DSN Baseball Awards

Those who attended the DSN Baseball Awards Dinner and Ceremony described it as “The best DSN event ever.”
DSN’s baseball leagues are known throughout the community as the highlight of every spring.

DSN’s membership includes over 400 kids in 8 different leagues. Children love participating in DSN’s Baseball League, and the award ceremony is always a great culmination of all the hard work that the players, coaches and families have put into the season. This year’s ceremony was no exception.

The awards were held at the Axelrod Theater in the JCC, making it even more enjoyable than DSN’s past awards ceremonies and comparable to the ESPY Awards, with a red carpet, assigned seats in the theater and a delicious dinner. Every player who came to the ceremony received a DSN Baseball Yearbook, and at least one trophy.

There were pictures of DSN’s baseball teams all over the theater’s lobby. The food was served stadium style, and included sliders, poppers, French fries and hot dogs all made by Dougies BBQ.

“The way the food was served was so much fun. I really felt like I was at a baseball game,” said Michelle Zekaria.

The actual ceremony was a sight to behold. DSN Executive Director Sammy Sitt called many of DSN’s coaches to the stage to announce the award winners. Erwin Braha conducted live simulcast interviews of off-site people to announce select awards, such as Hubert and Pierre at Hillel and the owner and workers of Igloo.

“It was really funny to see them presenting the awards. I loved it,” said Harry Franco, age 12.

In addition to the team trophies, the other awards included Rookie of the Year, Most Improved, Sportsmanship, Cy Young and of course League MVP and World Series MVP for each league. For the first time, DSN also gave out an Honorary Coaches’ Award. This award was given to the four coaches who have been coaching DSN baseball for the past three years.

The greatest part of the night was the premier of the baseball videos. These videos consisted of actual footage of children playing baseball and softball at the DSN fields. The videos included clips of offensive plays, defensive plays, teamwork and the top plays of the year.

Every child in the audience cheered when they saw themselves and their friends. They could not wait to see their amazing plays on the screen.

“The highlight of the evening was the video presentation of the kids playing ball. I thought the ceremony really represented exactly what DSN is all about and how we bring the community together,” confirmed Jeffrey Saka, President of DSN.

Indeed, this night was one of the best nights for DSN and the entire Deal community. “What an amazing event. We all laughed and had a great time and we got to relive the season all over again. We are already looking forward to next year,” said Joey Tobias, Vice President of DSN.
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Rena Goldman is the DSN program director.