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McKenzie Reese will follow in brothers’ footsteps at Wooster
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The Reese siblings, from left, Eddie, McKenzie and Danny, were all standout athletes at Cardinal Mooney. McKenzie will continue her athletic career in volleyball at The College of Wooster, where Danny plays baseball and Eddie was a standout, also on the diamond.
McKenzie will follow in brothers’ footsteps at Wooster
By Ryan Buck
Keith Beckett has seen a lot in his 12 years as The College of Wooster’s athletic director and 20 more before that as the head coach of the school’s swim program and a physical education professor.
He oversees 23 sports and the academic and athletic welfare of over 500 athletes every school year.
The Reese siblings, Youngstown natives and Cardinal Mooney athletics standouts, are a first for Beckett. When McKenzie Reese recently signed her NCAA letter-of-intent this week to attend, and play volleyball, at Wooster, she became the third member of the family to do so, following older brothers Eddie and Danny, both baseball players.
“Three... that’s testing my memory here,” Beckett said, laughing. “I can’t say we’ve ever had that many [in one family] in that regard. The most unique situation we had was, several years ago, we had triplets — sisters — that were members of the women’s swimming program.”
Wooster has had at least one member of the Reese family every year since Eddie was a freshman in 2010.
“We’ve had brothers and sisters follow each other, but this overlap without being twins or triplets is quite a unique and special situation,” said Beckett.
Eddie, currently in a master’s program for management and finance at Case Western Reserve, concluded an All-American career last spring. He was among the leading hitters in Division III and was a two-time team captain for a team that advanced to the NCAA final.
The eldest’s familiarity with the school grew from visiting an older cousin and he alerted the baseball coaching staff that he was interested. Before a senior season where he hit over .400 with five home runs for the Cardinals, he made his decision.
“I thought I would have a chance of playing right away there instead of walking on at a bigger school,” said Eddie, the son of Ed and Diane Reese. “Wooster’s a great liberal arts college — it’s well-known for that — and it’s close to home. My family could come watch me play so it was a perfect fit.”
Younger brother Danny, who excelled at basketball at Mooney in addition to baseball, transferred after playing two seasons at YSU.
“I’d say my brother was a huge part in it,” said Danny, a history major with two seasons of baseball eligibility remaining. “Just seeing the year he had — his All-American year — where he had so much success and the class around him, I thought we could really do something special.”
Danny transferred after his sophomore season, earned a spot in the Fighting Scots’ bullpen as a right-handed pitcher and never wavered with the change in schools, scenery or sports.
“I’m just used to competing, really,” said Danny, a candidate to become a starting pitcher for the Scots this spring.
Their love of sports was almost a birthright.
“Growing up, we lived in a neighborhood with a lot of athletic guys and we all played sports,” said Danny. “We were always playing football or basketball or baseball outside; always doing something.
“You always wanted to be better than your friend and when Eddie and I were at home, I always wanted to beat my older brother and when that didn’t work out it could get heated. I think my sister saw that and it played a big role.”
Says Tony Gorvet, who coached the boys in the Class B baseball league and then McKenzie in volleyball, “I’ve never had the opportunity to coach two brothers and a sister. It’s unique. They’re a great family and one is just as competitive as the other and she might be the most competitive of them all.”
McKenzie, who captained the Mooney volleyball team to a district title last fall as a senior, did not have to look far when it came time to choose a college.
“For the last four years, I’ve been going there to watch my brothers play. I got to know all the coaches and it was kind of a second home,” she said. “I looked around, but I knew I really wanted to go there because I knew the campus so well and everything about it. I thought, ‘Why waste my time looking somewhere else if I know I really wanted to go there?’”
And for four more years, the Reese pipeline will continue.
“It means a lot to our family,” said Eddie, who thought little beyond simply earning a spot on the baseball team upon his arrival. “I had no idea going there as a freshman that this would happen.”