McCracken to play baseball for WV school

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

Van Wert baseball standout Ryan McCracken is headed south to West Virginia after graduation to play ball for the Pioneers of Glenville State College.

McCracken, the Cougars’ starting catcher the past two years, will be competing for that job at Glenville for Head Coach James Mullins.

McCracken is a good defensive catcher, throwing out 4 of 9 runners this season and 25 percent of all runners who try to steal against him.

While he had a batting slump last year, hitting under .200 for the season, he is batting .263 this season.

McCracken said he is looking forward to playing for the Pioneers.

“I really like the program there,” he said. “It’s a lot like our program here, so it should be an easy transition.”

Glenville State is an NCAA Division II school that plays in the Mountain East Conference, so McCracken will likely face a couple of Ohio schools, including Urbana University.

Mullins, now in his third year at Glenville State, is building a Pioneers baseball program, with some successes, including doubling his wins last year, from the 9 he had two years ago to 18 in 2015.

Glenville State’s baseball program also has an area connection, since Assistant Coach Neil Schaffner is a Willshire native and a graduate of Parkway High School.