From Stockton to Reno: the journey of Aces play-by-play man Zack Bayrouty

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Zack Bayrouty wanted to be a reporter, or pursue public relations.

Now he’s the voice of the Reno Aces.

“I met someone who I did an internship with in Florida who saw something in me,” he said

Bayrouty’s journey started in 2006 with the Stockton Ports - the High-A affiliate at the time of the Oakland A’s.

Four years later he added basketball to his arsenal - calling University of the Pacific basketball games. With the Tigers often playing the Nevada Wolf Pack in Reno, Bayrouty frequently crossed paths with Ryan Radtke who was the main play-by-play guy for the Aces from 2009-2020.

Filling in for Radtke in 2019 gave Bayrouty a leg up when the Aces gig became available.

“That was quite a gift to me - to hand me the keys to this job that was essentially a Major League job,” Bayrouty said of Radtke’s standard.

Now Bayrouty is taking a Major League approach to his craft. He takes plenty of notes, meets with players and coaches before the game, and studies storylines of the day’s starting pitchers before hopping on the mic.

“If you’re listening on the radio, what do you need to know?” Bayrouty said of his journalistic approach to calling a game.

In his 16 years in the booth Bayrouty has had to recall interactions with players years prior to help him tell a story the day of a current broadcast.

“There are things for me to fall back on and if not for the journey - all those years in Stockton - my broadcast probably isn’t as rich as they hopefully are.”

Bayrouty credits his family for being flexible and understanding his crazy work schedule.

The play-by-play man calls Aces games on MiLBTV and the Aces digital network on renoaces.com.

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