The Voice of Natick

“Furrrrrrst-DOWN, Natick!’’

Cheers rose from the home crowd on a cold, drizzling night.

Mundy, better known as “the announcer guy,’’ is gifted with pipes worthy of the major leagues - but a heart made for high school sports. For 20 years, his deep, professional-quality announcer’s voice has brought a big-time vibe to the region’s contests, mostly in Natick.

“I don’t remember what my high school games were like, but I remember they were events,’’ says Mundy, 52, a former broadcaster. “By getting all riled up I hope I can help these kids make good memories from high school. They might not remember me, but I hope they’ll remember the event.’’

Mundy’s clear, booming voice combines the smoothness of the late Sherm Feller, who was for decades the voice of Fenway Park, with the up-tempo urgency of the late Rod Roddy, longtime announcer for “The Price Is Right.’’

Al DelMonte, 75, a sports announcer for the local cable TV broadcasts, says Mundy is the “12th man, no question’’ of the Natick varsity football squad. “He riles everybody up. He’s a natural.’’

Natick football coach and athletic director Tom Lamb said Mundy brings “an exciting atmosphere’’ to all the events he announces.

Last Friday, in a game under the lights against Milton, Mundy took his station in the press box next to his spotter, 82-year-old Vangie Sticka, who watched the field through binoculars to help Mundy identify the players involved in making tackles.

The narrow, unheated press box at Memorial Field is built of cinder blocks and plywood, and feels like a bomb shelter with removable windows.

The press box is a graveyard for flies. When Sticka removed one of the sliding windows to get a better view of the field, Mundy reminded him, “Dump that thing the other way. All the flies are on the top.’’ He was right - a dozen or more extremely lethargic flies crawled along the top of the window.

Mundy announces a football game under a few self-imposed rules, such as trying not to talk during a live play, except when a Natick player is on a breakaway for what looks like a sure touchdown.

After each play, Mundy gives the names and jersey numbers of the players who carried or caught the ball, and those who made the tackle, based on his own observation and what Sticka sees through his binoculars.

Mundy discovered his trademark first down call by accident. “I did it that way in a game once and it brought a big noise from the crowd, so I’ve been doing it ever since,’’ he said. “It’s often imitated, which I take as a compliment.’’

Mundy also announces some boys’ and girls’ soccer games, basketball, wrestling, and baseball. He is a fill-in announcer for the Lowell Spinners Class A baseball team, a football announcer for Marian High School in Framingham, and emcees Natick sports banquets and the local July Fourth parade.

“A longtime townie used to say to me that I was the voice of Natick,’’ Mundy said.

Natick senior Jordan Crespi, 17, said she usually tries to make the home football games. Mundy’s announcing “always brings excitement,’’ she said. “Without him it wouldn’t feel like Natick football.’’

Crespi, who plays third base for the school softball team - for which Mundy has also announced - said Mundy’s voice also gives the students some consistency after the School Committee voted two years ago to drop the school’s longtime nickname, the Redmen.

Jordan’s mother, Sandi, president of the Natick High School Boosters, said Mundy “is so much a part of the fabric of Natick. He knows the kids. It’s not business for him, it’s personal.’’

Mundy was born and raised a New York Yankees fan in Connecticut. He moved with his family to Massachusetts in 1978, and later began to follow Natick sports as his two stepchildren advanced through the town’s public schools.

In 1989, Mundy attended a Natick hockey game. The officials blew the whistle, dropped the puck, and started the game with no fanfare. “The year before, Natick hockey was one of the best teams in the state,’’ said Mundy. “I said to myself, ‘Wait a minute . . . where’s the hoopla?’ ’’

That’s when he asked the athletic director if he could announce a game and make some of that hoopla. He started as a volunteer, and now gets a small stipend for announcing, he said.

Mundy attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in 1998 and ’99, and worked in radio, most recently for Clear Channel in 2006 as a traffic announcer for WSRS and WTAG in Worcester and other stations around New England. He works as a postal carrier in Dover.

In last Friday’s game, Natick pulled far ahead in the third quarter, and the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt.

Sticka flicked dead flies out the window with a stick of gum.

Mundy consulted his team roster sheets. “This is the point of the game where we’re going to see a lot of new numbers and I’m going to have to know the pronunciations,’’ he said.

Showing respect for a visiting team that was getting walloped, Mundy toned down his calls as the score grew lopsided.

But when Natick reached the end zone on a thrilling catch and run, the voice of Natick boomed: “Touuuuuch-DOWN!’’

A quiet crowd snapped awake.

“Our coaches tell me that the visiting coaches hate me,’’ Mundy said. “They also tell me, ‘Don’t change a thing.’ ’’