Akron – The Northeast Ohio Baseball Coaches Association announced the recipients of the Coach of the Year Awards on Wednesday at Canal Park.
These awards included the Coach of the Year Award, and the Assistant Coach of the Year Award. In addition, coaching milestones were announced as well.
Shane Byler (Photo by Al Kornspan)
The NEOBCA Coach of the Year Awards were presented to Mark Kelly (Medina – Division I), Joe Peterson (Field – Division II), Cam Carson (Lakeview – Division III), and Shane Byler (Lake Center Christian – Division IV).
“We’re blessed with great players, and a great coaching staff and we appreciate the notoriety for the program,” said Field Head Baseball Coach Joe Peterson after receiving the award. “It’s pretty cool for Field Baseball.”
Coach Peterson also talked about the season that led to achieving the 2023 Coach of the Year Award.
Congratulations to @Field_Baseball head coach Joe Peterson on being selected as the 2023 @NEOBCA Division II Coach of the Year.@NEOSportsInside @falconathletes@GreatCleBaseCA pic.twitter.com/b159D62SEl
— Alan Kornspan (@careersinsports) June 29, 2023
“Tremendous season for us, 23-8, and we made it to regionals. Our senior class was instrumental. They have been part of a lot of good wins here at Field. They led us the whole way and it was a great season for us.”
Rich Havrilla (Photo by Al Kornspan)
The NEOBCA also presented the Assistant Coach of the Year awards on Wednesday. The NEOBCA 2023 Assistant Coach of the Year Awards were presented to Ron Spears (Kent Roosevelt – Division I), Rich Havrilla (Canfield – Division II), John Bakalar (Chagrin Falls – Division III), and Tyler Sweeney (Lisbon David Anderson – Division IV).
John Bakalar (Photo by Al Kornspan)
Congratulations to @krriderbaseball assistant coach Ron Spears on being selected as the 2023 @NEOBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year.@NEOSportsInside @rriderathletics@GreatCleBaseCA pic.twitter.com/u1m1z8nDoe
— Alan Kornspan (@careersinsports) June 29, 2023
“We had a great season, it was special for us,” said Field Assistant Baseball Coach Ron Spears after receiving the award. We had a group of seniors that we started in a youth program years ago. We would sit back year after year waiting and wondering when that group was going to come through and how good they were going to be and what they were going to grow into as players. We weren’t surprised. We had the Co-Pitcher of the Year, first-team all conference guys in a good conference, we had second team guys, honorable mention guys and we were really happy with how they performed. Tough to let them go, but being a part of that was special. For me, to get a call after watching that happen and have someone tell me that your peers nominated you and elected you as Assistant Coach of the Year was like icing on the cake. You do it for the kids, but when your peers recognize your efforts, it makes it special.”
Ron Spears (Photo by Al Kornspan)
Along with announcing the Coach of the Year Awards, the NEOBCA also announced major coaching milestones. Achieving 100 victories this season included Ben Boka (Bay), Mike Paes (Garrettsville), DJ Rapposelli (Mayfield), Steve Young (Wooster), and Matt Pointing (North Ridgeville). Also, Justin McDowell was recognized for achieving 150 victories.
Coaches recognized for winning their 200th game this season were Ed Anthony (Labrae), Bruce Lisicky (Elyria Catholic), and Ed Piazza (Rocky River). Also, Dan Ransom from Firelands got his 250th career victory, while Mike Sweeney (Chagrin Falls) got his 400th career victory.
After the awards were presented the NEOBCA held four all-star games.
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