May 22, 2008
B-W Baseball Team Raises More Than $1,000 to Strike Out Cancer on Senior Day
Despite losing its last two home games of the 2008 season, the Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team and its fans still had plenty to be proud of at the Senior Day doubleheader against Malone College at Heritage Field on May 1.
During the pregame festivities, the Yellow Jackets seniors — Shaun Slater, Kevin Shenker, Nick Radca, Nate Luken and Jerry Breedlove — were introduced to an appreciative Senior Day crowd and applauded for their hard work and dedication to the B-W baseball program.
The Senior Day doubleheader was also a “Strike Out Cancer” fundraising event organized by assistant coach Adam Howard and his wife, Jeanette. Throughout the afternoon, the Yellow Jackets sold commemorative T-shirts and freshly-grilled hot dogs to raise money for the KDH Hodgkin’s Disease Foundation. They also invited B-W alumnus and cancer survivor Phil Lapse to throw out the first pitch and sit with them in the dugout as their special guest.
By the end of the day, the Jackets and their fans had raised more than $1,000 to help fund research towards a cure for Hodgkin’s disease.
B-W assistant football coach Ian Shoemaker volunteered to take pictures of the Senior Day activities for the Online Almanac, and you can check out more of his snapshots in the 2008 B-W Baseball Senior Day Photo Set. Thanks, Coach Shoemaker!
April 23, 2008
600!
Baldwin-Wallace College baseball coach Bob Fisher won his 600th game on March 8, 2005, at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla., when the Yellow Jackets beat Dominican College 8–4 in the first game of a doubleheader sweep.
The Jackets scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to give Coach Fisher an exciting, extra-inning win for his milestone victory.
Third baseman Mike Turchan’s dad was at the game with his camera, and he captured the antics of catcher Pat Gallagher and the rest of the seniors as they helped Coach Fisher celebrate number 600.
Gallagher was joined in the revelry by Turchan, on the right, and Adam Pajakowski, Bob Glavan and Jay Watson on the left. Andrew Russell is hiding behind Pajakowski and Glavan, and Jason Albright and Nick Slater are behind Gallagher.
April 22, 2008
Join the B-W Baseball Alumni at Heritage Field on Saturday
All Baldwin-Wallace College alumni baseball players are invited to Heritage Field this Saturday to cheer on the Yellow Jackets as they take on Marietta College in a critical Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader.
The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and we’ll be watching all the action from the right field corner.
If you would like some burgers and dogs while you’re watching the Jackets beat the Pioneers, please e-mail us as soon as possible. We’re asking for a donation of $15 per person or $25 for a family to help us cover the bill from food services.
There’s just a slight chance of morning showers forecast for Saturday, but if that changes, you can check the B-W Athletics Home Page or call Coach Fisher’s voicemail at (440) 826–2182 for rainout announcements.
Please bring your family or grab a few of your teammates and join us for some fun at the old ballpark!
March 9, 2008
Bob Fisher Opens 40th Season as B-W Baseball Coach
Baldwin-Wallace College head coach Bob Fisher opened his 40th season at the helm of the B-W baseball team today with an 18–8 win over Emerson College at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Coach Fisher graduated from B-W in 1963 and became the head baseball coach at his alma mater when Lars Wagner, who had rebuilt the program after it was suspended during World War II, retired in 1967.
In his first few years on the job, he put his stamp on the program by expanding the schedule, making the preseason southern trip an annual event, establishing a junior varsity team and upgrading the baseball field. He also introduced an aggressive style of play that attacked opponents on defense as well as on offense.
After an 8–10 rookie season in 1968, Fisher’s Yellow Jackets won the Ohio Athletic Conference Northern Division championship in 1969, and then won back-to-back division titles in 1972 and 1973.
When the OAC realigned to a single division in 1985, B-W won the regular season race and hosted the conference’s inaugural postseason championship tournament. The Jackets won the tournament with a tripleheader sweep on the final day that was capped by a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Marietta College in the championship game. They went on to host three of the first four championship tournaments.
The Jackets also made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs in 1985, finishing third in the Midwest Regional after being eliminated by the eventual national champion University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. They earned three more trips to the NCAA playoffs in the next five years.
Entering his fourth decade in the B-W dugout, Coach Fisher is the dean of OAC coaches with a 362–231–8 (.610) conference record, 17 postseason appearances and four coach of the year awards.
Overall, he has guided the Yellow Jackets through 1,243 games and posted a 651–580–12 (.529) career record. He has more wins at B-W than any other coach in school history and ranks 18th on the NCAA’s list of the all-time winningest coaches in Division III baseball.
[ B-W Baseball Coaches Roster ]
January 16, 2008
Curt Karpinski Inducted into Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame
Baldwin-Wallace College hall of fame pitcher Curt Karpinski will be inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Columbus.
Curt was an outstanding pitcher for the Yellow Jackets from 1969 to 1972, compiling an 8–5 record and a 2.21 earned run average in 29 appearances and striking out 149 batters in 122 innings. He was the Ohio Athletic Conference strikeout champion in 1971 and topped the conference in 1972 with a 6–0 record and a 0.63 ERA — the lowest ever recorded by a B-W pitcher. He holds the school record for the lowest career ERA along with fellow hall of famer Bob Love ’68, and he allowed fewer hits per game than any other pitcher in B-W history.
After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Curt signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians and spent two years in their minor league system before injuries ended his career. In his rookie season, he struck out 70 batters in 66 innings and posted a 1.77 ERA, earning him a spot on the Gulf Coast League’s all-star team.
In 1988, after a successful stint as the head baseball coach at Oberlin College, he was hired for the top job at Elyria High School. Over the next 17 seasons, he guided the Pioneers to a 236–148 (.615) record and won six conference championships, five sectional titles, three district crowns and a trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Final Four in 1992.
Several of the ballplayers he mentored at Elyria went on to successful careers at his alma mater, including recent All-OAC outfielders Brian Johnson ’01 and Matt Green ’06, and All–Mideast Region catcher Joey Dallas ’93, who followed him into the B-W Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
Friday’s ceremony will mark Curt’s third induction into an athletic hall of fame. He was inducted into B-W’s hall of fame in 1992, and he was a member of the inaugural hall of fame class at his high school alma mater, Keystone High School, in 1997.
[ B-W Baseball Athletic Hall of Famers ]
May 27, 2007
Home Runs for Heritage Campaign Tops $3,000
The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball alumni are proud to announce that this year’s Home Runs for Heritage campaign raised more than $3,000 to help pay for the design and construction of a new press box at Heritage Field.
Dozens of generous B-W baseball alumni, parents and fans pledged a total of $216 for each of the 11 home runs the Yellow Jackets hit this season, giving us $2,376 in promised donations. We also received $760 in unpledged, direct donations, bringing our total proceeds to $3,136.
All of the pledges and donations that we collect from our supporters are immediately deposited in the college’s Heritage Field fund, but we plan to present a ceremonial check to Coach Fisher at this year’s alumni baseball game on Homecoming morning, October 13.
Thank you to everyone who made our inaugural Home Runs for Heritage campaign a success. If you missed your chance to join this season’s campaign, you can make an “off-season” donation to the Heritage Field fund at any time of year by sending a designated gift to B-W’s Development Office.
And you can look forward to another Home Runs for Heritage campaign next year!
March 9, 2007
B-W Baseball Alumni Kick Off Home Runs for Heritage Campaign
Heritage Field has come a long way since the 1950s, when a rudimentary ball field with a couple of benches and a chicken-wire backstop was carved out of abandoned farmland on the east end of the Baldwin-Wallace College campus.
Today, it has one of the best playing fields in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the facilities around it have steadily improved since the Yellow Jackets hosted back-to-back OAC championship tournaments in the mid-1980s. Just a few years ago, an eight-foot-high outfield fence was installed, and last season saw the debut of permanent bleachers.
But one thing about Heritage Field hasn’t changed in 50 years: There’s still no press box.
While our rivals’ ballparks, like John Carroll’s Schweikert Field and Otterbein’s Fishbaugh Field, have been upgraded with new press boxes in recent years, Heritage Field’s “press box” is nothing but a wooden shack with a beat-up scorer’s table that sits behind the backstop. It’s an eyesore, and it obstructs the view from our new bleachers.
For the last few years, the B-W baseball alumni have been raising money to build a new, modern press box facility with a team meeting room and training table, a recruiting office, a concession stand and restrooms.
This week we kicked off the “Home Runs for Heritage” campaign. We’re asking all of our alums to pledge a donation for every home run the Yellow Jackets hit during the 2007 season. All of the money raised will be contributed to the Heritage Field fund at B-W to help pay for the design and construction of our new press box.
We’re also inviting fans and supporters of the B-W baseball program to join us in our campaign.
Please help us by pledging whatever you can to the Home Runs for Heritage campaign. As a guide to your pledge, the Jackets have averaged about 25 home runs a season since 1995. No pledge is too small! We need as many pledges as we can get to demonstrate the support for a new press box to the college’s new administration.
You can make your pledge online at the Home Runs for Heritage home page, or you can send your pledge by e-mail message to heritage@bwbaseball.com.
Thank you for supporting the Home Runs for Heritage campaign!
November 28, 2006
Joey Dallas Inducted into B-W Hall of Fame
Joey Dallas ’93 was inducted into the Baldwin-Wallace College Athletic Hall of Fame last month at the annual Homecoming eve induction ceremony in the Strosacker Union ballroom. He became the 46th B-W baseball player or coach admitted to the hall, following Erik Young ’89, who was inducted at last year’s ceremony.
Joey was an outstanding catcher and designated hitter for the Yellow Jackets from 1989 to 1992. He was a dominating force at the plate as well as behind it, winning the Jackets’ “Big Stick” outstanding hitter award in 1991 and the “Gold Glove” outstanding fielder award in 1992. He was named to the All–Ohio Athletic Conference first team twice, first as a DH in 1991, and then as a catcher in ’92. He was also a two-time All–Mideast Region catcher.
He still holds B-W’s career record with a .402 batting average, and he had the highest on-base percentage (.491) of any player in the ’90s. His .983 career fielding average is second all-time among B-W catchers.
In 1991, Joey led the Jackets to a school-record 25 wins, a runner-up finish in the OAC and an NCAA regional tournament appearance. He knocked out a season record with 64 hits and finished 13th in the nation with a .457 batting average. Behind the plate, he committed just one error in 117 chances while managing a pitching staff that threw more innings than any other in school history.
Two of his former battery mates, Bret Butler ’92 and Mark Massey ’92, were at the ceremony to see their friend and teammate inducted. B-W head coach Bob Fisher ’63 and Joey’s high school coach, Curt Karpinski, a hall of fame pitcher for the Jackets from 1969 to 1972, were also on hand for the honors.
Joey lives in Avon with his wife Michelle and their two daughters. He was named Lorain County baseball coach of the year in 2000 at Elyria Catholic High School, where he managed the dugout from 1998 to 2001. He’s currently a teacher and coach at East Tech High School.
[ B-W Baseball Athletic Hall of Famers ]
May 4, 2006
Mike Turchan Receives Academic All-America Award at Senior Day Doubleheader
Baldwin-Wallace College student assistant coach Mike Turchan ’05 was presented with his 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award during the Yellow Jackets’ Senior Day doubleheader against Otterbein College at Heritage Field on Saturday, April 29.
The award was presented by B-W sports information director Kevin Ruple between the second and third innings of the day’s opening game, and several Yellow Jacket baseball alums were in attendance, including Carl Mieyal ’80, Jon Hopkins ’81, Pat Campbell ’84 and former assistant coach Eddie Klaehn.
Mike was a great all-around player for the Jackets at third base and on the mound. He finished his career with a stellar .385 batting average, and his 23 home runs are second on B-W’s all-time list. In his sophomore year, he set a school record by hitting four straight doubles over a two-game stretch. As a pitcher, he was 12–8 with a 4.23 earned run average and struck out 122 batters in 164 innings.
In addition to his Academic All-America award, Mike won a spot on two Academic All–Ohio Athletic Conference teams and two Academic All–District IV squads. He was also the Yellow Jackets’ 2004 Outstanding Scholar-Athlete.
Before the opener, seniors Kevin Brown, Mike Farrell, Matt Green, Dan Melito, Derek Skapes, Ryan Stassinis and Matt Wilson were introduced to the the Senior Day crowd and applauded for their leadership and their legacy to the B-W baseball program. On the diamond, they’ve compiled an 80–61 (.567) four-year record, including 24 wins and an OAC playoff berth in 2003. In the classroom, their hard work and scholarship has boosted the Jackets to the highest team GPA of any sport at B-W.
The Yellow Jackets’ class of 2006 will play their final game Saturday at Wilmington College, when they go after their fourth straight winning season.
[ B-W Baseball Academic All-America Selections ]
April 4, 2006
Eddie Uschold Becomes Winningest Coach at Missouri Baptist
Eddie Uschold became the winningest baseball coach in Missouri Baptist University history on March 25 when his club swept a doubleheader against Ashford University. His career record is 256–138–1 (.650) since taking the helm of the Spartans in 2000.
Eddie was a backup first baseman and designated hitter at Baldwin-Wallace College in the late 1980s. After graduating from B-W in 1990, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kent State University. He moved up the coaching ranks with assistant coaching stints at Tyler (Texas) Junior College and Manchester (Ind.) College, and a head coaching job at Olivet (Mich.) College, before being hired at Missouri Baptist.
In seven seasons at MBU, Eddie’s teams have won three American Midwest Conference championships. He was named AMC Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and NAIA Region V Coach of the Year in 2003. Last year, he led the Spartans to a school-record 40–24 mark and a runner-up finish in the AMC. They qualified for the Region V playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, but were eliminated in two close games.
So far this season, the Spartans are 26–6 and ranked 23rd in the latest NAIA poll. They are third in the nation with a .385 batting average and a .588 slugging percentage.
