High school baseball: Mark Kelly leaving Cloverleaf to take helm at Medina

MEDINA — While piloting Cloverleaf's baseball team to unprecedented heights over the past two seasons, coach Mark Kelly caught the attention of more than few people connected to Medina. Pending school board approval, the Bees got their man. Kelly has been selected to replace Mike McMullen, who agreed to fill in on a one-year interim basis. The two are deeply connected, as McMullen was previously Kelly's junior varsity coach and has had grandsons play for the Colts. Kelly, a 2005 Norton graduate and former Walsh University star center fielder, had a 50-34 record in three seasons at Cloverleaf. The Colts reached the district finals for the first time in 2020 and won their first league championship last spring. To further put into prospective those accomplishments, Cloverleaf had one winning season from 1989-2018. "You think about this process when you're younger and things like that, you always dream big," Kelly said. "You always want to coach at a great school like Medina. "I can't wait to get started. The history of the program, I've dug into that as well. I'm excited to come in, make new history and help the culture in any way I can. It's in a great spot now, but we're trying to make that next leap. We're talking about titles here." McMullen, a 1967 Medina graduate, coached the Bees to a 19-9 record, their first league title since 2013 and a berth in the Division I district finals with help from returning assistant Chris Arthur. McMullen's grandson, Rhett, is a pitcher for Cloverleaf and picked up a 2 1/3-inning save in a wild 7-6 win over Benedictine in the D-II sectional finals. Kelly will be only Medina's fifth coach since Dale Weygandt replaced Tom Robson in 1965. "With my relationships — I have some community members on my side — when the time did come, I thought it would be a great opportunity in my career to interview," Kelly said. "I put the application in and started with that after the season. "Coach Mike McMullen did a phenomenal job with these guys. We were talking weekly as coaches — not about any position — so I know a lot about the background of what was going on. Mike is a phenomenal coach and a phenomenal friend. He was supporting me 1,000%." Kelly, who will remain at physical education at Cloverleaf for the upcoming school year, will inherit a deep roster. The Bees are slated to return two-time All-Gazette catcher Nate Hill, power hitting third baseman/pitcher Jack Geiser, pitcher/slugger Hansen Huth, shortstop Brennan Stobbs, outfielders Ian Caddell and Dan Stoddard and first baseman Owen Cavey. An outgoing, aggressive-thinking coach, Kelly believes culture will be the key to success. "Building the culture to trusting each other, trusting the coaches, trusting the program — that goes all the way to the community members — that's one thing I truly believe in," said Kelly, who gushed over the support given to him by Cloverleaf's administration. "Where the success came at Cloverleaf is we built that trust. "I'm a new coach coming in, and it's not going to be easy because I'm Mark Kelly. That's where I'm going to start and let people build relationships and trust." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.