CUMBERLAND — Allegany College of Maryland’s Steve Bazarnic, the winningest active NJCAA baseball coach in the country and the third-winningest of all-time, will be the top award recipient for the second time of his coaching career during the 64th annual Dapper Dan Awards Banquet tonight at the Ali Ghan Shrine Club.
Among the former Bazarnic players who will share their thoughts and appreciation for their Hall of Fame coach will be J.R. Perdew, pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox. Also, three-time Top Award winner Bob Robertson, the hitting hero for the 1971 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series and World Series makes his return to the Dapper Dan dais.
Bazarnic, who has guided the Trojans to 1,306 victories against just 427 defeats, with nine NJCAA World Series appearances in 40 seasons, will be presented the George W. Stevenson-Nicholas A. Perlozzo Memorial Award for bringing the most national recognition to the Cumberland area through athletics.
Bazarnic became the winningest active JUCO baseball coach on April 7, 2011 in Wye Mills, when the Trojans defeated Chesapeake College, 9-0, in the first game of a doubleheader. The win, at the time the 1,286th of his career, moved Bazarnic ahead of Connors State College (Okla.) head coach Perry Keith, whose record is currently 1,285-364.
All-time, Bazarnic’s 1,306 wins are third in NJCAA history, behind Seminole State, Okla.’s Lloyd Simmons, whose teams were 1,599-294 and Bob Symonds of Triton College (Ill.), whose teams were 1,383-457.
Bazarnic was inducted into the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1994 and the NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
He was first honored with the Dapper Dan Club’s top award in 1984 when his Trojans advanced to their first NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
Six Allegany players under Bazarnic enjoyed Major League careers, most notably current ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk, who retired with a .300 lifetime batting average in 10 big league seasons. Other Allegany players to make the big leagues are Stan Belinda, Scott Seabol, Scott Patterson, Steve Kline and Joe Beimel.
Since 1993, Allegany has produced six NJCAA first-team All-Americas.
Proceeds from the Dapper Dan dinner benefit The League — A Children’s Place, and a check presentation will be made by James K. Cunningham, past Dapper Dan president, to The League.
Paul Mullan, the voice of the Dapper Dans and station manager of WMSG-WWHC, Oakland, will serve as the evening’s toastmaster, and will make a presentation to J.C. Morgan, the Dapper Dan’s 2012 Child of the Year.
The Shrine Club doors will open at 3 p.m., dinner will be served at 4 p.m., while the awards program will get underway at 5 p.m.
The program will include the presentation of four other Dapper Dan memorial awards, 2011 coaches and players of the year awards from various scholastic sports, and recognition awards to Maryland all-state athletes as well as the Mountain Ridge Miners boys soccer team, the two-time defending Maryland 1A state champion.
The Dapper Dan Little League major and minor league champions, the Cardinals and the Nationals, will be recognized as well.
The Dapper Dan’s highest civic service recognition, the Henrietta Schwarzenbach Memorial Award, will be presented to Kathy Getty, Susquehanna Bank regional president, who serves on several community organizations, including as campaign chairwoman for County United Way.
Lenny Webb will be presented the Richard C. Cioni Memorial Award as the Dapper Dan Man of the Year, while the Reds’ Marty Mathews and the Cardinals’ Ray Haines are the Dapper Dan co-Managers of the Year and will receive the Christ G. Charuhas Memorial Award.
Being honored with the Joseph K. Mooney Most Courageous Award will be Dapper Dan Nationals baseball player Raekwon Jessie and Mountain Ridge High soccer and softball player Katie Llewellyn.
Jessie, a baseball, basketball and football player, was diagnosed with Tyrosinemia Type 1, a genetic condition that affects the liver, as well as a neurological disorder.
Llewellyn, who is receiving treatment for leukemia, wrote in a thank you letter to the community, which appeared in the Dec. 2 Times-News, “As a member of the Mountain Ridge soccer and softball teams, I have learned that for a team to be successful it can’t be a group of individuals. It must be individuals working as one with one common goal and everyone ‘having the back’ of each other!
“My goal is simple: to fight to rid my body of this disease and get back on the field with my teammates. Knowing there are so many of you that now ‘have my back’ will help in making this possible!”
A pair of former Allegany High School football players, Brandon Link and Tyler Wharton, will receive Dapper Dan recognition awards for earning college football All-American status.
Link, 6-2, 290-pound senior center, helped Concord University to the West Virginia Conference championship, as well as the NCAA Division II playoffs. Having earned All-WVIAC honors three times, Link earned 2011 third-team Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America status, as well as honorable mention on the Beyond Sports College Network's 2011 Division II All-American team.
Wharton, senior fullback for Towson University, was named College Sports Journal Championship Subdivision All-America, after helping the Tigers to their first Colonial Athletic Association championship, their first-ever NCAA FCS playoff appearance and a No. 9 ranking in the final NCAA FCS The Sports Network/Fathead.com College Football Weekly Poll.
A complete list of tonight’s award winners can be found in today’s Scoreboard section.
For tickets, call Dick Sterne at 301-697-1647.
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at mburke@times-news.com
