Sarver Field Officially Named

The official dedication of Sarver Field at Ellet CLC is Saturday, May 11, at 12:45 p.m. at the baseball field.  

Akron Public Schools Board of Education has approved naming the Ellet CLC Baseball Field in honor of Coach John Sarver.

John Sarver graduated from Ellet High School in 1973 and spent 35 years as an APS teacher in various fields and 25 years as the varsity head coach at Ellet. He also coached varsity baseball at Buchtel and Kenmore.

The decision to retire in the fall of 2023 is a milestone in his career, and it's notable that he chose to leave a lasting legacy by securing funding that allowed for a new scoreboard to be installed at the Ellet CLC baseball field following its construction and installation.

During his coaching tenure, Mr. Sarver compiled a record of 379-247 as the varsity baseball coach, earning 18 Akron City Series regular-season championships, 15 league post-season titles and two Division I sectional titles in 2001 and 2022. Mr. Sarver has membership in three local sports-related hall-of-fame organizations.

Due to Mr. Sarver's long tenure at Ellet High School, it has been requested that the school's baseball field would best fit the honor being considered.

Sarver told a reporter from the Akron Beacon Journal last fall, “I love baseball. I still play a little bit [in adult leagues in Akron and Cleveland]. If I was going to be a coach again, it might be as an assistant somewhere.”

"We greatly appreciate all that coach Sarver has done for Ellet's baseball program the past 25 years, including his unofficial role as head groundskeeper," said APS Athletic Director Joe Vassalotti. "His time, energy and first-class approach to coaching the Ellet baseball players have been impressive, to say the least. Beyond the championships and other significant victories, he has provided these young men a positive role model and taught them life lessons which will endure."

Baseball isn’t his only sport, by a long shot. Sarver was also an assistant football coach at Ellet for 43 seasons, from 1979-2016, under former coach Joe Yost and from 2017-21 under former coach Chuck Shuman. Ellet went 253-178-2 from 1979-2021.