Corry Among Maryland AAU Athlete of the Year Nominees

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Ruth’s Baseball Ideals (RBI) Baseball Club (Annapolis, Md.) has announced that RBI’s Garrett Corry is among the group of nominees for the 2016 Melvin E. “Mel” Parker Maryland AAU Athlete of the Year Award, one of the district’s most coveted off-the-field honors in AAU sports. 

The Melvin “Mel” Parker Award is awarded annually to the top male and female athlete who achieves a high standard of performance in AAU sanctioned district, regional, or national competition. The award is presented to two individuals under the age of 18, in recognition of their commitment and achievement in their chosen sport. The athlete may have participated in an individual or team sport. The honor was conceived as a way to focus attention on participation in athletics, school and community activities, and qualities of leadership, character, and sportsmanship.

The awardees are honored at the Annual Maryland AAU Outstanding Athletes, Coaches and Volunteers Awards Banquet to be held this year on Nov. 13, 2016.

In a breakout season, Corry appeared on the mound in 11 games as pitcher for the Maryland RBI 19U advanced skills development team, and made his stamp on the team so much in hurling over one-third of the innings his team played in the field he was named Top Gun for the summer of 2016.

In 34.1 innings pitched, he achieved a 3-2 record with one save, 43:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.2 ERA. At the plate, he hit .10-for-43 (.286) with six doubles and eight RBIs, finishing second on the team with a .286/.419/.457 (.876) slash.

With one year of AAU eligibility left on the diamond, Corry, of Dunkirk, Md., graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC, graduating last May with a 3.8/4.0 GPA and is pursuing a bachelor of science in engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Corry was a top academic performer at Gonzaga. He served as a member of the Model United Nations Club for three years (2014-2016) first as a representative and then as Vice President, a leadership role that is only open to students with the highest grades and faculty support. He was a member of the Support Our Troops Club for four years to raise money and awareness to help support America’s armed forces who are overseas.

Off-the-field and away from school, Corry participated in various charity events and volunteers around his community, including serving at a homeless shelter and soup kitchen for the less fortunate preparing and distributing meals as a Freshman; helping Food and Friends, which is a community service that involves bringing food to the less fortunate, the disabled, the homebound, etc., during his Sophomore and Junior years; and as a volunteer to help setup, cook and serve food for the Knights of Columbus during his Freshman through Senior years.

In addition, while missing only one game during the season, he managed also to work during the summer as a golf club groundskeeper and on call for snow removal from public facilities during the winter months, helping clear the sidewalks and parking lots of public emergency services and care centers.

On the diamonds, Corry’s achievements are just as impressive. Playing with Maryland RBI, he earned Maryland AAU Baseball Outstanding Player and All-District (2015, 2016), Academic All-America (2016) and Maryland RBI Most Valuable Player (2016) honors. He was Team Captain, RBI Legends, 2014; and received the 2014 RBI Gold Glove Award. He pitched and played third base for Gonzaga HS Baseball as well as played offensive line in Football as center as a Freshman.

The Maryland District AAU Parker award annually recognizes the memory, the many leadership contributions, and the coaching accomplishments of the late Mr. Melvin “Mel” Parker. A longtime coach of boys and girls basketball, Mr. Parker contributed significantly to the advancement of amateur athletics in Maryland. This is attested to by his 10 year tenure as President of the Maryland District of the Amateur Athletic Union and 10 years in leadership roles with the Peninsula Athletic League as basketball chairman and coach.

The MD/AAU Sports Awards Banquet Committee invites athletes, coaches, volunteers, and others to nominate applicants. A selection panel comprised of Maryland AAU sport-specific experts and sports directors help select the winner to represent more than 17,000 AAU athletes districtwide.