South Jersey Baseball Hall of Famers announced

The newest members of the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame were honored during the recent Hotstovers Baseball Club of South Jersey’s 64^th annual awards banquet induction ceremony. Here are the newest Hall of Fame members.

John Augello
Recognized for his great work as an umpire, something he has been doing since 1980. He began doing high school in 1983 and worked in the college ranks and above from 1998 until 2020. He’s also worked in American Legion ball and umpired at the Bridgeton Invitational Tournament several times and did many Carpenter Cup games. He has also served as president of South Jersey’s Independent Umpires Association (IUA), and cadet trainer and rules interpreter for the Unified Umpires Association of Southern New Jersey

Stephen Bruno

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A 2009 graduate of Gloucester Catholic while playing shortstop, Bruno was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees and in 2012 in the seventh round by the Chicago Cubs after batting .357 with a .411 on base percentage that season for the University of Virginia. He would eventually make it to Triple-A in the Cubs organization. As a professional, he would play second and third base along with leftfield. He even pitched for Triple-A Iowa. 

Kevin Comer
A 2011 graduate of Seneca, the righthanded Comer was selected as a supplemental first round selection (57^th overall) that year by the Toronto Blue Jays. He signed for a $1.65 million bonus. He would eventually make it to Triple-A. As a senior at Seneca, he battled early-season injuries to lead the Golden Eagles to Group 3 state championship. A righthander, Comer went 5-0 during a dominating state tournament that year. He allowed just three runs over 29 1/3 postseason innings. He was the winning pitcher in Seneca’s 12-3 state Group 3 championship win over Paramus. Comer would play nine years of minor league ball, reaching as high as Triple-A where he played two seasons. His nine-year stat: 24 wins, 20 saves, 426 strikeouts in 445 innings. 

Dan Gakeler
A standout at Burlington Township and Mercer County College, he would go on to play 12 seasons of minor league ball before reaching the Major Leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 1991. That season he appeared in 31 games, making seven starts. Gaker went 1-4 with a 5.74 ERA. He was first drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1983 before being selected as a first-round pick in the secondary phase in 1984 by the Boston Red Sox. 

Dan Grovatt
As a senior Grovatt helped lead Seneca to its first state Group 3 championship in 2007. As a senior (2007) Grovatt batted .588 with seven home runs and was 10-1 with a 2.11 ERA of 2.11, while recording 97 strike outs in 72 innings pitched. He was a member of the inaugural Seneca team in 2005. As a senior he was first-team All-State and the South Jersey player of the year. He was also a three-time first-team all-conference player. Grovatt had a career .479 average with 134 hits and was 17-2 with a 2.35 ERA. He was an 11th round Pirates’ pick and a South Atlantic League (A-ball) All-star in 2011 and played in the high-A Florida State. League in 2012 and 13. His career was cut short by Tommy John surgery in 2014.

Kevin Kelly
A third baseman and shortstop at Gloucester Catholic, Kelly was drafted in the third round by the Montreal Expos during his senior year in 1998, but opted for a scholarship to Duke University. At Gloucester Catholic, he helped lead the Rams to the 1996 Non-Public B state championship and Diamond Classic titles in 1996, ’97 and ’98. During his last three years he hit .385, 608 and .475 and had 103 career RBI. At Duke he was a .302 career hitter with 256 hits, 55 doubles, 13 home runs, 142 RBI and 150 runs scored. In 2002 Kelly was a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco Giants, playing two minor league seasons.

Tony Mitchell
A 1968 St. Joseph of Camden graduate, Mitchell went 203-165 as head coach of Paul VI, winning the South Jersey Parochial A titles in 1992 and 1995.  He was named South Jersey Coach of the year in 1993 and 2004 and in 2004 was inducted into the south Jersey Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He also served as assistant state commissioner of Babe Ruth Baseball from 2002 to 2021 and assistant Mid-Atlantic Region Commissioner from 2004 through 2021.

 

Photo: Gloucester Catholic's Kevin Kelly 

Author: Marc Narducci