ELYRIA — Mike Brandyberry is no stranger to success.

Brandyberry, hired as Elyria High’s baseball coach at a board of education meeting last week, comes to the Pioneers after going 71-49 as head coach at Sycamore Mohawk in Northwest Ohio from 2001-06. In that time, he won three Midland Athletic League championships, took his team to three district championship games, won a district title and was a regional runner-up.

In 2004, Brandyberry was named District 9 Coach of the Year by his fellow coaches.

Still, the new Pioneers coach knows there will be differences coming from a Division IV program to one in Division I. But he sees that as a positive.

“Obviously, there should be an increase in quality at Elyria,” Brandyberry said. “A lot of things at Elyria will be astronomical compared to Mohawk. But that’s what excites me about my new position.

“We’ll need to have depth at all three levels — varsity, junior varsity and freshman. I look to increase our level of play at all three levels.

“We aren’t going to sit around and worry about our competition, especially in the Northeast Ohio Conference. All of the schools in the conference have to play the schedule.”

Brandyberry graduated from Midview High in 1997, where he played baseball for four years, lettering as a junior and senior. From there, he graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in education and human development. After Bowling Green, he earned a master’s degree in education and human development from Heidelberg College in 2004.

“Elyria High has had a good program for many years,” said Brandyberry, who takes over for Steve Sunagel, who resigned after last season. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to continue, and hopefully, build upon that tradition.”

Elyria athletic director Jerry Chizmar was impressed with Brandyberry’s credentials.

“Mike comes to us as a very successful head coach from his time at Mohawk High,” Chizmar said in a statement. “He was highly thought of by persons in that area as having good baseball knowledge and knowing how to work with the players.
“We are looking forward to seeing Mike continue the success of Elyria High’s baseball program.”

Brandyberry has thoughts on how to do just that.

“Obviously, we have to have good, sound fundamentals in each game,” Brandyberry said. “That’s the biggest thing that makes for a successful program. I also like to stress that we have to have a good group of kids. That means that we have to show pride in how we play and have to display good citizenship and scholarship. I expect to see these things every day.”

Brandyberry returned to Grafton in 2008 and served as a volunteer coach for Midview High’s baseball program. Last year, he was Avon High’s junior varsity coach and guided the Eagles to a 20-2 record.

Brandyberry is an English teacher at Lorain County Joint Vocational School and resides in Grafton with his wife Tschanen. The couple just got married in August.

Think he likes baseball a little?

The couple exchanged their vows at home plate at Progressive Field.

Contact Jerry Henson at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---