BILLINGS — He’s the voice you’ll hear booming through your radio during the summer evenings.
Washington native Avery Cooper is your voice of the Mustangs, a job he’s been aspiring towards most of his life.
“I love baseball, it's my first love," Cooper said. "I did one football game and fell in love with it, then I kept doing it and kept doing it. It kind of became an obsession trying to get better."
Cooper called sports of all kinds during his time as a student at Washington State, dabbling primarily in hoops, football and baseball. There’s certainly a different pace to the game of baseball, so how does Cooper keep his listeners locked in?
“I've found that even if there isn't abundant material for you, speaking to the listener as if it's just one person," Cooper said. "Yes, there's going to be dozens of people out there listening at a time, maybe even hundreds. I don't care about that. It's just me talking to you."
Like so many in the Mustangs organization, Cooper is hoping this is a stepping stone to something larger. While age doesn’t do the players any favors, it plays to the benefit of Cooper in the play-by-play business.
“I would love to find a way to have a college program where I could do a little bit of both. Maybe some football, basketball and baseball," said Cooper. "If I end up going into affiliate ball, too, I'd love to do that and work my way up. Sky is the limit is my hope, man."
Cooper is kickstarting his play-by-play career here in Billings, but who knows just how long the pull of the Magic City will keep him around.
