Swamp Bats profiles: Ethan Winter

Ethan Winter

Ethan Winter is a big contributor to the Swamp Bats information process and presence. He crunches numbers, quantifies pitching and batting for the statistical vault where so much baseball is stored. Working with webcaster Joe Fitzhenry, Ethan helps compile and edit the program for every home game.

And during those games, Ethan keeps track of every pitch, every batted ball, fair or foul, and, even the throws to first base, be those throws be to keep runners close or, pickoff attempts.

From the first pitch, Ethan serves as a second pair of eyes and ears for the Swamp Bats radiocasts. He assists Fitzhenry. He keeps Joe up to the moment on pitch counts. And from his seat, Fitzhenry can’t see the visitor’s bullpen. All Winter has to do is spin in his seat, have a glance and be able to tell Fitz “Walker, a lefty, # 26, is warming up,” for the visitor. 

Speaking of first pitches, Ethan threw the ceremonial pitch for the Swamp Bats before a recent game. We won’t dwell.

Rob Coman shakes Ethan's hand after the first pitch ceremony.
"You should stay in the booth," Coman did NOT say.

As the game progresses, Ethan will be making notes on his laptop for the postgame story that will be sent along to the NECBL, the Union Leader, the Sentinel and WMUR. At the final out, Ethan will interview players for quotes to round out his report on the game.

In the case of Wednesday’s rain-suspended game, his contribution was eventually a two-inch, one column account of the game in the margin of Thursday’s Keene Sentinel. On Friday, Ethan’s report of David Sosebee’s two-hit shutout was a big part of the Sentinel’s Sports section, a 320 wrap-up with quotes at the top of the page.

After David Sosebee’s 1- win over the Newport Gulls, Ethan Winter asked “What pitches worked for you?”  On the surface, that would seem like a dumb question. Anyone present could see every pitch was working. But Ethan knows it is never about the questions, the interviewer is trying to get good answers. And Ethan got a great answer. “Fastball for me was a little iffy at first,” Sosebee said. “So I figured that out and at the end of the game, my command was working for me.” That wound up being read by Swamp Bats fans from Alstead to Sosebee fans in Athens, Georgia, where he pitches for the University of Georgia. 

For road games, Ethan does audio for webcasts.  He had a summer job lined when the chance to join the Swamp Bats popped up. A classmate/friend at High Point University referred him to the Swamp Bats.

“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” he says. ”Writing game stories several days a week, doing play by play other days has been invaluable.”

“I would like to be a broadcaster for a Major League team, I always joke I am going to take Don Orsillo or Joe Castiglione’s job.    This is the first step. The Swamp Bats have given me a terrific opportunity.”