Kevin Clifford/Nevada Appeal
Legendary Northern Nevada baseball coach Ron McNutt has been named Nevada Day Parade Grand Marshal.
The 2008 Nevada Athletic Hall of Fame inductee won 2,000 games as a coach between serving at Carson High, Galena High and of the amateur team he founded, the Carson Capitols.
McNutt is the winningest high school coach in Nevada history and in 1992 Carson High School renamed its baseball field in his likeness.
For McNutt, being named Grand Marshal of Nevada Day is an honor that was hard to even put into words.
“In my wildest dreams, I never even thought about that,” said McNutt. “It’s exciting. I’m very honored and humbled. … I guess this has to be up near the top.”
As a head coach, McNutt had more than 100 players go on to earn scholarships to play some level of collegiate baseball while 35 players under his wing as Capitols’ head coach were drafted into Major League Baseball.
“All the kids that played for me and my assistant coaches meant a lot, also,” said McNutt.
McNutt first took over as the baseball coach at Carson High in 1974 and compiled 657 wins while leading the Senators to state titles in 1979 and 1992.
In 2009, McNutt took over as the baseball coach at Galena High School, posting another 126 wins.
The longtime head coach said he doesn’t really know what to expect come Nevada Day, but says he’s going to have friends and family help him work on his wave for his new role.
“I guess I have to work on my wave,” said McNutt. “They’re going to help me show me how to properly wave, I guess.”
Along with perfecting his wave, McNutt says he’s most looking forward to being around former players that he hasn’t seen in a long time.
“I’m just excited to be with kids I haven’t seen in 10, 20, 30 years or more. That will be a highlight,” said McNutt.
