PRESS RELEASE – The Coastal Plain League proudly announced today, August 26, that Joe Vasile of the Fayetteville SwampDogs and Taylor Sherrill (pictured left and right respectively) have been named the 2014 CPL Broadcaster and Scorekeeper of the Year. This was Vasile’s first season with the SwampDogs, while Sherrill spent his second season with the Pilots this summer.
The CPL’s Broadcaster of the Year award has been presented annually since 2011. Vasile marks the third winner of the award, following former High Point-Thomasville HiToms broadcaster and current CPL Director of Broadcasting Chris Edwards, who won the inaugural award in 2011; and former Edenton Steamers broadcaster Danny Angel, who won the award in both 2012 and 2013.
“It’s a complete honor,” said Vasile when informed he had been named Broadcaster of the Year. “There are so many very talented broadcasters in this league. It really is an honor, I truly wasn’t expecting it.”
As Vasile alluded to, it was arguably one of the best seasons of broadcasting the CPL has ever seen, with a rich crop of talented broadcasters throughout the league that all did a very good job. Vasile was deemed the fan’s favorite out of them all, receiving the most votes of any broadcaster. Known for his distinct voice and ability to keep listeners at home engaged in the game, here are a few of the many glowing remarks from fans:
“Joe gave a great picture of what was happening on the field. He’d tell us the pitch type, locations, where the ball was hit, where the fielders had to move to get to the ball and any other information about the plays.”
“Joe knows A LOT about baseball. To say he loves it would be the understatement of the century.”
“Joe is very informative about what is happening on the diamond. A good commentator should make you feel like you are having a conversation with them about the game, and he does that and more.”
In addition to the fan voting, of which accounted for 50 percent of his overall score, input was gathered from member clubs and league personnel, including Edwards, who was responsible for monitoring the CPL’s broadcasts all season long. In addition to his work with the CPL, Edwards currently serves as the voice of Duke Baseball as well as covering high school football for Time Warner Cable.
“Joe has a tremendous passion for his craft and displayed that on a nightly basis,” said Edwards. “His love for the game and ability to paint a picture for the listener are contributing factors as to why he won the broadcaster of the year award.”
Prior to joining the SwampDogs, Vasile gained experience as the Media and Public Relations intern for the Rockland Boulders of the Independent Can-Am League. He has also spent time with AA’s Trenton Thunder as a studio host and game engineer, as well as working as a camp counselor at the Play-By-Play Scholastic Broadcasting Camps.
The New Jersey Native graduated from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in December of 2013 with a degree in Radio/TV/Film Communications. During his time at TCNJ, Vasile served as the Sports Director at Lions Television, the student television station, where he produced all the sports content for each broadcast. He was also the Assistant Sports Director at the school’s radio station, WTSR, for three years. All of this experience and particularly his time with the SwampDogs this summer have well prepared Vasile for his new job, working with ESPN Radio covering football and basketball at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
“It was a great experience,” added Vasile of his time in Fayetteville. “I feel like I really grew a lot from the beginning of the summer to the end. I got a taste of all the work it takes in putting everything together from an operations standpoint. I learned so much from everyone there, [GM] Jeremy Aagard, [owner] Lew Handelsman – everyone taught me so much and I could not have won this award without them.”
Meanwhile, Sherrill is the first-ever recipient of the CPL’s Scorekeeper of the Year honor.
“I’m honored to be selected,” Sherrill said. “I appreciate everything the Coastal Plain League and Peninsula Pilots have done for me the last two years.”
A CPL scorekeeper holds duties such as scoring each game both in hard copy form, as well as electronically and updating the live stats in real time for fans following along at home. Each night they also must send in the stat file and nightly game report to the league office to be published online. Sherrill was selected based on his ability to complete both of these tasks promptly and accurately, showing a great aptitude for the stats program and scoring the game of baseball overall.
In addition to his tasks as a scorekeeper, Sherrill also served as the Media Relations contact for the Pilots and wrote game recaps for the team every night. Sherrill recently graduated from Campbell University with a degree in sport management and is currently attending the University of Louisville as a graduate student studying Sports Administration. He hopes to one day work as an Athletic Director, or in the sports information field in some capacity. While he is unsure of his future summer plans at this time, he said if things were to line up right and allow him the opportunity, he would definitely love to join the Pilots for another season in 2015.
“Right now I am not sure I will be able to,” said Sherril on the chances of him returning for one more year. “But if for some reason my summer opens up and I can make it work, I would definitely jump at the opportunity.”
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