2016 RONALD E. MCMINN AWARD
JOHN MENGELKAMP
John Mengelkamps start in summer baseball
was coaching 18 & under baseball in 1993
for Cleveland Mid-Air. He then coached
from 1993 to 2002 for organizations such as
Cleveland Mid-Air, Parkhill Baseball and the
Cleveland Lakers. In 1996, John was named
Vice-President of the Northeast Connie Mack
Baseball League out of Northeast Ohio. After
the 1997 season, the Northeast Connie Mack
League dissolved and the Diamond League
was born. He was immediately named Vice-
President, and at the time The Diamond League
only consisted of 11 eighteen and under teams.
In 2000, Brian Sliwinski, the President stepped
down, and John took on the role of President
of the Diamond League.
From 2000 until today, the Diamond League
has expanded from 11 teams in one age group
to 50 teams across three age divisions-- 15u
to 18u. With the increasing number of summer
teams interested in joining the Diamond
League in Northeast Ohio, John Mengelkamp
and current Vice-President Dominic
Gruttaduaria decided to start another league
named the Ohio Prospects League in 2010.
The Diamond League has remained an invite
only league with a limited amount of members.
Teams not selected to the Diamond League are
offered entry into the Ohio Prospects League.
Today, the OPL has 102 teams over 5 age
divisions ranging from 13u to 18u.
In 2002 and 2003, John coached baseball
at Lakeland Community College and also
coached the Lake County Admirals summer
collegiate team. He also coached basketball
at Willoughby South High School from 1996-
1998, Lakeland Community College from 1999-
2003, and Beachwood High School from 1994-
1995.
John currently teaches accounting part-time
as an adjunct professor at Lakeland Community
College and Lake Erie College. He also
works for Fincun-Mancini as an accountant/
bookkeeper.
2016 NABF JOHN BENEDICT
SPORTS JOURNALISM AWARD
WILL KOWALSKI
Will Kowalski is a longtime veteran sports
journalist who is Sports Editor/Assistant Editor of
the Battle Creek Shopper News in Battle Creek,
MI – one of the nine weekly publications of J-Ad
Graphics, Inc., owned and operated by Mr. Fred
Jacobs and based out of Hastings, MI. The Battle
Creek Shopper News reaches 50,000 homes each
week, and the nine J-Ad Graphics publications in
total reach over 144,000 households each week.
Will is a 1974 graduate of Riverview Community
High School, located in the Downriver Detroit area.
Will attended Henry Ford Community College
in Dearborn, MI, before completing his college
studies at Michigan State University (attaining a BA
degree in Communication Arts/Journalism).
During and after attending and graduating
from MSU, Will first worked for the MSU student
newspaper (The State News) and for a weekly
publication (the Ingham County News), and
worked at the Lansing State Journal (Gannett Co./
USA Today) daily newspaper from 1980 until May
1988. While at the State Journal, among his many
beats, Will covered amateur baseball each season,
including NABF regional tournaments in the early
1980s.
Then, in May 1988, Will went to work at another
Gannett Co./USA Today publication, the daily
Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer. Will worked there as a
sports writer, sports copy editor and sports editor
for 27 years, until he was “retired” in May 2015
during another downsizing period by Gannett.
While at the Battle Creek Enquirer, Will covered the
full spectrum of sports, including NABF tourneys
in the early-to-mid 1990s; he was president of
the Michigan Associated Press Sports Editors
organization for two years; he went on loan to
work in the sports department at USA Today in
the Washington, DC, area in 1995-96; he went on
loan to work at the Iowa City Press Citizen in 1999;
he worked for about one year on the Enquirer
news-side desk before returning to the sports
department; and he helped with coverage of the
Charles M. Blackburn Jr. National Amateur Baseball
Federation Major Division World Series in Battle
Creek.
National Amature Baseball Federation
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