High school baseball: Coach Dan Ransom felt like it was time for a change at Firelands; Ryan Vargo taking his place

Firelands will have a new head baseball coach this spring after the resignation of Dan Ransom, who completed his 12th season this year. "It was just time at Firelands," Ransom told the Chronicle-Telegram. "It was time for a change over there and it was just time for a new voice. I've been going through a little bit of a struggle with some health issues and I wasn't able to be a full part of the program the past couple years." Ryan Vargo, who coached at Clearview last year, is slated to take over for Ransom. Vargo played at Clearview for four years, graduating in 2013. He played two years at Tiffin University before transferring to Gannon University, where he is listed among the top 25 in pitching appearances. Vargo started his coaching career at Midview, where he was at the helm of junior varsity team for three seasons, and spent four years as a varsity assistant at Westlake before taking over at Clearview this year. Vargo has also been involved with Force One Ohio Baseball, one of the premier travel organizations. Ransom is the vice president of the Northeast Ohio Baseball Coaches Association. He was inducted into the NEOBCA Hall of Fame in 2024 and won his 300th game this season. His teams won six conference championships and two district titles, reaching the regional semifinals in 2021 by beating Toledo Central Catholic. In the regional final, the Falcons lost 17-14 to Vermilion at Bowling Green's Carter Park, finishing the season 26-5. During Ransom's tenure, 15 players were named All-Ohio and 32 of his former players went on to play at the college level, his three sons, Colin, Kyle and Cory. Ransom said one of his fondest memories was coaching his sons. "That was great," he said. "There's no way I could have done it if it wasn't that situation. It was great to have the three go through the program. Even after, they'd come out and help out at camps and things. That's a great experience. I wouldn't trade that for anything." Ransom, who wants to return to coaching at some point, recently started teaching at North Shore High School, a charter school in Lakewood. "It's fairly new," he said. "It just started around COVID (2020). They're growing quite a bit. I think they have five campuses now, started with one, maybe 50 employees, and we're opening another campus next year. It seems like a really good place as far as I can tell." North Shore specializes in graduate recovery programs. "It's age related," Ransom said. "They take students up to age 22 and try to make sure they get everything taken care of to graduate and get a diploma." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.