Pruzinsky mourned

The sudden death of former Captains bat boy and home clubhouse manager Matthew Pruzinsky sent shock waves through the Indians’ organization.

Pruzinsky, a 32-year-old Mentor native, died on Dec. 10 of an apparent cardiac arrest while attending the game between the Browns and Green Bay Packers at First Energy Stadium.

A graduate of St. Mary School in Mentor, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School and Ohio State University, Pruzinsky was home clubhouse manager at Classic Park from 2005 to 2009.

He began working for the Captains as bat boy during their inaugural season of 2003. The Captains are a full-season Single A affiliate of the Indians. Since 2010, Pruzinsky has been home clubhouse manager at Huntington Park in Columbus, home of the Triple-A Clippers, also an Indians affiliate.

“The Lake County Captains organization is saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Matt Pruzinsky,” Captains General Manager Neil Stein said. “Matt was a terrific person and great employee of the Captains before he moved on to the Columbus Clippers.”

Stein and Captains Assistant General Manager Jen Yorko are attending baseball’s winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Yorko joined the Captains front office in 2007 and said she was “devastated” upon learning of Pruzinsky’s death.

“I can vividly recall his fun-loving character,” Yorko said. “Even working long baseball hours in the heat of the summer, you’d still find a smile on his face and laugh with his jokester personality.”

Yorko said her heart goes out to Pruzinsky’s widow, Shannon, who joined the Captains as in intern in 2008 and was subsequently hired a full-time employee in the team’s ticket office. She is expecting twin boys in March 2018.

“Shannon has the sweetest, most kind-hearted personality,” Yorko said. “The loss of Matt is devastating to their families, friends and entire baseball community.”

A number of current and former Indians players who played for the Captains and Clippers on their climbs to the big leagues have offered tributes to Pruzinsky on Twitter.

They include Jason Kipnis, Mike Clevinger, Danny Salazar, Shawn Armstrong, Cody Anderson and Bradley Zimmer.

Armstrong established a GoFundMe page “to raise money to help Shannon with future expenses for their two baby boys. Anything helps and we would greatly appreciate your prayers for the Pruzinsky family.”

The page is www.gofundme.com/ the-26th-man-matt-pruzinski

As of 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, the amount raised was $62,595.