Four active coaches earn Hall of Fame nod
With over 3,300 career wins and a century of NJCAA service, four coaches enter the baseball Hall of Fame
Charlotte, NC – The NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association has announced its four newest inductees into the Hall of Fame. Four active head coaches will be enshrined in the 2019 class at the annual NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series banquet May 24 in Grand Junction, CO.
Erie's Joe Bauth, Century's Dwight Kotila, Delgado's Joe Scheuermann, and Marty Smith of Central Florida will bring over 3,300 combined wins across a century of NJCAA service to the Hall of Fame.
Joe Bauth
Erie (NY)
For 27 seasons, Joe Bauth has guided the Kats to 954 wins with a career .624 winning percentage. During his tenure in western New York, Bauth has led Erie to 23 winning seasons with a consistent presence in the Division III national rankings. A three-time ABCA Coach of the Year, Bauth has reached the NJCAA Region III championship game 10 times in his career.
Bauth has been awarded the NJCAA District Coach of the Year on four occasions along with three Region III coach of the year honors. Under Bauth's tutelage, the Kats claimed four Region III Championships, most recently in 2011. Bauth's resume also includes three Louisville Slugger Awards for Coaching Excellence – 1998, 2003, and 2011.
Bauth has guided 69 student-athletes to the All-Region team while 12 have earned NJCAA All-America accolades. Eight former student-athletes have gone on to play professionally following their time at Erie.
Aside from his duties as a head coach, Bauth currently serves as the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association President and represented the NJCAA National Baseball team at the 84th annual National Baseball Congress World Series in 2018. Bauth is also an active member of the American Baseball Coaches Association, serving on the Executive Committee.
A professor in the college's Health, Wellness, and Physical Education department, Bauth received a bachelor's and master's degree from Canisius.
Dwight Kotila
Century (MN)
A staple on the diamond in Minnesota, Dwight Kotila has led three different NJCAA Division III programs to national prominence in The North Star State. The current head coach at Century,
Kotila has guided the Wood Ducks to an impressive 298-104 record in just eight seasons at the helm.
Kotila's career coaching resume spans 21 seasons between Century, Ridgewater (MN), and Riverland (MN). A former baseball student-athlete at Ridgewater, Kotila has tallied an overall record of 679-242 for a .737 winning percentage. Kotila is the only coach in all of college baseball to take three different schools to national tournaments.
Since revitalizing the entire athletic program at Century in 2008 as head baseball coach and Athletic Director, Kotila has led the Wood Ducks baseball team to four national tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2013. Kotila guided a pair of student-athletes who were drafted into the MLB – Ryan Schlosser and Jared Dettmann.
Along with his accolades at Century, Kotila has amassed 11 national tournament appearances overall while capturing 11 NJCAA Region XIII championships and was named NJCAA Region XIII and District E Coach of the Year 11 times. 275 former student-athletes have moved on to four-year institutions under Kotila's guidance.
An active member on the ABCA Executive Committee, Kotila has also served as the head coach for USA Athletes International that has taken his teams to Australia, France, Holland, and Aruba.
Kotila received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and a Master of Science Degree in Physical Education from St. Cloud State University. Along with his athletic duties at Century, Kotila teaches in the Physical Education/Health/Sport Management Department.
Joe Scheuermann
Delgado (LA)
Joe Scheuermann has led the tradition-rich baseball program of Delgado for the past 28 years as its head skipper. A former standout infielder for the Dolphins, Scheuermann returned to Delgado following his playing career to take over the program in 1990, a team that had been led by his father Louis "Rags" Scheuermann since 1972.
Scheuermann's tenure with the Dolphins includes a .668 winning percentage (971-483). Scheuermann has led the program to four NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series appearances since 2007, including three consecutive trips from 2014-16. The 2016 appearance in Grand Junction, CO saw Scheuermann collect his 900th career victory.
Over 200 student-athletes have moved on to four-year programs under Scheuermann's leadership while 25 former Dolphins have been selected in the MLB draft.
Scheuermann's contributions to Delgado has left a long-lasting impact on the community following his efforts to rebuild the baseball program following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Scheuermann's efforts in the community also consist of serving as a special advisor for American Legion Baseball and implemented the "Delgado Cares" initiative that leads to over 300 hours of community service from his student-athletes each year.
A native of New Orleans, LA, Scheuermann, who serves as the school's Athletic Director, will be the first Louisiana coach to be inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Scheuermann has also been inducted into the All American Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame and was recognized in 2016 with the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame's Eddie Robinson Award that recognizes an athletic administrator for outstanding achievements in athletics, academics, sportsmanship, and citizenship while maximizing limited resources.
Marty Smith
Central Florida
Marty Smith's historic coaching career reached a quarter century with the start of the 2019 campaign, a run that has amassed 725 wins at Central Florida. Smith recently became just the third active coach to reach the 700-win plateau in the Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA).
A two-time FCSAA Coach of the Year and five-time Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year, Smith's storied career includes two FCSAA state championships and reached the NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series in 1997 and 1998. During his time at Central Florida, the Patriots have captured five Mid-Florida Championships (1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, and 2007) and finished as runners-up in 2018, a team that set a program record for home runs in a season.
The 2018 season also saw Josh Harper earn the coveted Lea Plarski Award presented annually to an NJCAA student-athlete who exemplifies sportsmanship, leadership, community service, academic excellence and athletic ability. "The team loved him, the community loved him, he's just a very giving guy," Smith noted. "Josh brought a lot of great qualities that everyone loved about him and really helped our program."
A former baseball student-athlete at Central Florida, Smith finished his collegiate career at St. Thomas University (FL) before embarking on a coaching career that included stops at Miami
Dade where he coached future MLB star Mike Piazza and Florida State College-Jacksonville before returning to Central Florida as an assistant in 1991. Smith took the reigns of the program in 1994 and has been a consistent national presence in the NJCAA ever since.
Smith has mentored hundreds of student-athletes who have moved on to four-year schools and over 25 former student-athletes have been selected in the MLB draft including Nate Pearson who was selected 28th overall in 2017.
A Jacksonville, FL native, Smith's coaching resume also includes a trip to Beijing as the head coach of the NJCAA All-Stars in 2004 as part of the NJCAA-China Friendship Series. Smith has also served as a member of the ABCA for over 20 years.
