Terriers' Jepson award winners: Carey, Farrell, Makowich, Marriott

Zach Marriott (Oakville, Ont.) of the Terriers 18U, left, with his Dean-Dean (The Coaching Machine) Dicenzo (Hamilton, Ont.) . Marriott earned one of four inaugural John Jepson awards.

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Organizations have the ability to do wonderful things ... to preserve memories, to make it so young players two decades from now will ask “So tell me about this man, what was he really like.”

John Jepson was respected from Windsor to Ottawa n Ontario to his native Montreal. And he was looked up to, especially in the Toronto area, where he coached served as an executive and founder of the Toronto Mets. And then after becoming a much sought after free agent, he joined his good friend Danny Thompson with the Ontario Terriers. While serving as head of the Premier League of Ontario can be a hot seat, Jepson had the respect of one and all.

Terriers co-owner Nicole and Mike Tevlin plus others decided one player from each teams to receive the John Jepson award on an annual basis starting this season.

“As anyone associated with the game in this neck of the woods knows, JJ’s love of the game of amateur ball extended far beyond box scores and lineup sheets,” Mike Tevlin wrote in the announcement. “John was the ultimate father figure to every boy, coach, parent, administrator or anyone else he dealt with. He made us all better for the experience of knowing him and being guided by him.”

Terriers 17U coach Greg O’Halloran (Mississauga, Ont.) a former major leaguer with his Jepson winner Liam Carey (Georgetown, Ont.).

The baseball family and Jepson’s family lost John last October to the evil cancer (As Buck O’Neill said: “I don’t hate people because I’m not in the Hall of Fame ... I hate cancer.”_

The first annual Jepson award winners were chosen by their coaches as the young men to best exemplify qualities that Jepson admired most and shared with every day he was at the ball yard:

- Generosity of spirit

- Being a great teammate

- Sportsmanship

- Dedication to improvement

- Academic achievement

The inaugural winners:

15U - Brayden Makowich (Oakville, Ont.)

The Jepson winner for the Terriers 17U was Evan Farrell (Milton, Ont.)

16U - Evan Farrell (Milton, Ont.)

17U – Liam Carey (Georgetown, Ont.)

18U – Zach Marriott (Oakville, Ont.)