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Picture credit to Kendall Timms

 

The Southern Ohio Copperheads are excited to begin its new season with another new beginning. For the third consecutive season since its return from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Copperheads will begin the year with a new head coach.

 

Longtime local baseball coach Rocky Brunty takes over as the skipper for the 2024 season. Brunty won 401 games in his 24 seasons as the head coach at nearby Federal Hocking High School. He led his teams to 11 sectional titles and two district titles including the Division-III regional finals in 2004 and 2010. Brunty won the Tri-Valley Conference Coach of the Year award 11 times.

 

Brunty’s newest task is to return the the Copperheads to its first winning record since 2019. Southern Ohio was one of the most successful GLSCL franchises on the field from 2009-19. In that 11-season span, the Copperheads won at least 20 games on 10 occasions and reached the GLSCL Championship finals four times (2009, 2011, 2014 and 2018). The 2018 team brought the GLSCL championship trophy home to Athens thanks in part to a 31-10 regular season record.  

 

The organization has had a tough time on the field since having to take a second year off because of the pandemic. While the entire league did not play in the summer of 2020, the Copperheads were forced to make the tough decision to also sit out the 2021 season. The safety regulations placed on the Ohio University campus made it all but impossible for the team to operate without a devastating financial loss.

 

The Copperheads business model is unique to not only the GLSCL but also just about any other summer collegiate baseball franchise. The team is community-owned and student-operated by the Ohio University sports management department. The organization is led by students who are placed in positions by academic mentors within the sports management program. 

 

On of the top returning players on the field for the Copperheads is all-star pitcher Jaren Slusher. He was one of three Southern Ohio hurlers that were among the GLSCL leaders in strikeouts last year. Slusher notched 38 punch outs while only giving up 10 walks during the 2023 summer.

 

Slusher will look to parlay his summer success into a 4-year school opportunity after expiring his 2-year school eligibility this past spring. He is coming off a pair of successful stints first at Edison State and then at Cuyahoga Community College.

 

Southern Ohio begins the season with a three-game road series against the 2023 South Division champion Xenia Scouts at Grady’s Field on Tuesday, June 4. The Copperheads home opener at Bob Wren Stadium comes just in time for the first weekend of the season hosting the Grand Lake Mariners on Friday, June 7.

 

 

ABOUT THE GREAT LAKES SUMMER COLLEGIATE LEAGUE 

The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate, founded in 1987, is a wood-bat league that is certified by the NCAA and is partially funded by Major League Baseball. The GLSCL is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity that is one of 12 members of the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball (NACSB). The league currently consists of 7 active franchises in Ohio and Michigan boasting several players that have earned service time in major league baseball.