WEOL Forecast Mag - WEOL Radio 930 AMweol.northcoastnow.com/files/2011/03/SpringForecast2013.pdfWEOL with the words of wisdom from Walt Whitman, but something tells me to use it again

News. Sports. Talk.News. Sports. Talk.

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1Spring 2013 FORECAST Magazine

2012 Lorain County Mr. Baseball was Brandyn Sittinger of Keystone.Brandyn helped lead Keystone to its second straight Division 3 District champi-onship. He compiled an 802 mark on the mound with a 1.04 ERA. Brandynonly allowed 32 hits and 9 earned runs in 65 innings during which he struck out103 batters and walked 16. At the plate, Brandyn hit .400, had 38 hits andscored 38 runs, drove in 24 runs and stole seven bases. Brandyn is now pitch-ing at Division I Marshall University.

2012 Lorain County Miss Softball was Kenzie Conrad of Keystone. Kenziewon just about every honor imaginable after leading 32-0 Keystone to the statechampionship. She was 1st team All-American and Gatorade State Player ofthe Year in softball. In 2012, Kenzie was 25-0 on the mound with a 0.74 ERAand 178 strikeouts in 142 innings. She also batted .485 with 44 RBI, 16 dou-bles, two triples and 11 home runs. Kenzie is now playing at Division IUniversity of Akron.

ABOUT THE COVER:

News. Sports. Talk.News. Sports. Talk.

LORAIN COUNTY SOFTBALL PREVIEW . . . .pg. 3

LORAIN COUNTY BASEBALL PREVIEW . . . .pg. 6

LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS PREVIEWAndy “Bull” Barch tells us why 2013 is the season of change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 8

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAMETim Alcorn declares his love for baseball & softball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 13

CLEVELAND INDIANS PREVIEWJim Rosenhaus tells us why Tribe fans should beexcited for the 2013 season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 14

BASEBALL SCHEDULESLAKE ERIE CRUSHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 10CLEVELAND INDIANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 17

WEOL BROADCAST SCHEDULESKOLCZUN & KOLCZUN DIAMOND DUELS . .pg. 2THE CRUSHERS ON WEOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 8FROM THE DUGOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg.15

WEOL FORECAST MAGAZINEWEOL FORECAST MAGAZINESPRING 2013 PREVIEWSPRING 2013 PREVIEW

A Publication of AM 930 WEOLA Publication of AM 930 WEOLVolume 14 Issue 3

VP/GENERAL MANAGERLonnie Gronek

LOCAL SALES MANAGERTim Alcorn

EDITORKatie M. Loftis

ASSISTANT EDITORS

FEATURE WRITERS

COVER DESIGNBozCorn Productions

PUBLISHERDouthit Communications

Craig AdamsTim Alcorn

Tom Hutchison

Suzy PetersBruce VanDyke

Tim AlcornJim Allen

Andy Barch

Jim RosenhausTodd Shapiro

Spring 2013 FORECAST Magazine2

"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, wehave observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a form of 'ball'. Let usgo forth for awhile and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms.The game of 'ball' is glorious." -Walt Whitman

I can’t recall how many years I’ve opened the spring edition of FORECAST from AM930WEOL with the words of wisdom from Walt Whitman, but something tells me to use it again andagain. Perhaps it reflects a time gone by; perhaps its signals a new time, a fresh start...time to get out-doors after a cold and snowy winter.

This year, there is plenty of excitement and anticipation to go around. The Cleveland Indianswill take the field with a new manager and at least two new players who have been All-Stars andthe Lake Erie Crushers hope to return to the playoffs under new leadership.

And of course, young men and women across Lorain County have been eager to return to thediamonds to show what they can do.

Special thanks go to the outstanding advertisers who are supporting this magazine and ourincomparable broadcast schedule of high school baseball and high school softball.

Thanks also go to the athletic directors,managers and coaches for their support.It is indeed time to, “Play Ball!”

Craig R. AdamsOperations Manager

AM930 WEOL


By: Todd Shapiro

You can’t top perfection. Itwould be impossible for anyteam in 2013 to surpass whatthe Keystone Wildcatsaccomplished in 2012. Notonly did they win a DivisionII State Championship with a7-2 win over Greenville atAkron’s Firestone Stadium,they also won a mythicalnational championship, fin-ishing number one in thefinal MaxPreps Xcellent 25National Softball Rankings,and ended the year with anunblemished 32-0 record.

In winning their third statechampionship in school his-tory, the Wildcats set thestandard by which everyfuture team will be judged.Keystone shattered the state-record with 45 home runs,which according to recordscompiled by the NationalFederation of State HighSchool Associations onlyfour teams in the history ofthe sport have hit moreround-trippers in a season.

Keystone pitcher KenzieConrad won National Playerof the Year honors after asenior season in which shebatted .485 with 11 homeruns and 44 RBIs. In thepitchers circle Conrad went25-0 with 14 shutouts and a0.74 ERA. She struck out

178 batters in 142 inningspitched with just 15 earnedruns and only 17 walks. Shefinished with a career recordof 66-5.

Her teammate Erin Pondwon the Lorain CountySoftball Coaches AssociationPlayer of the Year award aftera 2012 season in which shehit for a team-high .510 bat-ting average. Pond also had

11 doubles, five triples andnine home runs. She drove in47 runs, stole 13 bases andfinished the year with an on-base percentage of .598.

Pond and Conrad are nowteammates at the Universityof Akron.

Wildcats manager JimPiazza also added to his tro-phy case winning theESPNHS National Coach of

the Year award. Piazza has acareer record of 286-35 in his10 years at Keystone. However, Keystone wasn’tthe only Lorain County teamto do big things in 2012.

Elyria made its ninth tripto the state tournament andits third in four years beforeeventually falling to Lebanon3-1 in the Division I statesemifinals. After losing toMentor on Opening Day thePioneers won 26 of their next27 games, including winningan eighth consecutive districtchampionship. Elyria coach Ken Fenik willbe looking to replace two ofhis top hitters from last sea-son — Darien Ward who hit.483 with 20 stolen bases,who is now playing atCleveland State and AlannaWilliams, who led thePioneers with 41 hits andtook her talents south toWright State University, justoutside of Dayton. Fenik, who will be beginninghis 19th season as the Elyriacoach, will have his toppitcher returning the rubberthis spring, Caitlyn Minney,who compiled a 21-2 recordduring her junior season andhas already signed a NationalLetter of Intent to play atYoungstown State University

2013 LORAIN COUNTY SOFTBALL PREVIEW

See Softball on page 4

Steve Manheim/The Chronicle-Telegram

Elyria’s Caitlyn Minney returns to the rubber!


next year. Her teammateMelanie Woodard alsoaccepted a softball scholar-ship from Cleveland StateUniversity.

Black River came one winaway from making it a trio ofarea teams in the state tour-nament advancing to theregional finals before drop-ping a heartbreaking 1-0decision to WarrenChampion. Pirate pitcherDagmar Smith had a 16-3record last season despitemissing the second half ofthe regular season after suf-fering a back injury, whichwas eventually diagnosed asa cracked vertebra. However,Smith returned to the teamfor the postseason and fin-ished the year with 144 strikeouts in just 108 inningspitched.

But that was then and thisnow. What does 2013 have instore for Lorain County’ssandlot heroes?

An early test for manylocal teams comes in theform of the Prebis MemorialTournament. The event,which features 30 teamsfrom across Ohio andMichigan, is hosted byKeystone and has grown toseven fields with gamesplayed both in LaGrange andWellington. The Prebis annu-ally attracts the top teams inOhio and this year is no dif-ferent, with two defendingstate champions, six of the16 state defending regionalchampions and 10 teams thatadvanced to the regionalfinals in their home state.

There will be seven LorainCounty teams taking thefield in the Prebis. In addi-

tion to the host Wildcats –Elyria, Columbia,Wellington, Avon, Vermilionand North Ridgeville willtake place in the two-dayevent which will be playedon April 26th – 27th.

Elyria will also host itsown event – the ElyriaSoftball Classic on April 13. In addition, Lorain Countywill be represented in a seriesof showcase events that arehosted by the Akron Racersand played at the site of thestate finals – FirestoneStadium. Firelands and NorthRidgeville will take part inthe 2013 Spring Showcasethe weekend of April 19th –21st. One week later AvonLake and Clearview will bedown in Akron for the 5thAnnual Racers Rock N FireShowcase. One tournament that is noton the schedule this spring isthe JB Firestone Invitationalwhich is usually hosted byBlack River. Scheduling con-flicts forced a one-year hiatusfor the event. The Pirates willstill play in the Butch Cookinvitational at SmithvilleHigh School.

It should be another excit-ing season of conference playas well. The Patriot AthleticConference returns a wealthof pitching talent. Clearview won its firstStripes Division title inschool history last yearbehind the pitching of SaraKaya, who had a record of18-7 and averaged two strike-outs per inning pitched.Firelands senior SamanthaDostall, another of the PAC’stop arms, made a name forherself is the district semifi-nal pitching a complete gameshutout, in a 1-0 win overClearview. Dostall was also

one of the area’s top hitterswith a .524 batting average.

Columbia’s KaileyMinarchick had a strongfreshman season and isexpected to share the pitch-ing duties with ChristineLyzen for the Raiders.

Alli Rangel will take overthe bulk of the pitchingduties for Wellington,replacing Olivia Wulfhoop.The Dukes, as well as BlackRiver, are looking to knockKeystone off of the top of theStars Division standings forthe first time since 2008.

Elyria has dominated theNortheast Ohio Conferencein recent years, going 10-0 inleague play last season, and itshould again be a two teamrace between the Pioneersand Medina, who both

advanced to the Division Istate semifinals in 2012.

Amherst won its fourthSouthwestern Conferencechampionship in five seasonsin 2012 and has a talentedteam again this spring. Inaddition to the usual suspectsin the SWC race, Westlakeand Brecksville, look for theShoregals to make a run thisseason.

Avon Lake returns a trioof future college players inAlexis Thomas, a Division Irecruit headed to WrightState, Abby Rogers and AnneWennerberg, who havealready committed toDivision III Otterbein andCase Western ReserveUniversity respectively, froma 2012 team that nearlyknocked off Elyria in theDivision I district tourna-ment.

Midview, led byCleveland State recruit KateThomas, has won at least ashare of the West ShoreConference each of the lastfive seasons and will be nearthe top of the standing againthis season. Avon andVermilion both hope to chal-lenge for the WSC title aswell. The Sailors have one ofthe area’s most exciting play-ers in centerfielder AuBreeLaForce, A second-team, all-Ohio selection, who led thecounty in stolen bases in2012.

There are always manyquestion marks going into anew season but one thing iscertain – there will be plentyof outstanding softball playedthroughout Lorain County in2013. Don’t take my wordfor it, go out and check out agame yourself and supportsome of the best softballplayers in Ohio.

SOFTBALLfrom page 3

Linda Murphy/The Chronicle-Telegram

Columbia’s KaileyMinarchick looks tocome back evenstronger in the 2013season.



By: Jim Allen

In my 43 years of cover-ing Lorain County HighSchool sports, I cannotrecall any sport that hasexperienced head coachingchanges at three of its win-ningest schools from theprevious season. But, that’swhat has happened in base-ball since last spring.

Keystone, Amherst andMidview all have new lead-ers in the dugout. TheKeystone Wildcats were21-9 last year, LorainCounty’s only regionalqualifier in baseball for asecond straight year, andPac Stars champs for a thirdconsecutive season. MarkClement has retired after allthat success. Assistantcoach Bert Fitzgerald hastaken over the reins. The1987 Keystone grad willhave to deal with the lossesof Lorain County’s Mr.Baseball, Brandyn Sittingerand Caleb Schillace, bothplaying Division I baseballnow. But, Fitzgerald hasgood talent returning,including Marcus Gunterwho hit a home run in the8th inning of last May’sregional game againstYoungstown Ursuline, along

with Kendle Stiner, whohad seven doubles lastspring as well as PierceYoung.

Amherst was 19-9 andshared the SWC crown withAvon Lake, Westlake andBrecksville. Eight-yearcoach Al McConihe hasbeen replaced by assistantMatt Rositano, one of theleading base stealers inOhio history while starringat Admiral King. Matt isthe nephew of Comet girlsbasketball coach JohnRositano and brother ofLorain High volleyballcoach Lynne Rositano, bothwith winning records. Mattwelcomes back sometremendous talent like first-team All-Ohioan Connor

Morris who put together a17 game hitting streak enroute to a .468 batting aver-age with a county best 44hits, Griffin Weir, who hasbeen accorded a Division Ibaseball scholarship toprestigious Stanford, JustinMott, who hit .367 with 34RBI, and a good pitchingstaff that includes ShawnReid.

Midview enjoyed an 18-9 campaign and shared theWest Shore title with Avon.John Justice is now anadministrator in theBrunswick School systemand long time assistant,1987 Midview grad ScottJalowiec has taken over.Jalowiec, a member of theMidview Athletic Hall of

Fame, has two sure firefuture members of the elitegroup on his team in EricLauer and Cody Callaway.Lauer, who will continuehis career at Kent StateUniversity, struck out acounty high 103 batters lastspring, with a 1.65 ERAand 5-2 record. Lauer alsohas power at the plate asshown by his 5 home runs.Callaway, a junior, was 5-1on the mound and hit .396.In addition, Steven Fryebatted .363 with 28 RBI.

Avon, besides sharing theShore crown with Midview,was the county’s winningestteam at 24-4 and the high-est ranked in the state, num-ber 5 in Division I. Coach

2013 LORAIN COUNTY BASEBALL PREVIEW

See Baseball on page 7


The Middies will be returning tremendous talent in 2013.

Frank Desmit is back as areseveral key players fromthat outstanding team. MattWentz was 8-0 on themound with 1.37 ERA.Wentz did not allowAmherst a hit in the districtsemifinals until the seventhinning. Brandon Linna hita fabulous .481 whileDonny Kelly and AustinBevins also had lofty bat-ting averages.

Like Avon, a districtfinalist, but in Division II,Firelands fashioned a 19-10 record under Ted Busch.The Falcons will have for afourth year the Division IICounty Player of the Year,Joe San Felippo, who hit afantastic .537 with 43 hits,3 home runs, 33 RBI and22 stolen bases. Anothertop returnee is GarrettMonhollen who drove in 26runs.

Elyria Catholic was 18-10 in Bruce Lisicky’s firstyear as Panther coach. EChas Chris Tomshack whotossed a gem in the districtsemis in a 1-0 loss to even-tual champ Keystone, DanWhitacre, who blasted 2home runs and also pitchedwell, plus several offensivestandouts, including JoeyBegany and Angelo Cruz.

Lorain High enjoyed a17-9 season under BradTernes, despite losing starhitter Nic Billingsley earlyin the season with a kneeinjury. Billingsley, whoopened the campaign withfour hits against Midview,will be back for a fourthvarsity year as will be Ryan

Osko, who began his careerat Elyria Catholic. Osko hit.381 last spring, earning 1stteam All-County Division I.Lefty Adrian Calez was oneof the county’s top strikeoutartists on the mound.Billingsley, Osko and Calezas well as catcher NateDrabiak and pitcher KyleStumphauzer showed theirteam togetherness by play-ing on St. Anthony’s CYObasketball team this winter.Lorain will be playing its

home games at the beautifulPipe Yard this spring.

Columbia captured thePac Stripes championshipand will have a couple ofjuniors who contributedmightily to the Raiders’success. Sean Nagle hit.371. On the mound,Michael Boey was 6-2 witha 2.05 ERA, 63 strikeoutsand two saves.

One of the four teamsthat shared theSouthwestern Conferencecrown, Avon Lake, bringsback Brad Hamilton whohit .360 with 27 hits and 11stolen bases and made 1stteam All-County as a soph-

omore as well as the multi-talented David Winkel whobatted .356, with 26 hits, 24runs scored and 15 stolenbases in addition to beingone of the area’s top hur-dlers in track.

Elyria High finishednear the .500 mark playingin a rugged division of theNOC. The Pioneers haveplenty of talent returningincluding Mike Parron whohit .473 with 35 hits and 24RBI, Mike Izzarelli with a

.376 average, 32 hits, 35runs, and 19 stolen bases,Dan Ratliff who hit 2homers and stole 12 bases,and Chris Emerson whoscored 24 runs.

Always respectableVermilion will have stand-out Vinny Ragnoni back fora fourth varsity year. Vinnymade the front page of theChronicle-Telegram thispast December. Whilebeing a Good Samaritantrying to rescue a dog thatwas stuck in the VermilionRiver, Vinny fell down a40-foot cliff onto the riverbank. It took 90 minutes infreezing weather conditions,

but, fortunately Vinny andthe dog were rescued.Look for Vinny to make thesports headlines this springas he has done so often inthe past with his outstand-ing hitting. The Sailorsalso have good ones inGarrett Koutsopoulos andMitch Peterson and are hop-ing that Nick Dlugosz canreturn to his fine pitchingform after missing last sea-son due to injury.

Clearview has one of thecounty’s best in Ryan Vargowho hit .419 with fourtriples, 21 RBI and a 2.31ERA on the mound with 40strikeouts. Roger Englewas honorable mention all-county as a freshman.

Brookside has a coupleof underclassmen who alsowon honorable mentionhonors, Matthew Seekinsand Cameron Drew plus apitcher who fanned 34,Greg Maust.

Wellington’s top veteranis Erik Fehlan who hit .360with 27 hits, two homers,31 RBI and as a pitcher,fanned 54. JacobGrimmett had eight dou-bles.

North Ridgeville juniorMatt Feierabend was 1stteam All-County with a.375 batting average.

Oberlin has 3 returneeswith impressive stats.Matayo Wyman hit .493with 33 hits, Tyler Buga.462 with 36 hits and LiamMcMillan .384 with 28 hits.

Open Door has a heavyhitter in Jordan Wright withhis .438 average last spring.

Leading Lake Ridgeshould be Jordan Johnsonand Owen Mullaney.


BASEBALLfrom page 6


Falcon Joe San Felippo is ready to bring it inhis fourth year.

By: Andy “Bull” BarchVoice of the Crushers

The 2013 season promisesto be a lot of things for theLake Erie Crushers, but ifthere is one word that accu-rately describes what the sea-son will be like, that wordwould be different.

The differences will benoticeable right away, and onthe field it starts with a brandnew manager. After four suc-cessful seasons with managerJohn Massarelli, the Crushersdecided to go in anotherdirection with their field gen-eral.

On December 19th, theLake Erie Crushersannounced Jeff Isom as theirsecond manager in franchisehistory. Isom, no stranger tothe Independent circuit, hav-ing spent seven years as amanger with four differentteams, has a very impressivetrack record in the FrontierLeague.

Isom, who spent a yearwith the Canton Crocodiles(2000), two with theWashington Wild Things(2002-‘03) and one with theTraverse City Beach Bums(2006), has an incredible 252-

184 record in the FrontierLeague. Altogether in hisseven year tenure as a manag-

er in the Independent circuit,he owns a career mark of337-291.

In 2007, he joined theMilwaukee Brewers organiza-tion, managing the HelenaBrewers and one year later hewas promoted to the SouthAtlantic League, where he ledthe West Virginia Power to adivision championship. Overthe next three years with theBrewers, he managed theWisconsin Timber Rattlers(2009-‘10) of the MidwestLeague, the Brevard CountyManatees (2011) of theFlorida State League, and lastyear he went back to thePioneer League to manage atHelena for a second time.

Prior to taking the reigns asa manager, Isom enjoyed anice playing career. He wasselected by the PittsburghPirates in the 18th round ofthe 1993 Major LeagueBaseball draft out of PurdueUniversity. Isom spent threeseasons (1993-‘95) pitchingfor the Pirates and San DiegoPadres organizations, beforesigning with Fargo-Moorheadin the Northern League. Isomcompiled a career record of28-28, with an ERA of 4.44over seven professional sea-sons.


See CRUSHERS on page 9

BATTER UP:

Crushers new manager, Jeff Isom.Steve Manheim/The Chronicle-Telegram

A Look at the 2013 Lake Erie Crushers

While many of the playerson the field will be different,there will be a few names onthe roster, very familiar toCrusher fans everywhere. Noname is more recognizablethan Andrew Davis. Davis,who is Lake Erie’s veteranexception, will enter is fifthseason with the Crushers in2013. Last year, Davis ledthe Crushers with 14 home-runs and 67 RBI’s. He hit.277 on the year, and beltedout 25 doubles and is stillconsidered one of the bestdefensive shortstops and thirdbasemen in the league.

Also back from last year,will be 1B/DH RussMoldenhauer, who was notonly a 2012 Frontier LeagueAll Star, but he also won theHomerun Derby competition.Moldenhauer was a key cogin the middle of the lineuplast season, hitting .285 with a

team best, 32 doubles, to goalong with nine homerunsand 51 RBI’s.

One of the most impactfulrookies in the entire circuitlast season, Daniel Bowman,is back for his sophomorecampaign with the Crushers.Bowman burst onto the scenein 2012 after an incrediblefinish to his collegiate careerat Coastal Carolina. TheLake Erie outfielder hit .312on the year, and registered 15extra base hits, and 37 RBI’sin just 54 games.

While Davis, Bowman andMoldenhauer will be expectedto lead the charge for theCrushers offensively, theCrushers have a few returneesfrom the 2012 squad on thepitching staff as well. Fourveterans return from the 2012pitching staff, and a few otherpieces have been added aswell.

Fans will certainly miss thelikes of Paul Fagan in therotation, and Travis Risser in

the bullpen, but the Crusherswill return three out of theirtop five leaders in ERA lastseason – one of those beingMatt Smith, who was alsowith the Crushers in 2010.Last year, he pitched in fourgames last season, with arobust, 0.64 ERA over 14innings of work. TrevorLongfellow is back after anoutstanding 2012 season. Hespent time in the rotation, andin the bullpen, going 11-2,with a 3.35 ERA. From July26th-August 18th, Longfellowtossed 21 consecutive inningswithout allowing a run.

Also back from last year’sstaff is Mickey Jannis, whoproved to be one of the bestrelievers for the Crushersdown the stretch. Jannismade 31 relief appearancesthroughout the year. Despitea rough start to the season,Jannis still ended the yearwith a 2.53 ERA and 46strikeouts. The Crushers arealso bringing back EricGonzalez-Diaz. Gonzo had agreat 2011 season with theCrushers, and he tallied 118.1innings of work last season.

One of the additions to theclub, is Fostoria, Ohio, native,Alex Kaminski. Kaminskiwas acquired in January, forright-handed pitcher JasonSullivan. Kaminski comes tothe Crushers after an out-standing 2012 season with theGateway Grizzlies, where hewent 10-5, with an ERA of3.74.

The Mid AmericanConference championshipswill return for a second yearin a row at All Pro FreightStadium. The four-day eventwill begin on Wednesday,May 22nd.

Off the field, fans are sureto be entertained by a bevy ofin game promotions, promo-tional nights, and a series ofweekly promotions that willmake All Pro Freight Stadium

the place to be this summer. Weekly promotions will

lead off on May 17th withfireworks. There’s always aspectacular show to be seenafter every Friday homegame. Super Saturday’s willfeature a giveaway to the first1,000 fans. Just as last year,on Saturdays, families canpurchase 4 home box ticketsand 4 perfect game vouchersfor $44.

Two-fer-Tuesday is back aswell. Discounts on specialconcession items will beavailable at Stomper’s Grilleand Eddy’s Eatery and therewill be dollar hot dogs onWednesday nights. OnWednesdays, seniors will beable to buy a Home Box tick-et for $6.

Thursdays are still $1 beernight. College students pre-senting proper ID will be ableto purchase a general admis-sion ticket for $2 onThursdays.

Superhero Night returns onSaturday, June 1st and we areencouraging all fans to dressas their favorite superhero.

Our annual Pack the ParkPink will reign again this sea-son. Come out to the ballparkon Friday, August 16th to helpraise money for breast cancerresearch and stick around forthe Fireworks following.

The Kid’s Club is back andbigger than ever this year!Accompanying the likes ofKids Run the Show andStomper’s Birthday will bePirates and Princesses and aspecial Splash Day! EverySunday game will be filledwith many activities for kidsand adults alike.

Opening night is Friday,May 17th, and features a postgame fireworks extravaganza.For ticket information, callthe Crushers at 440-934-3636, or visit the Crusherswebsite, atwww.lakeeriecrushers.com.


CRUSHERSfrom page 8


s




By: Tim Alcorn

A few weeks ago, theclocks moved ahead, the daysbecame longer, and mythoughts moved forward aswell, to calling softball andbaseball throughout the springand summer on WEOL.Whether it’s on the highschool diamonds, or sittingwith Bull Barch callingCrusher games in Avon, myannouncing duties for the nextfew months involve balls andstrikes, home run calls, andlate inning rallies. Over thepast several years, I’ve grownto love calling these softballand baseball games (almost tothe same degree as basketball),and I would like to share withyou why the two games havedeveloped such a hold on me.

Starting with softball, toparaphrase a slogan the NBAused to use, “I LOVE callingthis game”. Perhaps it’sbecause of the sheer high levelof play that I have been hon-ored to witness over the yearsin Lorain County, or just theway the games seem to unfold,but I love calling softball. Ithas a pace that is so unique tothe game, yet in a sense, it issimilar to basketball. Theaction moves quickly, thegames tend to be very cleanlyplayed, and usually wind upclose at the end. That’s a play-by-play man’s dream. Whilethe moving of the pitchingrubber back three feet has hadthe desired effect of addingmore offense to the game,overall, most contests are stillsomewhat low scoring, whichalways adds drama to a broad-cast. I also love the “fun”aspect of high school softball.Make no mistake, the girlswho play are as fiercely com-petitive and locked in as any

other athletes in any othersports, but the dugout chants,the infield rituals, and the exu-berance displayed throughoutthe game make for an enter-taining atmosphere. I lovebeing around the game, andwith the incredible level of tal-ent displayed in this area yearafter year, I would urge you tocheck out some gamesthroughout the season. Youwon’t be disappointed.

To be an outstanding base-ball announcer, is probablyevery play-by-play man’s goal.When you think of greatsports play-by-play men overthe years, more often than not,you think of baseball announc-ers... they just roll off thetongue; Harry Caray, ErnieHarwell, Jack Buck, VinScully (and of course, TomHamilton is in a select groupof great broadcasters as well).They are institutions in theworld of broadcasting. But tobe a great baseball announcer,you have to have a unique setof talents that set you apartfrom the other sports. It’swhat makes baseball so chal-lenging from a broadcastingperspective, but also so muchfun to call.

First and foremost, baseballannouncers have to like to talk,have a conversation, and be afriend to the listener. Thatmay sound very simplistic andobvious, but it is so much easi-er said than done. Think ofpolitics when pundits describethe “likability” factor of a can-didate. Would you want to sitand have a burger with thatperson or a conversation onyour porch? Are they gen-uine? Baseball announcers arethe same. Baseball has somuch down time in betweenpitches, batters etc. that broad-casters have to have that con-tinual conversation with thelistener. I love the opportunityto do that. Maybe I’m just a“talker” or story teller at heart,but I genuinely enjoy thataspect of calling a baseballgame. It’s certainly the inverseof softball. Baseball is more(not always) leisurely, andslower paced, which lendsitself to a much different tonethan a football, basketball orsoftball broadcast. Think ofthe great announcers I listedabove (or maybe yourfavorite). They have all hadmonumental calls of greatplays or moments, obviously,

that’s what play-by-play guysare supposed to do. But Iwould guess you can alsothink of a great story they toldor just how they held yourinterest on a warm summernight listening to a game in theback yard. A great baseballannouncer can keep youengaged in the broadcast,whether it’s 10-1 in the 3rd, or2-2 in the 8th.

So for baseball, I love theslower pace of the game. I rel-ish the opportunity to bring itdown a notch and just have aconversation with a listener fora few hours. Sure, I’ll still getcranked up for a big rally inthe bottom of the ninth to wina game, or a bases clearingtriple, but I also love theopportunity to share some sto-ries with listeners either aboutthe game or wherever the con-versation may go. I know BullBarch and I have had somegreat discussions the past cou-ple of years about a myriad oftopics on the air. Some base-ball related, some not. Butthat’s the beauty of the sport. Itallows you as a broadcaster todo that. I recall a great come-dy bit by the late GeorgeCarlin, where he talked aboutthe leisurely aspect of baseballwhich was hilarious and yet sotrue. Baseball does not have afinal gun or buzzer or timedquarters. It moves at its’ ownpace and just takes you alongwith it. As an announcer, Iwant you to go along with itwith me. I would love for youto sit there with me, enjoy thegame, share some stories, andtake pleasure in the broadcast.

So let’s get ready for somesoftball and baseball this sum-mer. I love calling thosegames, more than I everthought I would. I hope youenjoy listening to them as well.

For the Love of the Game

The Changing TribeBy: Jim Rosenhaus

Play-by-Play Announcer

Creating hope and excite-ment in professional sportscan be a challenging and, attimes, daunting task. When afranchise is caught in a downperiod, with a string of losingseasons, the obstaclesbecome greater. The 2013Cleveland Indians have bro-ken down those barriers andcreated a team that hasbrought uncommon anticipa-tion to a fan base that hadgrown weary. How did ithappen? The following is alook at a 5 month period intime that has Northeast Ohiobaseball fans as excited for anew season as they have beenin quite some time.

The change truly began inlate September of last season.The Indians were tumblingtowards a fourth consecutivelosing season. Early seasonpromise had been shatteredon the heels of an 11 gamelosing streak that dovetailedinto an August in which theIndians went 5-24, the worstmonth in the 113 year historyof the franchise. OnSeptember 27th, managerManny Acta was fired. TheTribe had reached rock bot-

tom. Bench coach Sandy

Alomar Jr. replaced Acta forthe season’s final 6 games

and seeds of change wereplanted. One of the mostpopular players from theIndians glory days of the

1990’s, Alomar instilled afresh outlook on the team.While he wasn’t a lock tobecome the next manager ofthe Tribe for 2013, it wouldtake something unexpectedfor it not to happen. Theunexpected came in the formof Terry Francona. The 2-time World Series winningmanager of the Boston RedSox was just finishing a yearof television work withESPN after being let go byBoston following the 2011season. The two questionsregarding the “Francona tothe Indians” speculationwere, would he want to man-age again and would he wantto manage the Indians.

The answers came whenTerry Francona wasannounced as the 42nd man-ager of the Cleveland Indianson October 8th, 2012. WhyCleveland?

“I am here for two rea-sons,” said Francona that day.“Mark Shapiro and ChrisAntonetti. I met Mark at the1999 Winter Meetings. Thatmeeting led to a relationshipthat is going on 12 yearsnow. When I was let go bythe Phillies in 2000, Mark


See INDIANS on page 15

Terry Francona

reached out to me and Iended up as Special Assistantto Baseball Operations. Itwas there that I met Chris.We’ve kept in touch over theyears and I value not onlytheir friendship but theirleadership as well. I’m gen-uinely excited to tackle thechallenges ahead of us as aunit.”

Francona was adamantthat the Indians managerialjob was the only one hewould have left ESPN for.Add in the historical perspec-tive, with Terry’s dad Titohaving spent his best years asa player with the Tribe from1959 to 1964 and Terry’syouth being spent inCleveland and it truly is agreat fit.

It didn’t take long for thenew Tribe skipper to go towork. His boundless energyand focus on communicationsaw him burn up the phonelines in reaching out to everycurrent player on the Triberoster. In many cases, per-sonal player visits took himto all corners of the UnitedStates and beyond.

“It’s so important to knowyour players personally,” said

Francona. “You have to betruthful with them and even-tually you are probably goingto have to deliver news thatthey don’t want to hear. It’s awhole lot easier to do that ifyou’ve developed a level oftrust and respect with them.”

In addition to getting toknow his players, the newTribe manager was assistingGeneral Manager ChrisAntonetti and his staff inreshaping and improving theTribe roster. In 2012, theIndians fielded a lineup thatwas filled primarily with lefthanded hitters, a lineup thathad gaping holes in the out-field and at first base. Theresult was a team that scoredthe 2nd fewest runs in theAmerican League. Combinethat with a pitching staff thatfinished the season with theleague’s highest ERA and it’seasy to see why the Tribestaggered to a 68-94 record.

The first major offseasonmove to address roster needswas a whopping 3 team tradein December that saw theIndians move popular out-fielder Shin Soo Choo to theCincinnati Reds. In return,the Tribe received speedyoutfielder Drew Stubbs fromthe Reds and relief pitchersMatt Albers and Bryan Shaw,

along with young pitcherTrevor Bauer, regarded bymany experts as one of thetop pitching prospects in thegame today.

Coupled with the acquisi-tion of super utility manMike Aviles and catcher YanGomes in a trade withToronto, plus the signing ofrighthanded slugger MarkReynolds, the addressing ofspecific needs was off to agood start. However, the bestwas yet to come.

Looking for a consistent,established run producer, theTribe front office targetedfree agent outfielder Nick

Swisher. One of only 4 play-ers in baseball to hit at least20 home runs the past eightseasons, Swisher also pro-vides an energy and enthusi-asm for the game that may beunequalled. The signingbecame official shortlybefore the New Year and theformer Ohio State first base-man didn’t hold back in hishappiness for his new teamand town.

“I never thoughtCleveland would be in themix when this free agentprocess started,” said theplayer his teammates refer to


INDIANSfrom page 14

See INDIANS on page 16

Michael Bourn


as “Swish”. “The way theIndians rolled out the red car-pet for myself and my familywas amazing. We’ve alreadybeen out there house huntingand are looking to getinvolved in the community.Add in the way this organiza-tion is run and the thingsthey are looking to do in thefuture, I couldn’t be happier.”

Team Antonetti andFrancona and the staff didnot rest with the signing ofSwisher. Pitcher Brett Myerswas signed as a free agent tobolster the starting rotation.Various veteran players weresigned to minor league con-tracts, with invitations tomajor league spring training.The likes of longtime sluggerJason Giambi, along withpitchers Scott Kazmir andDaisuke Matsuzaka all havea chance to be contributors tothe 2013 Indians.

But the best was yet tocome. With spring trainingalready underway, there wasstill an intriguing outfielderon the free agent board.Michael Bourn had playedout his contract with Atlantain 2012. The Indians wereattracted to his speed, leadoffcapabilities for the battingorder and superlative defensein centerfield. On February15th he was signed to a fouryear contract.

We feel we’ve added oneof the best center fielders inbaseball,” Antonetti said.“He’s a dynamic player, anexceptional defender in cen-ter field and can reallyimpact the game on thebases. His accomplishmentsspeak for themselves.”

The result of all the off-

season moves has been felt atthe box office for theIndians. The day the Bournsigning was announced, sea-son ticket sales for one daysurpassed the normal amountfor one month in past off sea-sons. When single gametickets were put on sale inlate February, the HomeOpener sold out in 6 minutes.

While so much emphasiswas centered on acquisitionsin the offseason, the youthfulcomposition of the Tribe ros-ter can often be overlooked.Catcher Carlos Santana, sec-ond baseman Jason Kipnis,third baseman LonnieChisenhall and outfielderMichael Brantley are allregarded as outstandingyoung players nearing theprime of their major leaguecareers. Mix in a bullpenanchored by closer ChrisPerez and set up man VinniePestano and you have themakings of a solid ballclub.

One of the questionmarks from a year ago is thestarting rotation. The hopeis for Justin Masterson andUbaldo Jimenez to return topast form. The addition ofBrett Myers will help andZach McAllister’s continueddevelopment will be fun towatch. The fifth spot isseemingly up for grabsbetween Scott Kazmir,Daisuke Matsuzaka, CoreyKluber, Trevor Bauer andCarlos Carrasco who is onhis way back from TommyJohn surgery.

On the whole, theCleveland Indians have beenone of the most interestingteams to follow throughoutthe offseason leading up tothe new season and will cer-tainly be a team watch in2013.

Nick Swisher

Jason Kipnis

INDIANSfrom page 15

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