Joe Urso Named Skip Bertman Award Finalist
LUBBOCK, Texas - The National College Baseball Hall of Fame announced University of Tampa head baseball coach Joe Urso as a finalist for the 2015 Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year Award -- honoring the nation's top collegiate coach from any level of college baseball.
The award, sponsored by Easton Sports, will be presented as part of the College Baseball Night of Champions ceremony on June 29.
"The Bertman Award has been presented twice, and the winners were from junior college one year and Division I in the other," said Hall of Fame executive director Mike Gustafson. "We have been proud of the selection committee's willingness to look at every level of college baseball to find a truly deserving winner."
Bertman coached at LSU from 1984 to 2001. During his tenure, he won five national champi-onships and was named National Coach of the Year six times. He coached 31 players who went on to play Major League Baseball and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2006. Since that time, three of his players have joined him in the Hall of Fame.
The award finalists and winner are selected by a national committee of active and retired coaches from all levels of college baseball.
Eight finalists have been selected for the 2015 Skip Bertman Award:
Joe Brown - SUNY Cortland Red Dragons (45-4)
NCAA Division III national champions
Dan Hartleb - Illinois (50-10)
Big Ten champions and NCAA Super Regional participant
Paul Mainieri - LSU (53-10)
SEC champions and College World Series entry
Doug Martin - Northwest Florida State College Raiders (42-13)
NJCAA Division I national champions
Jeremiah Robbins - Lewis Clark State Warriors (46-12)
NAIA national champions
Joe Urso - University of Tampa Spartans (47-15)
NCAA Division II national champions
Jeff Willis - LSU Eunice Bengals (49-10)
NJCAA Division II national champions
Doug Wren - Tyler Junior College Apaches (41-8)
NJCAA Division III national champions
"Six of these coaches have already led their teams to national championships and one more has his team in Omaha for the College World Series," Gustafson said. "I think all of them would make coach Bertman proud."
For more information on the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Night of Champions, contact the Hall of Fame at (806) 749-CBF3 or visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.