Curbstone Coaches HOF Spotlight: Joe McHenry, All-Sports Honoree

Former Ohio State University and NFL quarterback, and current YSU assistant football coach, Mike Tomczak, will serve as guest speaker.

This year’s class includes Phil Annarella (football, posthumous), Mike Banks (basketball), Andrew Bushey (baseball), Sandra DePizzo (bowling), Jim Evans (sports media), Tim Filipovich (basketball), Denise Gorski (contribution to sports), Tim Joyce (basketball), Joe McHenry (all-sports award), Rick Shepas (football), John Turco (football) and John Zebroski (golf).

You name the sport and McHenry, this year’s lone all-sports honoree, simply excelled.  It didn’t matter if it was baseball, softball, rugby, football or touch football, McHenry was the player teams looked to with hopes of leading them to a championship.

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Born June 6, 1957, he is a native of Austintown and a 1975 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School.

He earned his undergraduate degree in finance (he minored in economics) from Youngstown State University in 1980 and in 1984, was hired as bookkeeper at Superior Beverage.  He later became their controller and was elevated to chief financial officer, currently in his 39^th year where he serves as executive vice-president and chief financial officer for its Superior Beverage Group of Northeast Ohio.

He began playing organized sports as a nine-year old (he played and remained active in the diamond sport until he was 55 years old) in the Mill Creek Little League and was part of the first team to win the Mill Creek Tournament.

He served as catcher for the Mill Creek All-Stars, a team that included pitchers Matt Cavanaugh (who would go on to stardom as a football player, first at Chaney High School, the University of Pittsburgh and finally in the National Football league where he has been a Super Bowl champion as both a player and coach) and Ron Calcagni (also a star signal-caller for the Chaney Cowboys, then the University of Arkansas and professionally in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Rough Riders).

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He later played PONY League and COLT League baseball in Austintown and for the Uler Insurance entry in the local Class “B” League.

A two-year letterwinner scholastically for the Falcons, he won the team’s Gold Glove Award as a second sacker his senior season and earned second-team Steel Valley Conference laurels the same season.

He played two seasons for the late YSU head baseball coach, Dom Rosselli, becoming a player-manager in the local Class AA League in 1977.  He was affiliated with the Astro-Goldstein’s squad, which later became Jackett’s Lounge.

His teams finished runners-up on two separate occasions to the East Side Civics and Miller Brewing, also leading his Astro-Goldstein’s (comprised of only 19 year-olds) to the AAABC (All-American Amateur Baseball Congress, now known as the AAABA – All-American Amateur Baseball Association) tournament in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1983 where they finished fourth overall (the highest a Youngstown-area team has ever finished).

He then played for Sam’s Wedge Inn in the 30-and-over league, winning the title on three different occasions.

While playing for the Astro Falcons in both the 40-and-over and 50-and-over leagues, he participated multiple times in the highly regarded Roy Hobbs Tournament, held each fall in Florida.

He would participate in the Indians Fantasy Game at Eastwood Field (home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers Short-A season team) in Niles with former Tribe star Joe Charboneau serving as head coach.

He played an integral role in supporting his managing general partner’s successful bid in securing the Colorado Rockies as the National League’s newest MLB expansion franchise.

He also served as freshman coach at his alma mater, AFHS, leading them to a perfect 7-0 mark.

In softball, he was a player-manager for Jackett’s Lounge in the area’s Original Snowball Softball Tournament (later the March of Dimes Snowball Tournament), playing shortstop and serving as lead-off batter as the team won 12 of the 16 tournaments in which it entered.

He served as a player-manager in the Steel Valley Softball League for Miller Life, playing 10 years in the Inner-City Softball league for Jackett’s Lounge, Bob’s Inn and Noday’s, winning the league championship twice during that span.

In rugby, he played seven seasons, was voted “Rookie of the Year” his initial season and Most Valuable Player the following campaign.

He played scrum half and was the team’s kicker, leading his squad in scoring on three separate occasions.  As one of the team’s all-time leading scorers he contributed tries (TD’s) and kicks (extra points and field goals) in wins over Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Penn State, and Ohio State, just to name a few of the teams they went up against.

During his sophomore year at YSU he quarterbacked the Austintown All-Stars touch football team to the University’s independent-fraternity championship, also playing 25 years in the YTFL (Youngstown Touch Football league) where he was a member of six city championship squads.

He won the league scoring title twice as a receiver, quarterback, safety and kicker, competing in and leading his team to three USTFL (United States Touch Football League) national championships in Orlando, Florida.

For his efforts he was named to the all-tournament team twice and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer for the Jackett’s Lounge entry.

He met his future wife, Bonny, while they were in seventh grade and they were married in 1983. They reside in Austintown and are the parents of two children, son Joseph and daughter Meredith.

Individual tickets are $60 each, tables of eight $480 and further information can be obtained by calling 330-506-6774, or by visiting the organization’s website at www.thecurbstonecoaches.org.

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