MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Announce 2017 Broadcast Schedule for TV, Radio

Published on March 28, 2017 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


DAYTON, OHIO-The Dayton Dragons announced today that 25 Dragons home games will be televised live from Fifth Third Field on Dayton's CW during the 2017 season, including the Dragons Opening Day game on April 6. All games will be broadcast live and in high definition on the following outlets:

Over the air Channel 26.1 Spectrum Channels 13 and 1013 Direct TV and DISH Network Channel 26.

All Dragons television broadcasts are sponsored by Dayton Power & Light.

Dayton's CW reaches approximately 500,000 households and over 1.2 million potential viewers in a 10-county area.

Dragons Director of Broadcasting Tom Nichols will handle the play-by-play for each telecast, while Jack Pohl and Mike Vander Woude will serve as color commentators. The telecasts are produced by the Dragons in-house crew and feature live in-game interviews with coaches, replays, state-of-the-art graphics, and six high definition camera positions.

Tom Nichols returns for his 10th season with the Dragons and 30th year in Minor League Baseball. He will serve as the play-by-play announcer on all 25 television broadcasts and all radio broadcasts for games that are not televised. He has broadcast over 3,600 minor league games since beginning his career in 1988 and has worked at every level of Minor League Baseball. Nichols has called 1,081 consecutive Dragons home and road games and has missed only two broadcasts over the last 27 seasons. He is a Ball State University graduate and a native of Muncie, Indiana, where he was inducted into the Delaware County Athletics Hall-of-Fame in 2009.

Jack Pohl : Jack has served as WDTN-TV Sports Director and Anchor since 2002 and has been with WDTN-TV since August 1995. Jack is a Dayton native who attended Wright State University. He began his broadcasting career at Centerville High School station WCWT. He later moved on to work at various Dayton area radio stations, but is best known for his time as the Z-93 morning show personality with Kim Faris. Jack is proud to have learned the TV business from WDTN's legendary Omar Williams. Jack was honored with the Ohio High School Athletic Association's Sportsmanship and Ethics Integrity Media service award.

Mike Vander Woude : Mike was the original voice of the Dragons in 2000 and remained with the team as radio/television broadcaster through the 2007 season, when he departed to become the voice of the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. He returned to the Miami Valley after five seasons with the Yankees in 2012 and has worked on select Dragons radio and TV broadcasts over the past four seasons. Mike began his career as an announcer in Minor League Baseball in 1995.

Dragons 2017 Television Broadcast Schedule

Thursday, April 6 Lake County 7:00pm

Saturday, April 29 Great Lakes 7:00pm

Sunday, April 30 Great Lakes 2:00pm

Saturday, May 13 Quad Cities 7:00pm

Saturday, May 20 Bowling Green 7:00pm

Sunday, May 21 Bowling Green 2:00pm

Saturday, May 27 West Michigan 7:00pm

Sunday, May 28 West Michigan 7:00pm

Friday, June 2 Fort Wayne 7:00pm

Saturday, June 3 Fort Wayne 7:00pm

Sunday, June 4 Fort Wayne 2:00pm

Friday, June 23 Lake County 7:00pm

Saturday, June 24 Lake County 7:00pm

Sunday, June 25 Lake County 2:00pm

Friday, June 30 Fort Wayne 7:00pm

Saturday, July 1 Fort Wayne 7:00pm

Sunday, July 2 Fort Wayne 2:00pm

Saturday, July 8 South Bend 7:00pm

Sunday, July 9 South Bend 2:00pm

Friday, July 21 Peoria 7:00pm

Saturday, July 22 Burlington 7:00pm

Sunday, July 23 Burlington 2:00pm

Friday, August 4 Great Lakes 7:00pm

Saturday, August 5 Lansing 7:00pm

Sunday, August 6 Lansing 2:00pm

DRAGONS RADIO BROADCASTS ON FOX SPORTS 980 (WONE)

For the seventh straight year, all 140 Dragons home and road games will be broadcast on radio on the Dragons flagship station, Fox Sports 980 (WONE 980 AM) in Dayton. All games are also streamed on-line at www.daytondragons.com and can be heard via the Dragons mobile app (free download at iTunes or Google Play). Each broadcast begins with the pre-game show 30 minutes before the first pitch of every Dragons game, featuring game previews, interviews, and lineups. Each Dragons game is followed by an extensive post-game show featuring game recaps, interviews, and out of town scores.

Tom Nichols and Jason Kempf will serve as the Dragons broadcasters on radio.

Jason Kempf returns to the Dragons radio team for his second season in 2017. He will be part of at least 70 radio broadcasts and will handle radio play-by-play for games when Nichols is working the television broadcast. Kempf spent the 2014-15 seasons as the voice of the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association. Prior to his time in Wichita, he served as a broadcaster for one season with the St. Paul Saints of the same league. Kempf is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a native of Malone, Wisconsin.

Kempf has been added to an impressive list of young broadcasters who have served as the #2 announcer with the team since the Dragons inception in 2000. Several Dragons #2 announcers have gone directly from Dayton to primary announcing positions with other Minor League Baseball clubs.

Mike Couzens (2011 Dragons) is an ESPN Television basketball and football play-by-play announcer. He spent three seasons as the voice of the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the Midwest League before moving full-time to ESPN in 2014.

Owen Serey advanced from the Dragons #2 slot in 2008 to become the voice of the South Bend Silver Hawks in the Midwest League and spent three seasons in that role.

Alex Vispoli (2009 Dragons) served as the voice of the Class-AA Frisco Rough Riders for four seasons from 20012-'15. Vispoli moved from Dayton to become the voice of the Winston-Salem Dash in 2010 and remained there for two seasons before advancing to Frisco. He currently works as a freelance broadcaster based in Massachusetts and calls a variety of sports for area universities and conferences, including the Ivy League.

Nick Anastos (2010 Dragons) currently serves as a sportscaster for ESPN New Hampshire and basketball play-by-play announcer for the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Bill Spaulding (2013 Dragons) is the play-by-play announcer for Harvard University on the Ivy League Digital Network. Last summer, Spaulding called several events during the Olympics for the NBC Family of Networks. He also broadcasts various sports for Boston College, Northeastern University, and Providence College, and has called Yomiuri Giants games on ONE World Sports. Bill was selected as the #1 college broadcaster in the nation by STAA in 2012.

Brendan Gulick (2014 Dragons) served last season as the play-by-play voice of the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League. He also called college basketball for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Keith Raad (2015 Dragons) is part of the broadcast team with the Class-AA Frisco Rough Riders of the Texas League.

Two previous announcers who worked as Dragons # 2 broadcasters, Mike Benton (2004 Dragons) and Nick Brunker (2005 Dragons) have enjoyed long careers in hockey. Benton is the voice of the Everett Silvertips and has called more than 900 professional hockey matches. Brunker completed his fifth season as the voice of the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2015 before accepting a new position outside of sports.

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