Josh Siewert of Swanton Selected as District I Baseball Coach of the Year

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As he will sometimes jokingly brag, Swanton High School’s head baseball coach, Josh Siewert, will tell others that he did not lose a single game in his first year at the helm of the Bulldogs.  It is an undisputable fact. However, he did not win a single game either.  Coach Siewert assumed the head coaching position prior to the 2020 baseball season which, as we all painfully remember, was cancelled by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Starting with the 2021 season, Siewert, a Swanton High School alum, began to rebuild the program.  Like most rebuilds, it took several years and this past season, the hard work and effort of Coach Siewert and his staff paid off as the Bulldogs broke the school record for wins in a single season with 19, two more than the previous mark of 17.  Because of this unprecedented achievement, he was selected as District I Coach of the Year for the OHSAA Division V level.

“It’s an honor to be given that award,” said a humble Coach Siewert.  “It shows that my hard work and our coaches’ hard work is paying off.  People are noticing and it feels good to be honored for that and get the recognition.” Working with Siewert was an experienced and very knowledgeable assistant coaching staff that included Matt O’Shea, Craig Chonko, Jon Lemon, Joe Bolyard and Todd Geahlen.

“If you look at some of our league losses, we had one in the bottom of the seventh and one in the ninth so, it’s kind of skewed a little bit but we took care of business outside of the league,” explained Siewert of the Bulldogs’ 3-4 record in the NWOAL.  “The boys kept plugging along even though one of our goals could not be reached and we won a Sectional Championship which is like only the third one in the past 43 years.”

Swanton graduated five very talented seniors this Spring in Adam Lemon, Drake Harris, Isaiah Bolyard, Evan Smigelski and Vinnie Fanelli but it also returns a lot of talent and experience in 2026, headed by District I Baseball Player of the Year, Luke Marlow and OHSAA Division V First-Team All-Ohio Carson Lemons.

PHOTO: Coach Siewert goes over ground rules at a game against Wauseon

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