Jacob Wise wins Prospect League Broadcaster of the year

The Prospect League is proud to announce the inaugural Prospect League Awards to recognize the best of the Prospect League off the playing field during the 2023 season.

The awards have been founded in conjunction with the Prospect League Fan Awards, announced in August, to recognize Prospect League organizations for the hard work put in each season. This version of the inaugural awards grants one vote to each Prospect League team for six awards: Social Media of the Year, Broadcaster of the Year, Ballpark Experience of the Year, PLTV Broadcast of the Year, Executive of the Year and Organization of the Year.

The six awards will be individually announced on the Prospect League social media channels over the next month, culminating in the announcement of the Executive of the Year Award and Organization of the Year Award.

Announced Monday, Nov. 20 was the Broadcaster of the Year Award.

“A professional, through and through,” Jacob Wise of the Chillicothe Paints has been awarded 2023 Prospect League Broadcaster of the Year by league-wide vote.

The Director of Media and Broadcasting and play-by-play voice of the Chillicothe Paints, Wise just completed his eighth season with the Paints and his 14th summer broadcasting baseball.

Fitted with some of the best broadcast technology you will find on a Prospect League broadcast, Wise is the solo broadcaster for every Chillicothe Paints game on Prospect League TV and Cash FM 100.9 WXIZ, the flagship radio station of the Paints.

The broadcast veteran has had historic success in the Prospect League booth. Wise has been on the call for three of the last four Prospect League Championship Series, watching the Paints capture three titles including this past season.

After graduation from Waynesburg University in 2010, where he gained experience announcing on radio and television broadcasts of NCAA DIII football, baseball and basketball games under the tutelage of former MLB broadcaster and Ford C. Frick Award finalist Lanny Frattare, Wise began his professional announcing career with the Slippery Rock Sliders of the Prospect League, serving as the play-by-play announcer for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

In the offseason both years, Wise handled play-by-play duties for PITT Panthers Television broadcasts of Panthers Olympic sports (NCAA DI volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling, soccer, baseball and softball). The Ashville, Ohio native then made the jump to professional baseball, calling games for the Frontier League’s Rockford RiverHawks/Aviators in 2012 and 2013.

In 2014, Wise returned to his home state to serve as the assistant general manager and play-by-play announcer of the Prospect League’s newest addition at the time, the Champion City Kings in Springfield, where he spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Things came full-circle with the beginning of the 2016 baseball season, when Wise accepted a full-time position with the Chillicothe Paints that includes play-by-play of every Paints’ game. He is also charged with producing digital and print content promoting the Paints and other events hosted by the Paints at VA Memorial Stadium.

Wise has announced high school football and basketball games in Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, as well as in Lancaster and Fairfield County. In addition to his Paints duties, Wise also serves as the Media & Technology Director for the Prospect League and was instrumental in the creation of Prospect League TV, which launched for the 2018 season and provides live and on-demand video streaming covering every Prospect League game. Highland County Press