Rich Dubee has been named the 2021 Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League Coach of the Year. It was a year of firsts in Saugerties, the Stallions took home their first PGCBL Championship, and now Dubee becomes the first Saugerties manager to win Coach of the Year.
Dubee brought lots of experience to his first summer in Saugerties. A third round pick in the 1976 draft, the Massachusetts native served as pitching coach for the Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers across three decades, including a World Series championship with the Phillies in 2008.
Dubee led the Saugerties Stallions to a 27-12 regular season record, before being crowned the PGCBL Champions.
Dubee and the Stallions knocked off Amsterdam in the PGCBL Championship as Dubee was able to bring the PGCBL Championship to Saugerties for the first time in franchise history.
“When I first got introduced to team owner Kevin Hinchey he told me about the passion the people of Saugerties have for baseball and the Stallions. For Kevin and the people of Saugerties to be able to enjoy this is very fulfilling,” said Dubee.
Saugerties had two players receive All-League recognition, as Kip Fougerousse (Indiana) was elected to First Team, and Cade Verdusco (Grand Canyon) got the Second Team nod. Josh Stevenson (LSU) also received recognition in the form of being recognized as Finals MVP.
“We were gritty, we had a lot of high quality players, the kids bought into being a team and really cared about one another. It was fun just having a seat there and watching it,” said Dubee.
Dubee has accomplished plenty in his lengthy baseball career, but being able to bring the trophy to the Saugerties fans and organization will forever be a special memory to the Stallions skipper.
“This was a fun time for me. It’s so gratifying to see Kevin and the support from the small town of Saugerties win, and that’s the biggest thing I’ll take away from winning the championship,” said Dubee.
The PGCBL will be announcing Pitcher and Player of the Year awards later this week.