RVHS baseball seniors honored by Warsaw business

| April 27, 2020

Spring sports are officially canceled now, but prior to that announcement River View High School’s baseball coaches wanted to make sure their 11 seniors were honored.

“Every year the seniors get vinyls of their pictures that are blown up and hung outside the concession stand during games,” said Head Coach Jesse Smoulder. “It’s a nice way to honor them and the time they’ve put into the program. It also lets people who come to the games know who the seniors are and them to be recognized for their efforts.”

The pictures were taken before school shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Smoulder was able to get several of the vinyls back from parents to be hung up in the window of a Main Street business in Warsaw.

“It was really all Chuck Donnell’s idea from Lonestar,” Smoulder said. “He wanted to hang them up in his shop there (in Warsaw) so people could drive down the street and see them. He is a volunteer coach for us, and his son Gavin is a junior in the program. He (Chuck) has spent a lot of time with these kids and helped coach them at some point in their youth.”

Chuck said the coaches love their kids and wanted to honor them.

“This group of men I started coaching when my kid was in t-ball,” he said. “These kids have come up with me through travel ball and rec teams. We’ve been building this group up ever since they were little, and this was going to be their year together. They would have been one of the best teams River View ever put together and they had the rug pulled out from underneath them. My heart breaks for the seniors.”

Chuck is glad his business could help honor the seniors.

“It’s a great way to show how much we appreciate them and their dedication and for everybody to see their pictures,” he said. “The boys were excited to see them and I’m just glad it was something we could do for them.”

Category: High School, Sports

About the Author ()

I started my journalism career in 2002 with a daily newspaper chain. After various stops with them, I am happy to be back home! I graduated from Coshocton High School in 1998 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication in 2002 from Walsh University. I also earned several awards while working for daily papers, including being honored by Coshocton County’s veterans for the stories I wrote about them. I am honored and ready to once again shine a positive light on Coshocton County. I also am the proud mother of a little girl named Sophia!

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