Sanchas 

moves into 

the sports air

chair at 

WINY Radio

By Ron P. Coderre

WINY Radio in Putnam recently went through a major shift in its sports department with the naming of East Killingly resident Josh Sanchas as its sports director.  Sanchas, 22, is a May 2014 graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Farmington.

Sanchas is familiar with WINY, as he started at the station as a 16 year old intern, while a student at Killingly High School.  He graduated from Killingly in 2011, where he was a member of the Redmen’s basketball team.  He’s been working at WINY since shortly following his graduation from broadcasting school.  In his new role, Sanchas is responsible for daily sports reports twice per hour on the Morning Show between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.  

He’ll also be the play-by-play voice of high school sports, where he’ll team with Stu Neal in presenting football and with Scott Desrosiers for basketball and baseball.  Sanchas will also assume the lead on the popular Saturday morning Sports Talk show.

“I want to continue WINY’s spotlight on high school sports, while also presenting our listening audience with the latest in local, college and professional sports news.  I hope to bring a younger perspective to sports with quality reporting,” said Sanchas of his new role.

“As a former athlete I realize that sports provide a way of relieving stress in people’s lives.  I want to build a rapport with the listener so they’ll appreciate the effort we put into bringing them the latest and best in sports,” concluded Sanchas.

Although he’s excited to begin in his new position, the ambitious Sanchas admits that his ultimate dream is much the same as many others in the field as he aspires to work for ESPN some day.  He notes that television is different than radio and his immediate goal is to paint a vivid picture of the action for the listener.  He’s also a big fan of Boston Red Sox play-by-play man Don Orsillo, who coincidentally will not return to Boston next year.

“Orsillo’s a class act.  I love the way he teams with Jerry Remy.  That’s the atmosphere I hope to achieve with my partners,” said Sanchas.

Sanchas replaces John Wilbur, who was WINY Sports Director for the past nine and one half years.  Wilbur left recently to pursue other professional interests.