A five-tool broadcaster

Jul 27, 2026 By Jerin Steele 5 min read

About 30 minutes before first pitch, Kyle Dawson puts on his headset in the cozy radio booth at EQT Park.

The prep work is done and it’s time for another night on the call of a Washington Wild Things game alongside his broadcast partner Andrew Belleson.

When the first pitch is thrown for most broadcasters, it’s the beginning of the main course for their night.

For Dawson it’s more like a dessert.

That’s because broadcasting is only a part of a long list of daily tasks he has as the club’s Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Dawson is in his 10th year as a full-time front office member, ninth as the broadcaster, and 12th overall with the organization and he’s seen his responsibilities grow as time has gone on.

Baseball organizations covet five-tool players, but that can translate to front offices for independent baseball organizations.

Dawson has been adding tools like being in charge of player housing, signing finalized player contracts and transactions forms in his decade with the Wild Things.

And though he works long hours, getting to live out his dream makes it worth it.

“This is not to complain, because I love the job, but I do work 15-hour days during the season,” Dawson said. “I know my routine and that helps, but it is a little bit hectic at times. 7:05 (p.m.) is the time I love the most, because, whether my scorebook is filled out yet or not, that’s when I get on the air and I’m in my zone. Being in the broadcast booth is where I feel most like myself.”

Getting started

A young college student at Waynesburg University, Dawson got his start with the Wild Things in 2015 as a scorekeeper and scoreboard operator.

A year later he entered an internship with the organization as the on-field emcee.

“That got my foot in the door with the front office,” Dawson said. “We took home a Commissioners Award of Excellence from (Frontier League) Commissioner Steve Tahsler for our in-game entertainment show and the rapport that we had between the press box and the on-field people.”

The year as an intern led to a full-time gig as the in-game entertainment coordinator and in 2018 he assumed the role of media relations director and broadcaster.

When Dawson first arrived, MSA was broadcasting games, but when their contract was up, he got the play-by-play role he had coveted.

“(Broadcasting) was what I wanted to do, but that wasn’t open in 2017 when I first got here,” Dawson said. “I expressed when I got the job that I wanted to broadcast if the job opened up and I’d keep doing the other jobs along with it.

“I think they saw what I did that first year with social media and the other parts of the job that put their minds at ease a bit that I could go up into the booth and fortunately they put me up there.”

Beyond the headset

Dawson has won the Frontier League Broadcaster of the Year award twice, in 2019 and ’21 and did so while continuing to take on other roles within the organization.

In 2024 he was promoted to Vice President of Baseball Operations.

The baseball operations tasks like contracts and housing go along with other roles Dawson has like media relations and programming the video board for the night.

“My day is way different now than it was in 2018,” Dawson said. “It is a lot more hectic, but I’m not going to complain, because I love to do it.”

Favorite call

Dawson has been on the call for over 700 games, but his favorite one happened recently.

It was on June 12 when Kobe Foster pitched the fourth no-hitter in Wild Things history.

“I’ve been around baseball my entire life and had never seen a no-hitter before, let alone called one,” Dawson said. “I thought I handled it pretty well, which is always in the back of my mind at any big moment. The last three or four innings had a lot of thoughts like worrying about people thinking I would jinx it or making the right call if he does get there. That’s probably my best memory on air with the team.”

A championship in 2026?

Dawson also listed the three times the Wild Things made the championship since he took over as the broadcaster as memorable moments.

Those ended in heartbreak for the Wild Things, however. They lost in 2018 to Joliet, 2021 to Schaumburg and 2024 to Quebec.

This year the Wild Things have put themselves in position to be in the hunt for a Frontier League title again.

They are 45-21 and in first place in the Central Division entering a series in Brockton, which began this morning.

“I can’t really put my finger on what it is this year, but there’s a different feel with this group even compared to the 2024 team where we set the franchise record for wins,” Dawson said. “This team just finds ways to win and if we were to get there this year, and win it, there would be 12 years of pent-up energy in me let out in one broadcast call.”

Dawson has dreamed about that moment a lot and he hopes one day, maybe this year, he gets to experience the first championship in franchise history.

“I’ve thought about what that call would be like for eight years now since we were first in there and I still don’t know what exactly I would say,” Dawson said. “I hope that it’ll come organically and off the cuff.

“The grind of (independent baseball) is legit. It’s not for the faint of heart. That’s what makes those big moments even better and ultimately will make the biggest moment (a championship) that his organization hasn’t experienced yet in Washington so much better.”