Mustang baseball holds alumni game
Kula wins MVP award named in honor of DeBerry
For those who knew Scott DeBerry, the former Laurel Highlands baseball player and coach would most-likely have scoffed at an award named in his honor.
DeBerry, who died on July 31, 2021, after a battle with Stage IV Gastric Adenocarcinoma (stomach cancer), was always known as a player and coach who deflected praise to his teammates and players.
Despite DeBerry’s possible objections to what occurred, the decision was made to name the MVP award for the LH Mustang Baseball Alumni Game in honor of DeBerry.
The contest was held at Laurel Highlands High School Baseball Field on Aug. 13, and Frank Kula was presented the DeBerry MVP Award after batting 4 for 4 with four RBIs, a double and one run scored.
DeBerry’s family were present at the game to honor his legacy.
DeBerry started in baseball and football at Laurel Highlands prior to graduating in 1987. He played collegiate baseball at the Division I level for Kent State and was a member of the Fayette County Baseball League (FCBL).
DeBerry taught in the Laurel Highlands School District for 17 years, where he was the head coach of the Mustangs varsity baseball team for eight seasons, including the school’s first appearance in the WPIAL championship game during the 2019 season.
LH had the majority of its key players returning the next year before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the season to be cancelled, which forced everyone involved with the program to ask the “what if” question.
The symptoms of his condition led DeBerry to miss practices and games during the 2021 season, but he did his best to be there for his players.
DeBerry also coached the Uniontown American Legion Baseball program and had experience coaching football, as he was a standout quarterback in high school.
Current Laurel Highlands baseball coach and assistant athletic director at the school Mike Smith had the opportunity to work with DeBerry, and was quoted in a Herald-Standard article on Aug. 6, 2021, regarding their relationship and what DeBerry meant to him and the baseball program.
“Scott created a culture,” said Smith in the story. “Kids now come into our program and they expect to win, they expect to be successful and they expect to be good, young men when they graduate. He made sure that not only in baseball but in life he wanted them to be successful.
“He created that culture just through his style of coaching. He wasn’t a rah-rah coach but when he spoke they knew to listen. He was a consummate teacher. He touched a lot of people, not just on the baseball field but in the classroom. He was just an amazingly good person.”
Smith’s first experience with DeBerry was during the football season, as he recounted in the piece following DeBerry’s passing.
“He was a tremendous athlete,” Smith said. “My dad was a coach at Laurel Highlands when I was growing up and Scott was the quarterback. I was just a little boy and I would go to practice and I remember he would always pass football with me. To me that was like the greatest thing, I got to pass with the starting quarterback. He was just so nice to me. So when I played youth football I wanted to be No. 11 because that’s what he wore.
“We got back together when we both were playing County League baseball. I was 19 years old and he was coming back from Kent State. He was probably one of the greatest players I ever played against. I’m pitching against him and I remember my dad seeing him after the game and saying, ‘Do you remember this little kid?’ That got Scott laughing.”