Pianto keeps career going after Furman baseball's demise

After Furman dropped baseball, Dominic Pianto
used social media to extend his playing
career. (Palmetto State Baseball photo) 

The fifth anniversary of Furman University’s decision to ax its baseball program comes May 18. In some ways, it seems longer than that.

But there are two former Paladins still playing in college. Stone Simmons is in the weekend rotation at Mississippi State, and Dominic Pianto is a right-handed reliever at Michigan State, which is on its annual visit to the Upstate for a series of games at Fluor Field in Greenville.

In a Thursday interview in the visitors’ clubhouse at Fluor Field, Pianto recalled that he had no idea that Furman would be dropping baseball after his freshman season until he and his teammates were told.

"No, not at all. And I don't believe the coaches did either,” Pianto said. "It’s a true shame. It really was. I don't believe (the coaches) deserved to have that happen to them.”

Furman offered to honor scholarships, but Pianto began looking elsewhere for an opportunity to continue his baseball career and marketed himself.

“Fortunately, I had the opportunity to get a couple of innings (five) while I was at Furman. With that, I was able to ... utilizing social media - Twitter - I simply just put together a video of some clips of me pitching," Pianto said.

"My coaches at Furman had a relationship with (Spartans) coach (Jake) Boss because of the frequency of Michigan State coming down here (for games at Fluor Field),  as well as the Twitter video. They reached out to me and saw some of my stuff. I suppose they liked what they had seen.

“I would say, just because of the fortunate use of social media I was able to make a connection. And, that's really how I got to get the opportunity.

It wasn't a case of Pianto falling back on a second choice, because he had not been recruited by Michigan State out of high school in Hendersonville, Tenn.

"Furman was one of my only offers, at least on the Division I level,” he said.

Pianto has fond memories of his time on the Furman baseball team, especially the interactions with other players and the coaches.

"I've been thinking about this a lot ... especially this year with the end coming for my career," he said. "More than anything, I would say the coaches. Coach (Brett) Harker and Coach (Kaleb) Davis. Those are the guys that I had the most interaction with, for sure, but all the staff was really great.

"You can't change anything,” he said. “You obviously learn about it, but ... I hope I showed my appreciation back then, but more than anything, that, as a freshman, not recognizing how great of coaches, and just really how great of men those coaches were and still are.”

Pianto remembers team building exercises such a reading and discussing books, hikes at Table Rock State Park and spending time with one another.

"More than anything, I recall my time with the baseball program, of those coaches fostering such a culture and really, really showing it off to us every single day in the way that they carried themselves." Pianto said. "They would have us to their houses.  They would lift (weights) together as they would be competing with each other as a coaching staff. I thought that was one of the most admirable things about them.

"These guys were having us read books as a team and talking about them and trying to converse and to grow,” Pianto said. “I really, really appreciate what they were doing as coaches: trying to create not just players, but young men."

Pianto's season at Furman was cut short after 17 games because of CoVID-19, so he never got to pitch at Fluor Field wearing Furman's purple and white.

"I remember I was warming up to pitch against South Carolina when we played them, but I didn't actually end up going in."

An accounting major, Pianto has earned several academic honors during his Spartans career, and has a job lined up with Ernst & Young.

Entering the First Pitch Invitational this weekend, he has pitched at Fluor Field five times with Michigan State. He has four strikeouts over two innings this year.

Pianto, who sat out the 2021 season with an injury, is making his fourth trip to Greenville with the Spartans, and it's something he really enjoys while rekindling memories of his days at Furman and why he chose the school initially.

"One of the most appealing factors about what had drawn me into Furman in the first place was going to Greenville," Pianto said. "Now, for me to be able to have the opportunity to come here ... First off, we're treated like absolute kings here with Mr. (Drive owner Craig) Brown (a Michigan State alumnus) who brings the baseball team here every season.”

"This city is absolutely just amazing. I love it. "I've had the absolute blessing to be able to come here, and this city ... it brings back the memories of the places, restaurants that were the first restaurant I ever got to when I first visited here. The Trappe Door is place I continually go back to. I tell all my teammates we have to go there when I would come here. (I enjoy) the city itself and how it's just continually getting more renovations. Every time we come back here, it's like, you know, it feels like we're at home whenever I came back.

Pianto stays in contact with his roommate at Furman, as well as one of the former lacrosse players, whose program was dumped at the same time as baseball.

"Every once in a while, which again is to the coaches credit, I'll occasionally still get text messages in our full team chat that's been inactive. You know where we didn't disband it for so many years now, but this this team will occasionally still send in a text. Last year, when some of the guys were having success with Clemson, the coaches sent to the chat 'congrats to those guys,' and it's just like one of those things that I think it really goes to show how what they were creating with that team.”