You might just say that Nick Gesacion "stole" his way into the Penguin baseball record book, and for those efforts on the Penguin diamond he has now stolen his own page in the Hall of Fame program as he and Mike Glinatsis this year become just the 11th and 12th former baseball players to be enshrined.
A 1966 graduate of nearby Woodrow Wilson high school, he lettered in basketball for the Redmen and didn't even play baseball because the team didn't field a team. His love for the game was satisfied however, during the summer months where he starred for the McAuley Awnings of the local Class "B" League. His Class "B" career hit a high note where he helped Mcauley Awnings to the NABF (National Amateur Baseball Bederation) National Runner-up title in 1967.
Recruited by Head Coach Dom Rosselli, little did Rosselli know then that Gesacion would pay dividends as a freshman. An infielder who pound for pound may have been the most of all of Rosselli's diamondmen, he helped the Penguins to a combined 88-39 overall mark, including the then record-setting high water marks in wins for a season of 21 in 1969, only to be broken the following season with 24 and tied the year after that in 1971 when he was a senior.
As a freshman in 1968, Gesacion played in all 24 of the team's contests, helping Rosselli's diamondmen to a 19-4 overall mark, the only time in Gesacion's collegiate career that the Penguins would miss 20 wins in a campaign. His initial college season was a stellar one as he batted .324 with 21 stolen bases, a new single-season record, while his four stolen bases against Alliance College set the new single game-mark. He had two doubles and a home run for a .397 slugging average as well.
As a sophomore in 1969, he registered 38 hits (then a new single-season record) and batted .362 (with a .429 slugging average), eclipsing his stolen base record as he pilfered 30 bases, giving him 51 in just two seasons-a new career mark.
In 1970 as a junior, his single season stolen base mark fell for the third straight season and stole 33 bases, adding to his all time mark with 84 in his three-year career.
His senior season in 1971 was the first sub 20 steals season as he swapped only 11 bags while batting .298 with 29 hits, giving him 126 career hits, 95 career stolen bases (still the record today) and a .310 lifetime batting mark. With 95 runs scored, he equaled his stolen base career mark as well.
He graduated in 1973 with a BA in Business Administration, playing 15 years in the Youngstown Class "AA" League for the East Side Civics, walking away with the league crown on 13 of those occasions. He was later inducted into the East Side Civics and Athletic Hall of Fame as well.
Employed by the Davis International Construction Company as a labor foreman for the past 25 years, he resides in Poland with his wife, Diane, a teacher in the Poland School System, and their three children, Ryan (currently attending Kent State University), Adam and Nick III.
