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Baseball has always been his blood.
After his days catching at the collegiate level, he spent much of his adult life umpiring Division-I baseball.
Even at the age of 50, Bryan Youngblood continues to get a few swings in and hold down the fort as a first baseman as part of a pair of men's leagues in the Canton-Akron area.
He is a die-hard fan of the Cleveland major league baseball team he still refers to as "the Tribe" and their home as the "The Jake."
Now add high school varsity baseball coach at Parkersburg South High School to his resume after spending the better part of the past seven years as an assistant with the Patriots program.
Matt Emerick resigned following the conclusion of this past season.
"When we weren't sure who the next coach would be, I had four to five contact days with players during the summer," Youngblood said. "Guys were coming in three days a week lifting weights. I also ran a camp for some of the youth at Camp Crawdad, so we had consistent contact with the team.
"I want to stress to the kids baseball is a great game but also a humbling game."
After his college days at Ohio Dominican and Bluffton University, Youngblood never envisioned himself becoming a baseball coach. A native of Doylestown, Ohio, Youngblood's background in art and illustration brought him to Belpre.
Eventually, he returned to school to seek a degree in the education field. Through a grant, his first teaching position landed him at Wirt County High School where he coached the Tigers' baseball program for three years.
Youngblood then spent five years at Pendleton County High School where he served as an assistant baseball coach and middle school volleyball coach.
"Then an opportunity at South opened up," Youngblood said. "A woman who brought me to West Virginia for this grant at Wirt County said she used to teach at South and told me about the position. I jumped at the opportunity.
"My wife is from Columbus and I am from the Akron area, so this would get us closer to home. I lived in Marietta and I always loved the area."
In order to fully enjoy his passion for baseball, Youngblood is married to a woman (Heather) who basically learned the sport from scratch and owns an impressive baseball IQ for the way the game is played.
Heather Youngblood's initial comment when the two first met in college could have nixed the relationship from the start. Instead, when Bryan either umpired or played in men's baseball leagues, Heather sat in the stands learning the nuances of the game. They have one daughter, Evie, who will be attending Washington State Community College in the fall.
"When Heather and I started dating in college at Ohio Dominican, she said to me 'by the way, I hate baseball' -- I started laughing," Bryan said. "I give her credit. She couldn't make it to games during weekdays, but it didn't matter where we played on the weekends -- she was there. She is a supporter.
"I remember watching a game on TV. There was a runner on third base and she mentioned about the batter hitting to the other side so the runner can score. She gets the game, but she likes the fast pace of football."
Since his arrival at South, Bryan has coached by the Patriots' junior varsity and freshmen football teams, Won't see him on the sidelines during varsity games because he is wearing a headset as a member of the assistant coaching staff scouting from the press box.
Youngblood's baseball achievements, however, are the basis of his 2021 induction into the Greater Akron Hall of Fame. During the weekend festivities, inductees threw out the first pitch at an Akron RubberDucks minor league game. On the receiving end was his wife.
"When the guy from the nominating committee called me, I asked if this was a joke -- he said no it's not," Bryan said. "You have guys like Andre Thornton and George Sisler in this Hall of Fame. Being inducted was a humbling experience and a cool deal."
Bryan rattles off names like Gary Carter, George Brett, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar, along with Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds when asked about players he followed through the years.
"They played the game and played the game hard," Bryan said.
Although his days as a catcher are behind him, Bryan continues to play first base for the 45-over and 50-over men's baseball leagues based near his hometown and Akron and Canton. Lately, depth perception has given him problems. He has macular degeneration in his left eye and receives shots every four to six weeks.
"I can tell what pitches are coming at me, but my swing is not there," Bryan said. "It's healing. The prognosis is good."
As for his new duties at South, Bryan is stressing weight training for his players.
"I think a lot of people discount the aspect of weight training in baseball," Bryan said. "That's the key. Playing at (Hank Greenburg Field) is a cathedral with all that room in the outfield."
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com