Family, friends and fellow firefighters remembered Kevin Criss this morning as a dedicated family man who loved his son “more than life itself” and a good firefighter who loved his job.

Kevin Criss

Criss, 31, of Wellington, was killed overnight when he wrecked his motorcycle in Carlisle Township.

Criss was riding a 2001 Yamaha R-1 motorcycle south on Indian Hollow Road about two-tenths of a mile south of Elbert Drive at about 11:15 p.m. when he lost control on a curve, according to the State Highway Patrol.

He went off the west side of the road and struck a sign and a guardrail, the patrol said. The motorcycle then went airborne and struck an embankment, and Criss was thrown from the bike.

Avon Fire Chief Frank Root III said he went to paramedic school at Lorain County Community College with Criss, and they both graduated in 2000.

“Shortly after I took over as chief, I interviewed him for a position,” Root said. “I was quite happy to have the chance to hire him.

“He won over the rest of the interview panel with his excellent demeanor and personality. He was our overwhelming choice for the hire.”

Criss started with the department in June 2006, Root said.

“Once hired, he proved to be exemplary employee — very dedicated, very knowledgeable,” Root said. “When someone becomes a firefighter, you never know how well they’re going to handle fires — it’s kind of different compared to emergency medical care. Kevin was tremendous at that also.”

Avon Fire Lt. Matt Rosenberger said he was good friends with Criss and had worked with him for about three years.

Before Criss joined the Avon Fire Department, he worked for LifeCare, he said.

“A lot of people in the county knew him,” Rosenberger said. “He was well-liked, good at his job and experienced. He will be sorely missed.”

Root said Criss was a decorated veteran and received awards for his bravery, including a letter of commendation for efforts at the Lorain County Community College fire in early 2009.

“He went into the tunnel not once but three times, facing tremendous heat and fire to help Elyria extinguish the fire,” Root said.

Criss was described as well-liked and loved, an “awesome, sports-loving guy” and “very family oriented.”

Criss, a Firelands High graduate, was married to Rhianna and had a young son, Coltin, who is 2.

According to family and friends, he loved his son “more than life itself” and loved being a firefighter.

Criss’ hobbies included bowling and playing softball, and he had just played in the Avon firefighters vs. police softball game at All Pro Freight Stadium to support breast cancer research last weekend.

According to Root, Criss started at left field and hit a home run to help the firefighters win 26-12. Criss also made some good defensive plays, Root said.

“I like to play myself, but when you watch a young man with his finesse and grace, you get a different appreciation for the sport,” Root said.

Fellow firefighter and paramedic John Gansor left after his shift this morning to visit Criss’ crash site, where he draped an Avon Fire Department T-shirt.

He said he worked with Criss on the B Shift Sunday, which was the last time he saw him. He called Criss a “jokester,” “a really good guy to be around” and a “tremendous human being.”

Gansor said firefighters found out about Criss’ death about 12:30 last night.

He called Criss a “tremendous husband and father.” He recalled Criss taking a ball to his son in the stands at Saturday’s softball game.

Root said Criss was a “tremendous motorcycle rider” and said he’d watched videotape Criss had brought in of some of his stunts.

“He was very accomplished,” Root said. “He had applied to be a stunt rider for Disney.”

Root said he wasn’t familiar with how safe of a rider Criss was but said in the times he’d ridden his bike to work “I never saw him pull out without a helmet on.”

Criss was valued for his EMS background, Root said, adding he was “one of the guys you wanted with you” if you had a call with serious injuries.

Criss’ firefighter number — 504 — will be retired, Root said. Other than that, he said, “We’re going to get through this. We’re going to help his family all we can and try to heal ours.”

“We’re pretty shaken up,” Root said of the department, “but we’re going to hold our own. We’re a pretty young and vibrant department, and Kevin epitomized that.”

According to Gansor, Criss was “just a super, super nice guy.”

“You couldn’t ask for a better friend, a better coworker … he’ll never be forgotten,” he said.

It is unknown at this time whether alcohol played a role in the crash or whether Criss was wearing a helmet, the Highway Patrol said.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story as it becomes available.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — The Indians went down to the wire again with their first-round draft choice, and, fortunately for them, got the same result as last year.

Cleveland beat the midnight deadline by four minutes to sign 2009’s first-round selection, right-hander Alex White, and came close to the same time frame Monday in agreeing to terms with left-hander Drew Pomeranz, the fifth overall pick out of the University of Mississippi.

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Pomeranz was one of a number of the Indians’ top draft picks unsigned for much of the day, but minutes after the deadline passed, Cleveland announced that it had signed Pomeranz, as well as second-round pick LeVon Washington, an outfielder out of Chipola Junior College (Florida), and third-round pick Tony Wolters, a shortstop out of Rancho Buena Vista High (Calif.).

Those signings meant the Indians were able to land their top five selections, also agreeing to terms with right-handers Kyle Blair (fourth round, University of San Diego) and Cole Cook (fifth round, Pepperdine University).

“We are excited to sign Drew Pomeranz, LeVon Washington and Tony Wolters, our top three draft picks,” said Cleveland’s director of scouting, Brad Grant. “Each player has unique skills that can enable them to become long-term contributors to the Cleveland Indians.

“Drew is an accomplished college left-handed pitcher, while LeVon and Tony are each young, athletic, middle-of-the-diamond players with tremendous upside. We look forward to these three players beginning their professional careers with us.”

It looked as though the Indians had a reasonable chance of landing Pomeranz, who was the SEC’s pitcher of the year as a junior this season, going 9-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 16 starts. The pitcher sounded ready to begin his big league career when Cleveland drafted him in June.

“I think it’s important for kids, especially in my situation, to go to college, spend three years in college, grow as a person, mature and learn how to live on your own before you go to pro ball,” Pomeranz said. “When you’re an 18-year-old kid with all that money, obviously you think you’re ready to go. But especially in a conference like (the SEC), you realize quickly, ‘Maybe I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.”’

Though terms of Pomeranz’s signing bonus were not revealed, MLB’s suggested price for the fifth player taken in the draft was $2.52 million. Cleveland went over the suggested price for a number of their high picks and could have done the same with Pomeranz.

The Indians entered the day with only 20 of their 50 draft choices in the fold. They signed both Blair and eighth-round pick, catcher Alex Lavisky, a Lakewood St. Edward High product, Monday. Blair received a $580,000 signing bonus and will report to Class A Mahoning Valley, while Lavisky got $1 million and will join Cleveland’s Arizona Rookie League team in Goodyear, Ariz.

Lavisky, 19, hit .450 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs during his senior season for St. Ed’s, which won the Division I state championship. Baseball America ranked him as the seventh-best catcher in the draft.

Washington, who hit .327 (48-for-147) with 39 runs, 11 doubles, one triple, eight homers and 25 RBIs for Chipola JC this year, is a client of agent Scott Boras. He was Tampa Bay’s No. 1 pick last year but declined to sign with the Rays, who reportedly offered him a $1.1 million signing bonus.

Wolters hit .430 (34-for-97) with 27 runs, six doubles, three triples, four homers and 17 RBIs in 25 games during his senior year in high school. He played for the U.S. National Team this summer.

Blair went 8-4 with a 2.54 ERA for San Diego. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder struck out 126, walked 28 and allowed 79 hits in 98 1/3 innings.

If the Indians would have failed to sign Pomeranz, it would have been their first first-round draft choice to go unsigned since RHP Alan Horne in 2001.

Cleveland finished the day agreeing to terms with 27 of its 50 draft picks, including 20 of the top 23 selections.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — The Indians couldn’t beat unheralded starting pitchers David Pauley or Jason Vargas in the first two games of the series against Seattle. But Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, who is an American League Cy Young candidate? No problem.

The up-and-down Cleveland offense was up and then some Sunday at Progressive Field, avoiding the sweep from the last-place Mariners by swinging its way to a 9-1 victory.

“It wasn’t a very good homestand, but we ended it on a positive note,” said manager Manny Acta, whose team went 3-6 over the nine-game homestand, losing consecutive series to last-place Baltimore and Seattle.

With Hernandez doing a number on the Indians out of the gate, it appeared Cleveland was looking at a 2-7 record instead.

But a game that began as a pitching duel between Hernandez and Justin Masterson saw the complexion change drastically in a seven-run seventh inning for the Indians. And there was some luck involved.

More photos below.

Hernandez retired the first two batters in the inning before an error on second baseman Chone Figgins opened the door for the Indians and closed the book on the Mariners’ right-hander.

After Luis Valbuena reached on the error, Lou Marson and Michael Brantley produced singles — Brantley’s liner to center scoring Valbuena with the first run of the game. Hernandez allowed a bloop double to Asdrubal Cabrera that scored another run before Shin-Soo Choo was intentionally walked to load the bases for Travis Hafner.

“They walked Choo to get to me and you kind of take it personal,” said Hafner, who was playing in his first game back from the disabled list. “You want to go up there and do some damage.”

Hafner accomplished as much by locating a 2-1 sinker from Hernandez and driving it over the center-field wall for a grand slam that put Cleveland up 6-0. With Hernandez in the dugout, Jayson Nix followed Hafner’s slam with a solo shot to left off Sean White.

“A lot of good things happened in that inning,” Hafner said.

“(Hernandez) was just toying with us, basically, but in that seventh inning, the guys put together some quality at-bats,” Acta said.

Hernandez was charged with six runs — all of them unearned — on six hits, while walking four and striking out seven over 6 2/3 innings.

Masterson was effectively wild, walking six over six innings, and keeping pace with Hernandez by shutting out the Mariners and allowing just a hit.

“This is the greatest game ever,” Acta said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy go six innings and allow just one hit throwing more balls than strikes. The guys in the bullpen thought they were going to get a call in that first inning. It says a lot about his stuff. When he’s around the plate, he can get guys out.”

Masterson walked the first two batters he faced and threw 100 pitches, 51 of them balls.

“I had a lot of movement on the ball,” said Masterson, who is 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA over his last three starts. “A few of the walks were pitches that were close. I didn’t want to give in at any point in time. Never was I like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t find the zone.’”

Masterson’s best tightrope act came in the fifth when he allowed three of the first four hitters he faced to reach base but didn’t allow a run after retiring Seattle’s top two hitters, Ichiro Suzuki and Figgins, to end the inning.

Masterson did not get a decision with the win going to Tony Sipp, but the right-hander could take solace in outpitching one of the American League’s best in Hernandez.

“Felix was pitching a great game himself,” Masterson said. “We just kind of stayed the course and made it happen at the end.”

Next up

• Who: Cleveland at Kansas City
• When: Tuesday, 8:10 p.m.
• Where: Kauffman Stadium
• Pitchers: Gomez (3-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. Greinke (7-11, 3.99)
• TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.