SYRACUSE -- Jason Benetti is the new primary play-by-play radio announcer for the 2010 season of Syracuse Chiefs baseball action. The team also recently announced it has renewed its deal to have the games broadcast on Clear Channel's Sportsradio 620 WHEN. And the broadcast team will have some special guests to celebrate the Chiefs' 50th anniversary.
According to a press release on the Chiefs website, Benetti has worked with the Chiefs during the 2005, 2006 and 2009 seasons as a fill-in / secondary radio announcer. His promotion fills a vacancy left by Bob McElligott, who left the Chiefs (and a similar position with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch) last year for a new gig with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets.
Benetti graduated from SU in 2005 and spends the offseason in a (usually) milder climate, calling basketball games for High Point University in South Carolina. He also works for ISP Sports as studio host for the Georgia football radio network.
Joining Benetti in the broadcast booth this season will be Mike Couzens, who is currently pretty busy in the Syracuse radio scene -- on the SU hill as GM of student-run Z89 (WJPZ), as a sports reporter for NPR affiliate WAER 88.3, and commercially, as a news reporter for WHEN sister station Newsradio 570 WSYR. Couzens' experience with baseball includes spending the last two seasons calling games for the Falmouth Commodores in Massachusetts.
In addition to Benetti and Couzens, the Chiefs say they plan to bring in some "special guest announcers" from time to time, as the Chiefs celebrate their 50th year of "community ownership." The team hasn't mentioned any specific names or dates just yet.
The Chiefs open their 2010 season on April 8th at home against Lehigh Valley. The team says pre-game coverage will begin 30 minutes before the scheduled first pitch of each game all season.