LAKELAND — There was no keeping Nathan Diaz away from baseball. Hanging around with his dad, Lakeland Christian head coach Matt Diaz who was still playing in the majors, Nathan would hit whiffle balls off former All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan when he was 3 or 4 or shagging fly balls in the outfield for the Marlins’ when he was 5.
Matt recalled one session when he was rehabbing a hamstring and was about to go hit. He told Tom Koehler, “you’re in charge of Nate. Don’t let him get hit in the head with a line drive.”
Giancarlo Stanton was hitting at the time and launched a ball “a mile high, and I see Koehler in left center field put his hands on his head and he’s like Nathan, no. Nathan’s sprinting to the wall and catches the ball off Giancarlo Stanton’s bat and everyone went nuts.”
Nathan said he remembers some of it — especially shagging fly balls when Matt played with the Marlins. The strongest baseball memories are growing up around the game with his father, playing on teams Matt coaches, practicing in the backyard or just talking about the sport.
One part of that relationship is about to come to an end.
Lakeland Christian will be looking for its third state title in baseball when it begins play in the 2026 FHSAA Baseball State Championship at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. LCS will play Jacksonville Trinity Christian in the Class 2A state semifinals on Monday, May 18, at 10 a.m.
“It’s been, it’s been amazing,” Nathan said. “I mean we’ve lost to First Academy the past two years and we got them back this year. It’s awesome having my dad as my coach, getting to see him at the field and at home.”
For Nathan, the road to these final one or two high school games began as a kid growing up in a family with two athletes as parents. Matt, of course, played on Santa Fe Catholic’s 1995 state championship team, played college baseball at Florida State before playing 11 years with five teams in the majors. His mother Leslee Diaz (née Bennett) played soccer and tennis for Winter Haven in high school.
Matt didn’t necessarily push his kids into sports but he did want them active.
“I told them when they got into high school, if they weren’t doing the extracurricular, and it could have been the high school musical, I wouldn’t have cared, but they would have a job,” Diaz said. “And so they (sons) have always just found baseball to be that. I was fortunate enough to play with a lot of great players who unfortunately didn’t have great relationships with their parents, especially their dads, and I never wanted to be that dad.”
Nathan grew up playing baseball and soccer before choosing baseball — sorry, Mom — when he got to high school. It wasn’t a given that he’d excel in baseball in high school.
“I wasn’t very good,” he said. “I haven’t had great summers in my whole life. I have not been very, very good. I’ve had to battle being smaller. I mean, I’ve grown, but I was a late bloomer. So I’ve, I’ve been smaller my whole life and I’ve had to really work at it.”
Nathan began to blossom around 13. Matt recalled watching Nathan take batting practice on a travel ball team that he wasn’t coaching.
“He hit every ball off the L screen, line drives off the L screen, because they would have seen that if it didn’t hit the L screen, that he wasn’t really clearing the clay,” Matt said. “He was hitting line drives up the middle, but there were guys, 13-year-olds hitting 350-foot bombs at that tryout fully developed. But I think that’s kept him hungry, and he learned how to play the game as a small kid. And that’s really benefited him now that he’s grown into the way he can play.”
Nathan didn’t start pitching until he was a freshman, throwing 74 mph when he started — he threw strikes — then jumping up to 81, 87 and last year at 91 mph. This year, he has touched 93 mph.
In the field, he’s been versatile, playing outfield, third base, shortstop and this year at second base teaming with shortstop Gavin Byrd to form one of the top middle infields in the state.
Nathan played mostly JV as a freshman and was on the bench watching his older teammates win the state title. As a sophomore, he went 6-0 with a 4.85 ERA and his 21 2/3 innings were fourth on the team. He only had 21 plate appearances.
Last season as a junior was Nathan’s breakout season. He was second on the team with a .382 batting average and was tied for the lead with six doubles. As a pitcher, he went 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA and again was fourth with 28 innings pitched.
This season as a senior, Nathan is third with a .381 batting average, tied for second with 28 runs scored and third with 20 RBIs. As a pitcher, he is third in innings pitched. Matt said LCS has looked at the schedule each week and has used him in what they expect to be the toughest inning, either as a starter against the top teams early in the season or as a reliever. He is 5-4 with a 4.05 ERA but has 0.33 ERA against county opponents.
In the region six games of the regional tournament, Diaz batted .350, including going 4-for-6 in the final two games that put LCS back in the state tournament.
“I’m. so excited,” he said. “Last year was fun. I can’t even wait for how much fun it’s going to be this year. And I just love this group of guys. This is the most fun I’ve had playing baseball for sure, playing with this team because it’s a great group of younger guys.”
And it’s the last run for father and son as coach and player. Next year, Nathan will be at North Greenville.
“I’m very excited for next year,” he said. “I can’t wait to move out, but I’m definitely going to miss being around him and being around my brother who’s on the team this year. But I’m excited to move out and be ready for next year in college.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Playing one last year for his father, Nathan Diaz played big role for LCS
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
