Portage South Announces 2012 Wall of Fame Class
The 2012 Portage South Baseball Wall of Fame class was selected in August with four former
Black Squirrels being honored. Greg Boyd, Jason Cottrell, Rob Gipson
and Eric Jones were chosen by the PS Wall of Fame committee.
Greg Boyd began his 5-year PS career in 2005. He played his high school baseball at Rootstown
High School and college at Mount Union. Boyd played in 125 games for Portage South in his career. He is in
the top ten in career batting for Portage South. He was an All Star in 2005. Boyd was also named to 2nd
Team All AA League in 2005 and Honorable Mention in 2006.
Jason
Cottreell was on the inaugural team in 1997 and played 4 seasons. He played baseball at Field
High School and Mount Union. Cottrell was a member of 2 Ohio State Final Four teams (1998, 2000). He
held the record for homeruns in a season from 1997-2005. He hit .294 in 81 career games with Portage South, but was
best known for his defense. Cottrell had a career .979 fielding percentage.
Rob Gipson played with Portage South from 2007 through 2009, but had his career cut short by
injuries. Gipson hit .417 in his first year with PS while going 5-1 on the mound with a 1.91 ERA. In 2008, he
set the single season record for ERA with 0.37. He was selected to the 2007 and 2008 All-Star Teams. Gipson earned
1st Team All-League in 2008 and was honorable mention in 2007. He was the 2008 PS Cy Young and finalist for the Dave
Young Pitcher of the Year. Gipson threw a no-hitter in 2008 vs. the Turf Guys.
Eric Jones played 9 seasons for Portage South (2002-10). He played his high school baseball
at Louisville High School. Jones was selected to the 2003 & 2007 All-Star Team.
He was chosen 2003 Portage South team co-MVP and won the 2007 PS Stan Musial Batting Title. Known for his versatility,
Jones earned 1st Team All-Greater Akron AA League at 2B in 2006, 2nd Team All-Greater Akron AA League at 3B in 2007 and was
named Honorable Mention All-Greater Akron AA League in 2005. He ranked 11th on the career batting list with a .335 average
in 181 games and was 5-1 on the mound.
Portage South Team Awards Announced
With the 2012 season coming to a close, the Portage South Black Squirrels announce the annual team
awards. The PS MVP was presented to Kevin Yelinek. Yelinek had 42
hits, 24 runs scored, 6 doubles, a triple and drove in 18 runs while only striking out 5 times in
100 at-bats. He also finished the season with a .420 average which gave him the Stan Musial Batting
Title. The team's Cy Young was awarded to Walt Samson. Samson
went 7-2 with a 1.70 ERA in 66 innings pitched. He also struck out 56 batters. The fourth and final
award given out is known as "The Herb". The 2012 Herb went to Jason Preising.
PS Has 4 Named to All-League Team
The Roy Hobbs/Greater Akron AA League Awards were announced and 4 Black Squirrels were named
to the All-League team. This year the team was selected by the Awards Committee. 24 players were selected for
each division, American and National. Kevin Yelinek, Mike Darrah, Kyle Campfield
and Walt Samson were honored for PS in the 2012 season. Yelinek was also a finalist for the George
Sisler Top Hitter award. Samson was a finalist for the Dave Young Pitcher of the Year Award.
Portage South Looking to Add Games for the 2012 Season
The Portage South Black Squirrels are looking to add games to their 2012 season. If you
have a team interested in playing games, please contact Jesse Michel (jmichel404@gmail.com).
