Former Wild Thing named coach at Massillon

Here's a story about former Wild Things relief pitcher Ryan Hartzell, who has been named head baseball coach at Massillon High School in Ohio. Though more famous for its football program, the Tigers have a strong baseball tradition.

On a side note, current Waynesburg University football coach Rick Shepas was the head coach at Massillon when the documentary "Go Tigers" was filmed and can still be seen from time to time on television.

Hartzell played for the Wild Things in 2004 and pitched in 18 games out of the bullpen.

What I remember most about Hartzell was that he was signed out of the Wild Things' tryout after having a successful career at Ashland University. Washington knew it would sign Hartzell before the camp even began, as long as he did reasonably well at the tryout. When it was time for Hartzell to throw, a hard-driving rain began. You could see sheets of rain moving from the first-base line across the pitcher's mound to left field. Hartzell, however, kept pitching. They never did stop because of the rain.

Read the story here.