Logue, Erway, Haney, Hage Win

Top Coop Youth Baseball Awards

HARTWICK – The Cooperstown Youth Baseball Board of Directors has awarded the 2015 Terry Bliss Softball Award to Carly Erway and Faith Logue, and the 2015 Laverne “Beanie” Ainslie Award to Alex Hage and Kendall Haney.

The awards, the highest honor that the CYB Board of Directors bestows on baseball and softball players, were presented on Wednesday at the annual CYB end of season picnic in Hartwick.

“Both of these awards are named for and represent men from the community who stood for everything that we hold dear; sportsmanship, good character, dedication to their sport and dedication to the children of the Cooperstown area,” the board said in a statement.

The Terry Bliss Award is named for the tireless, dedicated advocate for girls’ softball. Terry was instrumental in the forming of the initial girls program under the umbrella of CYB. He knew that the children of Cooperstown would benefit from a good quality softball program and he helped to create it and coached for years. Terry’s legacy is seen every season in Cooperstown Central, as the CCS modified, junior varsity and varsity softball teams have successful seasons, year after year. The Terry Bliss Award was created just a few years ago when Dr. David Borgstrom brought the idea of an annual softball award to the CYB Board of Directors. The Board unanimously approved the award and the naming of it for Terry Bliss. The Award reads: “THE TERRY BLISS AWARD IS PRESENTED ANNUALLY TO THE SOFTBALL PLAYER WHO DISPLAYS OUTSTANDING SPORTSMANSHIP, GOOD MORAL CHARACTER ON AND OFF THE DIAMOND AND DEDICATION TO THE GREAT GAME OF SOFTBALL. “

The Laverne “Beanie” Ainslie Award is named for the long-time supporter of youth baseball, a dedicated umpire and a good man. Beanie spent many hours every season on baseball diamonds in our community. Beanie is a major part of the foundation upon which this entire organization is built. The Award reads: “THE LAVERNE BEANIE AINSLIE AWARD IS PRESENTED ANNUALLY TO THE MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER WHO DISPLAYS OUTSTANDING SPORTSMANSHIP, GOOD MORAL CHARACTER ON AND OFF THE BALL DIAMOND AND DEDICATION TO THE GREAT GAME OF BASEBALL.”

Michelle Dibble, President of the Cooperstown Youth Baseball Board of Directors, said, “both of these softball award winners and both of the baseball award winners show great sportsmanship and they are appreciated by their coaches, teammates, teachers, the staff at the Clark Sports Center and in their community. That was so evident in our discussion with various community members about these awards. There were so many worthy candidates in our program, but these four names kept appearing near the top of everyone’s list. We are so proud of these ballplayers.”