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Josh Hess Joins Dragons Radio Team

January 15, 2018

Dayton, Ohio-The Dayton Dragons today announced the addition of Josh Hess as Media Relations and Broadcasting assistant for the 2018 season. Josh will work with Dragons Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting Tom Nichols on game broadcasts on the Dragons flagship radio station, WONE 980 AM. Games can also be

Dayton, Ohio-The Dayton Dragons today announced the addition of Josh Hess as Media Relations and Broadcasting assistant for the 2018 season. Josh will work with Dragons Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting Tom Nichols on game broadcasts on the Dragons flagship radio station, WONE 980 AM. Games can also be heard via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com. 
Hess will replace Jason Kempf, who has been hired as the lead broadcaster for the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League. Kempf spent the last two seasons in the #2 role with the Dragons.
Hess is a product of the acclaimed communications program at Syracuse University. The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse has produced many national broadcast talents including Bob Costas, Mike Tirico, Dick Stockton, Marv Albert, Sean McDonough, Beth Mowins, and Ian Eagle. 
Hess spent the 2017 season as the primary broadcaster for the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York/Penn League (Miami Marlins affiliate). In 2016, he gained experience as a broadcaster in the Cape Cod League, a college summer league featuring many top-level professional prospects. In 2015, he gained his first exposure to Minor League Baseball as a media assistant with the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Hess is a native of Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Hess is the newest addition to the list of outstanding young broadcasters who have served as the #2 announcer with the team since the Dragons inception in 2000. In addition to Kempf with Quad Cities, several other Dragons #2 announcers have gone directly from Dayton to primary announcing positions with other Minor League Baseball clubs and on to careers in sports broadcasting.

Mike Couzens (2011 Dragons) is currently an ESPN Television basketball and football play-by-play announcer and can be seen frequently calling top national games on the ESPN family of networks. After his season with the Dragons, he spent three years as the voice of the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the Midwest League before moving full-time to ESPN.
<st1:personname w:st="on">Bill Spaulding (2013 Dragons) is a play-by-play announcer for numerous events of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad for NBC and NBC Olympic Channel. He also calls women's basketball for Boston College.
Owen Serey advanced from the Dragons #2 slot in 2008 to become the voice of the South Bend Silver Hawks in the Midwest League and spent three seasons in that role. 
Alex Vispoli (2009 Dragons) served as the voice of the Class-AA Frisco Rough Riders for four seasons from 20012-'15. Vispoli moved from Dayton to become the voice of the Winston-Salem Dash in 2010 and remained there for two seasons before advancing to Frisco. He currently works as a freelance broadcaster based in Massachusetts and calls a variety of sports for area universities and conferences, including the Ivy League.
Nick Anastos (2010 Dragons) currently serves as the play-by-play announcer for men's basketball at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. 
<st1:personname w:st="on">Brendan Gulick (2014 Dragons) advanced from the Dragons to become the play-by-play voice of the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League. He currently works as a sports anchor with "The Fan" WKRK in Cleveland. 
Keith Raad (2015 Dragons) spent the 2017 season as a broadcaster with the Frisco RoughRiders in the Texas League after a season with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.
Two previous announcers who worked as Dragons # 2 broadcasters, Mike Benton (2004 Dragons) and Nick Brunker (2005 Dragons) have enjoyed long careers in hockey. Benton is the voice of the Everett Silvertips and has called more than 900 professional hockey matches. Brunker completed his fifth season as the voice of the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2015 before accepting a new position outside of sports.
The Dayton Dragons are the Midwest League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The Dragons have been recognized for their active streak of 1,246 consecutive sold-out dates, the highest total in North American sports history. The Dragons have finished first in full-season attendance for teams below the Triple-A level for 12 straight years and ranked eighth among all Minor League Baseball clubs in 2017.
Nichols returns for his 11th season with the Dragons as Director of Broadcasting and 31st year in professional baseball in 2018. He will handle play-by-play for the 25 Dragons television broadcasts and the remaining 115 home and road radio broadcasts on WONE and daytondragons.com.
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