Lebanon County native Bobby Dorta accepted a job with the Florida Marlins organization as a baserunning coach for a minor league team.
He graduated in 2015 from Palmyra Area Senior High School, where he played baseball and was a C.S. “Pop” Kelchner award finalist. After graduating, he played at Millersville University from 2016 to 2021 before moving into coaching.
His Millersville coach Jon Shehan recommended the career path that would keep him on the field.
“He thought it’s something that I would be good at because of how passionate I was about it, and I decided as soon as I was done playing that I wanted to give coaching a chance,” Dorta said.
He worked alongside his former teammates during his first season of coaching before moving to Wofford College in South Carolina during 2022 and 2023 to work as the director of player development his first year and volunteer assistant and first base coach his second year.
Moving down south didn’t disconnect him from his Lebanon County roots.
“Even from a young age, there were people in the community that were great and super supportive,” Dorta said.
He said from T-ball to high school baseball, his coaches supported him through his journey, and the relationships he formed helped him land this job.
The Marlin’s assistant GM reached out to Todd Interdonato, Wofford’s head coach, and asked if he knew anyone looking to get a start in pro ball. Interdonato gave them Dorta’s name.
Dorta said he went through multiple interviews, questionnaires and video submissions, and finally got the call at the end of June.
“I was just full of excitement and gratitude and I felt so energized,” Dorta said. “It’s such a cool opportunity, and I was really excited to get down to Jupiter and start working right away.”
Dorta said the specific minor league team he’ll work with within the organization is still up in the air for next season.
No matter what team he coaches, he said his system stays consistent.
“I really just hone in on baserunning,” Dorta said. “I’m watching video a lot, doing different drills and getting feedback from people, but it’s all centered around baserunning specifically.”
But it isn’t all about the game to Dorta. He said he tries to make real connections with his players.
“I’ve seen examples of people in my life who build very meaningful relationships and that’s something I really value, too,” he said. “Just getting to know the players and coaches on a personal level, what makes them tick, what their background is, what their story is, and just get to know them and be somebody that they can go to if they need anything and somebody that can be a friend to them outside of just baseball.”
He said that asking people questions and being genuinely interested in what they have to say can help build repertoire and a good team culture.
“Your culture really sets the tone, and you want everyone thinking alike and playing similarly — goals and values,” he said. “The Marlins and I have the same goals and values, so I just want to be able to bring that type of culture that we’re trying to build to any organization that I end up going to.”
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