Multi-task broadcast duo calls match recent FHS baseball state crown runs
WFIV 105.3’s Gerhardt, Skinner have a special love of gloves, bats, homers, great pitching
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Erik Gerhardt, left, and Ralph Skinner have become the “Voices of Farragut baseball,” with Gerhardt also the “Voice” of FHS softball, football and basketball. - Photo by Alan Sloan
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The two in action on WFIV-FM 105.3 during the 2022 TSSAA baseball state tourney at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro. - Photo by Alan Sloan
For the unmistakable “Voice of Farragut High School athletics” dating back more than 20 years, Erik Gerhardt’s love of FHS baseball and softball is perhaps deepened even further by his near miss of winning a state championship.
That came in 1988 as a starting right fielder, Gerhardt’s last rodeo as an Admirals senior. His team finished as Class AAA state runner-up.
The ever-popular Ralph Skinner, meanwhile, is the one constant public presence with Ads baseball during the program’s 13 state-championship run dating back to 2003.
Its 23-year “Voice” in public address home games and 17 years of play-by-play calls on WUCP-FM, Skinner’s love for baseball dates back to his childhood growing up in northeast Alabama.
These two finally teammed up on a regular basis in 2022 when Gerhardt invited Skinner to become part of a new WFIV-FM 105.3 baseball team, primarily as a color analyst, to follow the Ads during big regular season games — and the entire way in the post-season.
Perhaps only a coincidence, but the Baseball Ads have won the last four TSSAA Division I-Class 4A state crowns beginning in 2022 as broadcasted by these two multi-tasking voices and stat keepers.
