Glynn Baron of West Hartford is one of six state residents chosen to receive the ‘John Wentworth Good Sports Award’ from the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance.

Glynn Baron of West Hartford is one of six state residents to receive the John Wentworth Good Sport Award in 2015. Photo courtesy of Glynn Baron

By Ronni Newton

The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance honors state residents who have dedicated themselves to helping their communities through sports with the John Wentworth Good Sports Award, and West Hartford’s Glynn Baron is one of six who has been selected to receive the award in 2015.

The award, given in memory of the longtime sports editor of the New Britain Herald, will be presented at the 74th Gold Key Dinner on Sunday, April 26, 2015, at the Aqua Turf in Southington.

Baron, a West Hartford resident who is originally from Torrington and played baseball for Eastern Connecticut State University and the Tri-State Baseball League, is being recognized for his accomplishments with and dedication to the Hartford American Legion baseball team.

Baron became manager for Hartford’s American Legion baseball team in 2011, and in 2014 led the team to its first state tournament appearance since the early 1940s according to a news release from the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance.

Although the Hartford team was eliminated by Simsbury in a best-of-three series, with a record of 11-10 in Zone 7, the team ended the season with its first winning record since 2001.

According to the release, before Baron took over the team had won just three of 48 games in the previous two years.

The 2014 Hartford American Legion roster included players from five Hartford high schools, Hartford residents who attended Cheney Tech and Goodwin Tech, and two players from West Hartford’s Conard High School. According to the release, the team he brought together “employed the same style Baron used in his playing career. They played hard. They were quick, athletic and enthusiastic.”

As Baron begins his fifth season running the Hartford Legion program, he is once again offering Hartford residents who are eligible to play for the Legion team a free winter program at Prince Tech that runs from January through mid-March. For more information, click here.

In addition to Baron, the John Wentworth Good Sports Award recipients for 2015 include Jerry DeJulia of Danbury, Jane Pinho of Prospect, Sarah Jadach of Derby, and Dave Rodriguez and Bill Hutchinson of Wallingford. 

At the 2015 Gold Key Dinner, former professional hockey player Craig Janney, former Killingly High and Providence basketball standout Tracy Lis, former Derby High and Yale running back John Pagliaro, and longtime FCIAC official John Kuczo will receive Gold Keys.

Tickets to the 2015 Gold Key Dinner, which begins at 4 p.m., are $75 and can be purchased by contacting either CSWA President Matthew Conyers of The Hartford Courant at 860-874-4166 or [email protected], or Vice President Tim Jensen of The Enfield Source at [email protected]. Tickets can also be obtained by mailing a check to Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance, P.O. Box 70, Unionville, CT, 06085.