CLEVELAND — Most days, you can catch Johnny Smatana at his shop, Johnnyville Woods, in downtown Cleveland.
"I historically come in between eleven and noon every day,” says Smatana.
The shop itself is small in size but big in character. There’s little real estate on the walls, but everything has a meaning. It makes for a “perfect Groundhog Day every day," according to Smatana, as he works on his hobby-turned-profession — creating custom baseball bats.
"Since I started back in 2008-09, I've been averaging 2.5 bats a day, 6 days a week," Smatana said. "I don't have interest in anything else. Bats!"
Smatana's bats are different than others on the market because of the intentional, meaningful detail they display.
"I do great work. My engraving is incredible. My colors and stains are all awesome, but, at the end of the day, the handwritten message is what makes this whole thing go," he said.
The ability to put a message, as it's written on paper, directly engraved into the bat is what got the attention of Case Western Head Baseball Coach Matt Englander. For more than a decade, he's been gifting custom bats to his seniors at the end of the season.
"The bats are really special. It's engraved with our logo, their name, their number, but then I get the opportunity, because of the technology Johnny uses, to write a handwritten, personalized inscription to each guy on the back of it," Englander said.
There are 11 players graduating from the Spartans roster this year.
"They're a really close group. They work exceptionally hard. This group has been special just in how they've approached their lives, how they've approached the game and how they've done it together," Englander said.
Each player received their bat on Senior Day.
"I know it means a lot to me. I hope it means a lot to them. It's a special way for me to thank them for what they've given to our program, to myself and to their teammates. It means a lot to be able to do that," Englander said.
"These players have played for him, all these seniors, and to get something like this from a coach, it's incredible," Smatana said.
The bats are a guaranteed hit as the players walk off their athletic careers.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
