crush this ball over the fence.’ I just said, ‘Stay within yourself,’ then he hit that one when I was on second and I knew right away that was gone. That’s one of the best balls I’ve ever seen hit. He’s going to be huge this year, the way he’s seeing the ball and the way he’s swinging.”
Especially if he doesn’t loop back around to old hand habits that sabotaged his swing with a loop.