Lake County Sentinel
2026 Dennis Woods GCBCA All-Star Game a tribute to a legend
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
(WICKLIFFE, OH) - Saturday Morning at historic League Park in Cleveland something happened that Cleveland baseball legend Dennis Woods would have loved. They played the 2026 Dennis Woods Greater Cleveland Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Game. He wouldn’t have loved it because it had his name on it, he would have loved it because graduated high school seniors were doing the thing he loved the most in life, playing baseball.
Coach Woods passed away last summer after a courageous battle with cancer.
Coach Woods spent parts of seven decades coaching high school and college baseball in the Cleveland area. First at Glenville High School in Cleveland, then St. Anslem’s, Lake Catholic & Brush High School. He also coached at Cuyahoga Community College & Case Western Reserve University. While coaching the Glenville Tarblooders one of his players was John Bert Childress. Childress commented about Coach Woods, “Dennis Woods was my Baseball Coach at Glenville High School, He taught me how to play, and I was fortunate enough to sign a pro contract with the Cleveland Indians. Thank You Coach Woods for all the baseball and Life lessons you gave me.”
The weather was perfect for the game, it was a bright sunny day, temperature in the 60’s at the start of the game. It was as if coach had sent the weather from Heaven.
The game itself was a back-and-forth affair between the Cuyahoga and Chagrin squads made up of players from 16 area high schools from the eastside and westside, including six from Lake County (Cornerstone, Eastlake North, Fairport Harbor, Lake Catholic, Perry, Wickliffe) schools.
The offense came quickly as the Chagrin squad led by Andrew Osborne Academy coach Jay Murphy scored three runs in the top of the first inning and the Cuyahoga squad responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
Chagrin regained the lead in the top of the third with a single run. They increased their advantage to 8-3 in the top of the fifth and it looked as though the game would become a blowout.
Cuyahoga, led by Wickliffe Blue Devils coach Phil Motta, responded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs to trim the Chagrin lead to one run heading to the sixth.
After holding Chagrin in the top of the sixth the Cuyahoga responded for the second straight inning with four runs including the big blow RBI blow by Bay Rockets graduate Chase Prudhoe to give Cuyahoga an 11-8 lead.
Cuyahoga shut down Chagrin in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
Prudhoe said after the game about getting the go ahead hit and playing in the game, “It meant a lot. I mean to play at such a historic field and stuff. It was really an honor my senior year and wearing the Rockets shirt one last time.”
Coach Murphy commented after the contest about what he thought coach Woods would be thinking if he were there on Saturday, “He would have thought what we thought. Number one, It’s great to see the guys playing, wearing their high school uniforms. Getting an opportunity to play with their teammates one more time, maybe competing and playing against teams and players they played against during the course of the year. But really to finish up on a positive note. Because we all know that the majority of our high school players don’t have the chance to play college baseball. So, to come down here at historic League where the history of Cleveland baseball really started and finish off their career on a positive note. It’s just fun good feeling to have and I think Dennis would feel much the same way.”
Former James Rhodes coach and current Brush Arcs assistant Tim Hogan commented about what it meant to him with the game being played in honor of his friend Dennis Woods, “Everything, I’ve known Dennis since I got into coaching here in Cleveland in the late 80’s. This organization meant everything to him. He was one of the founding fathers of it and kept it going for as many years as he could. Hopefully, we can keep on the tradition even though he’s no longer here with us.” He went on to say about Woods impact on high school baseball in the Cleveland area, “He just meant everything to keeping programs like Glenville going and having great success at Lake Catholic.” He finished his comments with, “Baseball was his life and he just loved this area. We’re so fortunate that he spent his entire life in the Cleveland area. Amateur baseball in this area would not be the same without him.”
POSTED 05/31/2026 00:00
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Both rosters (Cuyahoga & Chagrin) of the 2026 Dennis Woods GCBCA All-Star game at League Park on Saturday May 30.
Photo by Tim Shirer