2025 ABCA Travel & Youth Baseball Service Awards
Goodwin, Baldwin honored by ABCA
The American Baseball Coaches Association is proud to recognize a pair of Georgia coaching legends with the 2025 ABCA Travel & Youth Baseball Service Awards. Guerry Baldwin, the Founder and President of East Cobb Baseball, along with Mentoring Viable Prospects Founder Greg Goodwin will be honored with this year's Service Awards on Friday, January 3 at the 2025 ABCA Convention in Washington, D.C. The ABCA Travel and Youth Baseball Service Awards were introduced at the 2023 ABCA Convention and honor coaches who have made or are making significant contributions to youth in their community through the sport of baseball.
Guerry Baldwin founded the East Cobb Baseball (ECB) program in 1985. Considered one of the premier youth and travel baseball organizations in the country, East Cobb teams have featured hundreds of future collegiate and professional baseball standouts, with 45 East Cobb alumni having been selected in the first round of the MLB Draft. Since the program’s inception, East Cobb teams have taken home 285 national titles including Babe Ruth League, Pony and Colt League, AAU, CABA, Sandlott and many Perfect Game championships. In 2001, Baldwin oversaw the construction of the East Cobb Baseball Complex. The eight-diamond facility located in Marietta, Ga., plays host to some of the most talented teams and players from all over the country and even internationally. For his contributions to travel baseball, Baldwin became the first travel team coach and second non-player inducted into the Perfect Game Hall of Fame in 2022.
Greg Goodwin has served as a leader in youth baseball for more than 30 years. During his 12 seasons as the head baseball coach at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, he compiled a 228-96 (.704) record, earning Region Coach of the Year honors four times and the title of DeKalb County Coach of the Decade. In addition to his coaching accomplishments, Goodwin took on the role of principal at Redan from 2006 to 2015, during which he was recognized as DeKalb County Principal of the Year in 2013. In 2005, he founded Mentoring Viable Prospects (MVP), a nonprofit organization focused on providing opportunities for minority and underserved baseball student-athletes. MVP has helped over 500 young men secure scholarships, emphasizing character development and academic success. Goodwin’s dedication to the sport and community has garnered him numerous accolades, including the Atlanta Braves Unsung Hero Award in 2019 and the Georgia Dugout Club Lifetime Legacy Award in 2022. He was also honored with the "For the Love of the Game" award from the Georgia Professional Baseball Scouts Association and became the youngest and first African American coach inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2000.