Justin Antweil

Justin Antweil is the guy people hear in their car radios when they want to check in on a Somerset Patriots, an independent minor-league baseball team in central New Jersey.

Antweil, a 2011 broadcast journalism graduate, was the only man behind the mike for the Patriots last season. He was responsible for broadcasting all 140 games of the year, seven days a week, sometimes with doubleheaders, for six straight months. He even called a 17-inning game against the Long Island Ducks, which finally ended on an RBI fielder’s choice.                     

He was also charged with writing the postgame press release, conducting postgame interviews, blogging and working on the social media pages. In addition, he served as the media-relations assistant, meaning he was the middleman between the players on the field and the sportswriters.

Antweil, 23, stood up to the task, though, and will be back next season for the Patriots.

In his four years at Miami, Antweil prepared well for the job, calling games on WVUM for the women’s volleyball and basketball programs, as well as baseball. He also worked as a reporter for UMTV’s SportsDesk and NewsVision.

Antweil said he cherished the opportunities to travel with the baseball team, where the players treated him as if he were on the team.

“I got to share the team’s success as part of the pinnacle of college athletics,” he said.

He called the 2008 Hurricanes baseball team one of his favorites. Many of the players were of major league quality, including first baseman Yonder Alonzo, now of the San Diego Padres, and Jemile Weeks, now a second baseman for the Oakland A’s, and he recalls seeing a lot of scouts at all the games.

“It was cool to be on the bandwagon before they made it really big,” he said.

His job with the Somerset Patriots gave him a different challenge.

“It was a more intimate relationship with the Patriots’ players, because that was my sole job. I never left them from the end of March until October. At Miami, I was never the main guy for one team; I shared the responsibilities with others.”

In November, with baseball season over, Antweil took a job with Verizon FIOS TV in Long Island, calling high school soccer and volleyball games.

In December, Justin headed to Palm Springs, Calif., to call winter baseball for the California Winter League, a winter instruction league now in its third season.

Antweil is active on social media, and can be followed on Twitter @JAntweil.