Torey Lovullo || Ronnie Gajownik Answer Dave, Twitter

It didn’t take long for Ronnie Gajownik to get her big-league coaching experience. During the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 5-4 split-squad loss to the San Diego Padres on Saturday, she served as the bench coach.

Gajownik’s responsibilities were typical bench coach matters, which included chats with manager Torey Lovullo. These talks varied from pinch-hit scenarios in the following inning and caring about the players on and off the field.

This was in the midst of discovering she was “trending” on social media. Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom made sure to let her know she was gaining traction.

But oh, it was so much more than that.

“It’s cool to take a step back and realize how far women have come,” Gajownik told the media, including AP Sports. “And then also, me personally as a coach, all the work I’ve put in myself and then all the work the Diamondbacks have put into me, my family, my friends, my wife. It’s just cool to see the culmination of everything coming together. It’s a cool moment.”

In January, the Diamondbacks hired Gajownik as the manager of the organization’s Class High-A team, the Hillsboro Hops. She was the first woman to manage a team at that level.

She was able to get her bearings in her new role learning from one of the best. Lovullo has remained a favorite of his players, former and current, and even fellow managers.H

Gajownik said Lovullo’s approachable demeanor and mindset that goes beyond the field made him a perfect person to bounce ideas off of. She said there are similarities between the two of them.

“Him and I think a little bit of the same way, in regards that you’ve really got to care for the person,” Gajownik said. “And just know that ‘Hey, I’ll have your back and where there are moments of the game where I need to fight for you, I’ll fight for you.’”

Before her managerial hiring, Gajownik was serving as a video coordinator for the Hops in 2021, and in 2020, she was the first-base coach for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Diamondbacks’ Double-A affiliate.

“I know that if my dad took me out of school on a Wednesday and we went to a baseball game and I saw a female coach on the field, I know Thursday my life would have been changing in the trajectory of where I want it to go,” Gajownik told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert in January.

“So the visibility aspect of it is huge, because, again, it’s showing little girls and showing women that we’re breaking the glass ceiling and we’re leaving breadcrumbs for everybody behind us for us just to keep adding on to it to see how far we can go.”

The Hops begin their season on Apr. 6 against the Tri-City Dust Devils, the High-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.

[AP Sports; photo via David Brown on Twitter]

About Jessica Kleinschmidt

Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.