Elyria Sports Hall of Fame: Baseball was way of life for Joe Norton

It never hurts to have a little help from above."We'd go to church at St. Jude's, 12 o'clock mass," Joe Norton said of his younger days. "We'd go to the baseball field straight from church. We'd hit (batting practice) for a couple hours. That was my Sunday thing — even after baseball season was over."Norton, who lives in Tucson with his wife, Tracey, was the oldest of five children. His father, Dale, died in 2022 but his mother, Cindy, still lives in Elyria. His brothers, Tom and Mike, and sisters, Maria and Teresa, all grew up in Elyria, living on Gulf Road, not far from the original Little League North behind St. Jude's on Poplar Street.His dad played a huge role in his success, including all those batting practice sessions at Little League North.Norton will be inducted into the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame on May 2 along with Amanda Medvetz, Joel Stuart, MacKenzie Tweardy and Doug Foor. A pair of state champions will be inducted as teams — the 2009 Murray Ridge Raiders basketball team and the 1995 Elyria West 4x100 track relay. Dr. Dennis Carson will receive the Distinguished Service Award.Norton can best be described as a gamer. He was an outstanding catcher and receiver for Elyria High in baseball and football. He graduated in 1993."Everybody recognized that Joe came to play," said Curt Karpinski, his baseball coach who was inducted into the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. "The only time I remember having his shin guards off was when he was in the batter's box or on the bases.""He was like having another manager on the field," Herb Strayer once said.Strayer won 630 games in 31 years as the coach at Ohio Northern, where Norton played in college. Strayer died in 2002.Norton is still listed among the best hitters to play for the Polar Bears.His .368 career batting average ranks sixth and his 14 doubles during the 1997 season are tied for ninth. He batted close to .400 during his senior year with six homers and 27 RBIs. Norton led the team in batting in 1996 (.351) and '97 (.398).At Elyria, Norton was the catcher during the state tournament run in 1992. He batted .373 with a homer and 26 RBIs, but his contribution behind the plate is what still stands out in Karpinski's mind. Elyria finished 23-2, losing the state semifinal to North Canton Hoover."He was a great catcher," said Karpinski. "I had my catchers in charge on gameday. That was his job to call pitches and if I had a problem with it, I'd let him know. I think that only happened once or twice the entire season."He was a catcher and a wide receiver, so he had soft hands. He would race the baserunner to first base backing up the play. He'd always let me know if he beat him. He always backed up the first baseman. He always hustled for any ball back to the screen, and that was a long way (at George Day Field)."As for baserunning, he wasn't going to steal a lot of bases but he was a threat to take an extra base when it was there. I didn't give him a green light or anything but he could move around the bases."Norton credits Karpinski for the team's success."We played high-level baseball at Elyria," Norton said. "He was smart about how he made up his lineup. The team that went to state it was righty, lefty, righty, lefty all the way down. Not a lot of teams had that opportunity. How many people have four, five lefties on their team?"He was a great coach. He made us work. He would show up early in the morning before school started and he'd let us in the batting cage."Norton was as good defensively as any catcher Karpinski ever had. He was also important on offense."It was a real nice combination having him and (Mark) Stomieroski," Karpinski said. Stomieroski was inducted into the Hall in 2012. "Joe would come up in the three hole and with Stomer batting fourth and they couldn't pitch around Joe. And sometimes I'd flip it around the other way."Norton was All-Erie Shore his junior and senior seasons. He played a couple of years of Legion baseball for Post 12. For Don Richardson's football team, Norton not only led the Pioneers in receiving his senior season but handled the punting and kicking duties. His 45-yard field goal against Midview in 1992 remains the third-longest in school history.He caught 42 passes for 601 yards in 1992. The yardage ranks 11th for a season in Elyria history.He led Elyria in scoring with six touchdowns, 17 extra points and three field goals for 62 points. He was a tight end his junior year but became a split end as a senior and played some linebacker and defensive back, coming up with three interceptions as a senior. He kicked a 27-yard field goal, booted four extra points and caught a 15-yard touchdown to help beat Lorain 31-21 in the finale."Greg Thomas (quarterback) and I had a good rapport coming up through our previous seasons together," said Norton. "Greg became the quarterback halfway through our junior season. We started to hook up a little bit then. Our senior year Richardson brought in Coach (Jim) Dobney and he put me out wide mostly from there on."Norton, who was all-league as a receiver and kicker, remembers the 45-yard field goal that put Elyria in front, but the Middies came back to win. He learned how to kick by playing in the Greater Elyria Soccer Association."We were winning at halftime in that game," he said. "We couldn't do anything in the second half. Greg overthrew me on a ball. I was open deep but he overthrew me by about a yard and a half."I remember Coach Richardson had a quote in the paper that said 'we don't even practice 45-yard field goals.' Which was true. We never did. It was just one of those circumstances where there were probably two or three seconds on the clock (before halftime). We just tried it and it was good — barely. If the ball rotated a little bit differently, it might have hit the crossbar."Norton credits his dad for the time and energy he spent with him. He regrets his father won't be there to see him get inducted."He was a foreman at Nordson and he worked third shift, second shift, whatever," said Norton. "If he could make a game, he would be there, even when I was in college and even during weekdays sometimes. Like if we were at Baldwin Wallace or somewhere in the vicinity, he'd be there. He put in the time."I owe pretty much everything to him and my family — my mom and my siblings — for putting up with me."Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.