Peeling back the layers: Cannizzaro really loved all of his players
NEWARK ― During his legendary tenure as Newark Catholic's baseball coach, John Cannizzaro was often seen as hardheaded. With a gruff exterior, he pushed the Green Wave to unprecedented heights.
But Jon Kempf, a great shortstop who went on to play at Toledo, saw a different side of "Cando" when he returned to help out the program.
"I organized an alumni game seven years ago, and about 50 alums came back," said Kempf, who played for Cannizzaro as a freshman and sophomore in 1991-1992 before the coach left for several seasons, returning in 2004. "He was excited as I had ever seen him. He had stories about every player, and once we were done he was still telling them three hours later. If you peel back those layers, he really loved every kid. Some of them realized it, some of them didn't until later and some never did, but he really did."
Cannizzaro, who died Jan. 13 at age 71 and was still leading the program, was never married or had children, so he fully immersed himself in baseball and Newark Catholic, where he graduated in 1970 and played first base as a senior for legendary Green Wave football coach J.D. Graham.
He amassed 577 wins over 28 seasons (1985-92 and 2004-2023) with 12 league, 21 district, 14 regional and a still-record seven state championships. He was inducted into the Ohio Baseball Coaches Association and Licking County Halls of Fame.
"I asked him, in 2017, what it means to have so many wins," said Kempf, who also played for Cannizzaro on the Licking County Athletics at the World Series in British Columbia. "He said, 'The only ones I really remember, are those seven times we won the last game of the season.' "
Jody Mummey played on the 2015 and 2016 state title teams and has returned as an NC teacher and assistant baseball coach. He and younger brother Shae were fixtures in the dugout since they were 4 as batboys while their dad served as a longtime assistant. Danny Mummey won two state crowns with Cannizzaro as a player, and then seven more as a coach.
"What really helped our team was having someone in a position of leadership who cared so much for the sport and us," Jody Mummey said. "You want to go out and win for a coach like that, and not let him down. I coached a seventh-grade summer ball team with my dad, and he would come out to their games. Some he would watch as early as fourth grade. He was getting to know his future players."
Cannizzaro's younger brother Rick, who was around the program during the first stint, became John's scorekeeper and an assistant coach when he returned in 2004, when Rick's son Tony was a senior.
"He was really close to all of us as a family," Rick said. "He really loved our grandkids and came to watch them play, whatever sport it was they were competing in."
Andy Helms played on two state title teams for the Green Wave in football and baseball and went on to become an All-American safety at Carnegie-Mellon, where he is associate head football coach. Prior to that, he had assistant and head coaching stints at Denison and several high schools across Ohio. He learned from Cannizzaro what it takes to be a successful coach. He and Danny Mummey are longtime best friends.
"He (Cannizzaro) was in love with baseball and super smart, and that dominated his mind, energy and efforts," Helms said. "Greatness is defined by success over a sustained period of time, and he certainly came by that at Newark Catholic. Football was my passion, but I loved baseball, and the last thing I got from my high school experience was winning a state title."
Helms admired Cannizzaro's process at practice.
"He was big on being situationally sound in the game and paid attention to the details. That's a winning formula," he said. "He always wanted to be solid up the middle, be consistent at shortstop, second base, catcher and center field. Being in center field, I got to see everything, how the pitcher's ball moved, how the defense was aligned. I had the best seat in the house."
Rick Cannizzaro said John was a big disciple of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
"Just with his attention to detail, and not a lot of coaches could compare with that," Rick said. "As coach Wooden said, 'Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.' We would work on the charge play covering bunts all the time, but would hardly ever use it. People all over the state would scout games for him, and he had a list of everything he wanted scouted at games."
He shared a lot of similarities with another Ohio baseball legend, Lakewood's Don Thorp, who won more than 1,000 games and three state championships. Cannizzaro even coached the Lancers with Thorp for a few seasons, and they were great friends.
Thorp admitted it was a little awkward coaching with a guy he was often trying to beat as an opposing coach.
"His teams were well coached, well put together, and it's tough to beat teams like that," Thorp said. "It was a strong friendship. We saw eye to eye on many subjects, not just baseball, almost everything. We enjoyed each other's company, enjoyed going to watch games and scout other teams, anything involving competition."
Kempf observed how fortunate Licking County baseball players have been.
"Being able to play for guys like Thorp, John and Dave Klontz at Heath, that's just something that you can't take for granted," he said.
Jody Mummey attended the Ohio baseball coaches clinic with NC pitching coach Mike Gutridge and was overwhelmed.
"In the hour, hour and half there, just the amount of people who saw that (NC) logo, people we didn't even know, who came up to us and offered their support," Mummey said. "He touched so many people."
That included his dedicated staff, which has included Danny Mummey, brother Rick, Gutridge, Ron Graves, Jake Nelson and Kempf, who helps with the jayvees and inside with the defense during winter.
"He was blessed to have a great staff, and he demanded a lot of them," Rick Cannizzaro said. "But he mellowed over the years. He realized they had their families, their jobs and their lives."
It was fitting that during his calling hours John was attired in his customary green NC jacket and hat.
"He was on that field, in the spring, summer and fall," Rick said. "He was up there (at Newark Catholic) all the time, watching all of the games, even being at boys and girls basketball practices."
Former NC greats Doug Wollenburg (Atlanta) and Chad Hickman (North Carolina) came home to pay their respects. Pallbearers included Danny, Jody and Shae Mummey, Ashton Cox (Rick's grandson), Ray Meese, Kempf, jayvee coach Roy Aikey and current seniors Troy Johnston and Rocco Capretta.
"Troy and Rocco lead an amazing group of seniors who are being there for the players and coaches," Jody Mummey said. "We also have some great juniors. This is only the second year my dad isn't coaching, so it's kind of a passing of the torch, and it's cool to see the process as a batboy, player and now an assistant.
"We all want to keep this program at the level where it's been because that's what coach would want. We have that culture and the players are motivated to win for coach."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Peeling back the layers: Cannizzaro really loved all of his players
