Santa Clarita native Tyler Glasnow is now a Dodger

LOS ANGELES - At Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Tyler Glasnow's jersey is hot on the 2023 holiday wish lists… and there’s good reason. The newly acquired Dodger pitcher grew up in Santa Clarita. Glasnow played baseball for Hart High School, where he impressed his coaches, teachers and fellow students alike.

Glasnow has expressed excitement at returning home and, of course, playing for the world-class Los Angeles Dodgers. 

FOX 11 visited Hart High Varsity Baseball Coach Jim Ozella and current Hart High Varsity baseball players. This is Coach Ozella’s final season and is set to retire next year. Ozella’s recollections of his former player are glowing. The coach described Glasnow as both an athlete and as a person. 

"He’s got a great personality. He can converse with you. He can laugh with you and he can laugh about himself."

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Hart High’s baseball program has an impressive list of distinguished alums. In fact, there’s a "Hall of Fame" list of past Hart High baseball players who went on to play in the MLB. A plaque proudly hangs on the wall. So, you can imagine the excitement for current players, who look to Glasnow as a role model. 

Hart High catcher Ryan De La Maza said he’s studied Glasnow on the mound.  

"It’s a slow moving game. You can tell when Tyler’s pitching he’s speeding up "outs." He’s dominant on the mound."

And as to following in Glasnow’s pathway into the Bigs? De La Maza exclaimed, "I hope to follow his footsteps and just dream big."

"You think it can come true. Someone from my high school, the same coach, the same uniform and same field. Maybe I can do it someday too?, said shortstop Brayden Jefferis.

Coach Ozella spoke warmly as remembered his former player,  "He did not walk in as a super star. He was a kid who put in the work. He was a great talent. He was a late bloomer in baseball. He had a tremendous amount of ability; and we started to see it more and more."

And all us will get to see that long-ago cultivated work ethic on the pitcher’s mound this Dodger season. I will root on my Dodgers. And I will root especially hard for Tyler Glasnow,  as we share the same hometown and same high school alma mater.