Varitek, Morris headline College Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2020

By College Baseball Foundation | August 6, 2020

One of the winningest college coaches and one of baseball’s most decorated players highlight the 2020 National College Baseball Hall of Fame induction class.

This year’s class, which will be inducted as a part of a virtual College Baseball Night of Champions ceremony later this month, is headlined by three-time All-American Jason Varitek and former coach Jim Morris, who led 13 teams to the College World Series and won two national championships.

“We are happy to recognize another outstanding group,” said Mike Gustafson, president and CEO of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. “This class touches so many levels of college baseball.”

The only unanimous three-time All-American in NCAA Division I history, Georgia Tech’s Varitek was the 1994 National Player of the Year. He posted a .384 career batting average with 57 homeruns and 251 RBI.

Morris retired as one of only 12 coaches from all levels of college baseball with more than 1,500 wins. In addition to leading the Miami Hurricanes to the 1999 and 2001 national championships, he made a remarkable 32 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament from 1985 to 2016, including his time at Georgia Tech.

Also comprising the 2020 class are Doug Ault, a two-time, first-team NJCAA All-American at Panola Junior College and first-team All-American at Texas Tech; Southern University’s Pete Barnes, who was a two-time NAIA All-American outfielder; Rick Cerone of Seton Hall, who led the Pirates to two College World Series; Montclair State’s John Deutsch, a three-time All-American and 1989 Division III National Player of the Year; Gary Gentry of Phoenix College and Arizona State, a first-team All-American pitcher at both schools while leading both to national championships; Jim Gideon, a two-time All-American pitcher at Texas who went 36-2 in his final two years; Roy Lee Jackson of Tuskegee Institute, a three-time all-conference performer who won 26 games; two-time All-American shortstop Paul Molitor from Minnesota; and legendary coach John Scolinos, who was the third coach in history to reach 1,000 wins.

Everett “Eppy” Barnes rounds out the class as the second inductee to be selected from the contributors section of the ballot, which was established in 2019 to honor important figures in college baseball from off the field. Barnes was an important figure in the creation of the College World Series.

Ault led Panola to the NJCAA World Series in 1969 and 1970. In ’69, he was named MVP of the NJCAA World Series for the national champs on the strength of three wins on the mound and 12 RBIs at the plate. He won 25 games as a pitcher and batted .400 in his two years at Panola, earning back-to-back first-team All-American honors. He later attended Texas Tech and was the Red Raiders’ inaugural first-team All-American on the strength of a .475 batting average. He was the 1972 Southwest Conference co-Player of the Year and later played in the major leagues with the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Pete Barnes was a four-time All-Southwest Athletic Conference outfielder at Southern University. He received first-team NAIA All-American honors in 1966 and 1967 and led the Jaguars to the 1966 NAIA World Series, where he garnered All-Tournament team honors. A 1965 draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he instead chose professional football and excelled in an 11-year professional career, spending three years in the AFL with Houston and San Diego and eight in the NFL with San Diego, St. Louis and New England.

Everett “Eppy” Barnes was a player, coach and administrator at Colgate, but his most lasting contribution was his work helping to organize college coaches in the post-World War II era which led to the first All-American teams and, ultimately, the NCAA playoffs and College World Series.

Cerone led Seton Hall to the College World Series in 1974 and 1975 and was a first-team All-American catcher in 1975. He was named to the College World Series All-Tournament team in ’75 on the strength of a .462 batting average with two homers and five RBIs

Deutsch was the Division III National Player of the Year in 1989 and was a three-time first-team All-American at Montclair State. He was the World Series MVP as he led the Red Hawks to the 1987 NCAA Division III national championship.

Gentry was named National Player of the Year in 1967 by virtue of his 17 wins for the national champion Arizona State Sun Devils. In 1965, he led Phoenix College to the NJCAA national title. At both levels he was named to the World Series All-Tournament team and paired that with first-team All-American honors each season.

Gideon tallied 36 wins in 1974 and 1975 and led the nation in wins each year. He was twice a first-team All-American and led the Longhorns to the 1975 national championship with a stellar 17-0 record and 1.80 ERA.

Jackson finished his career at Tuskegee Institute with a 22-9 record and a remarkable 384 strikeouts in 251 innings. The three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference performer posted a 0.98 ERA and fanned 160 batters to lead all Division II pitchers in 1975.

A two-time All-American shortstop at Minnesota, Molitor led Minnesota to a Big Ten championship and the 1977 College World Series while setting school career offensive records for hits, home runs, RBI, runs scored, total bases, triples and stolen bases prior to his Hall of Fame Major League career.

The legendary Scolinos was the third coach in college baseball to notch 1,000 wins. He won three NCAA Division II national championships and six conference championships at Cal Poly Pomona.

“I’m so proud of our voting committee,” Gustafson said. “They gave this ballot such a high degree of attention during the pandemic, and I thank them for that. We are lucky to have their interest and participation, and they selected a truly great class.”

More information about the virtual Night of Champions will be released soon at www.collegebaseballhall.org.

For more information, contact Mike Gustafson, National College Baseball Hall of Fame president and CEO, at gus@collegebaseballfoundation.org.

2020 Induction Class – Notes and extended bios

Doug Ault, Panola Junior College/Texas Tech, 1969-1972 (First base/Pitcher)

Pete Barnes, Southern University, 1964-1967 (Outfield)

Everett “Eppy” Barnes, Player, Coach, Athletic Director and ABCA founding father, 1922-1968

Rick Cerone, Seton Hall, 1973-1975 (Catcher)

John Deutsch, Montclair State, 1986-1989 (Outfield/First base)

Gary Gentry, Phoenix College/Arizona State, 1965-1967 (Pitcher)

Jim Gideon, Texas, 1973-1975 (Pitcher)

Roy Lee Jackson, Tuskegee, 1973-1975 (Pitcher/Designated hitter)

Paul Molitor, Minnesota, 1975-1977 (Shortstop)

Jim Morris, DeKalb College 1976-1979/Georgia Tech 1982-1993/Miami, 1994-2018

John Scolinos, Pepperdine 1946-1960/Cal Poly Pomona 1962-1991

Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1991-1994 (Catcher)