Bio

Coach Blue is entering his 17th season as head coach after spending 6 years as the assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator.  After playing his college baseball and coaching in Florida, he arrived at CCBC Catonsville in the fall of 1997 and was immediately given the task of helping to rebuild the program by expanding the recruiting base to outside of the state of Maryland.  In his first years as recruiting coordinator, he successfully recruited classes from across the country that helped thrust the program back into the national spotlight.  Three members of his original recruiting classes ended up signing professional contracts, three members were selected as NJCAA All-Americans, and three members have been inducted into the CCBC Athletic Hall of Fame.  Blue took over as head coach in the fall of 2003 and under his leadership has led the team to an appearance in the NJCAA World Series, 3 NJCAA Region XX Championships, 3 Maryland JUCO Championships, and 14 trips to at least the the NJCAA Region XX semi-finals.  He has amassed the most wins by a baseball coach in CCBC Catonsville history with a career record of 450-332-5 (.572 winning %).  Fifteen of his recruits have achieved either athletic or academic NJCAA All-American status and nineteen of his recruits have been drafted or eventually signed professional contracts.  His recruits/teams hold numerous school records including amassing 8 of the top 10 records for wins in a season by a CCBC Cardinals baseball team, 9 of the top 10 records for batting average in a season, as well as many other team and individual records.  In his career, Coach Blue's teams have appeared in the nationally rankings for 10 of his 17 seasons, has been selected as Maryland JUCO Conference Coach of the Year four times, and NJCAA Region XX Coach of the Year three times. 

In 2003, the team made an appearance in the NJCAA World Series in Millington, Tennessee after winning the Maryland JUCO and NJCAA Region XX Championships.  In 2004, Coach Blue led the Cardinals to their second consecutive Maryland JUCO and NJCAA Region XX titles, a school record 34 wins that included a record 19 game winning streak, and advanced to within 1 game of the NJCAA World Series.  In 2005, the Cardinals finished second in the Maryland JUCO Conference and made another trip to the NJCAA Region XX semi-finals.  Three members of the 2005 team were either drafted or eventually signed professional contracts.  His 2006 team twice defeated the top ranked team in the nation and had two more players who eventually signed professional contracts.  In 2007, he led the Cardinals to their 3rd Maryland JUCO Conference championship in 5 seasons and another NJCAA Region XX semi-final appearance.  His 2008 team was the NJCAA Region XX runners up and finished 3rd in the NJCAA Eastern District.  The 2010 team won a school record 37 games including 17 in a row, earned two victories over the #2 ranked team in the NJCAA Division II as well as a win over the #8 ranked team in NJCAA Division I, set a school record for hits in a season with 574, and achieved the 4th highest winning percentage in school history.  Blue's 2011 team earned it's third 30 win season in five years and another berth in the NJCAA region XX semi-finals while finishing just behind the school record for hits in a season with 546. His 2012 squad won 36 games, captured the NJCAA Region XX title, and advanced to within 1 game of the NJCAA World Series while setting a new school record for RBI's in a season, and runs scored in a season.   The 2013 baseball team recorded it's 4th straight 30 win season, captured another Maryland JUCO Conference championship, and set a school record for the lowest team ERA that included two pitchers who threw no hitters. After two seasons that were below typical expectations for the program in 2014 and 2015, Blue's 2016 team returned with a vengeance, winning 33 games and earning the #1 overall seed in the NJCAA Region XX tournament before several key injuries during the latter part of the season hurt their post season aspirations.  In 2017, his team once again was back in the national spotlight winning 30 games, winning the NJCAA Region XX Championship, and falling one game short of the NJCAA World Series.  The team's pitching staff set a school record for most strikeouts in a season and the team also had a pitcher who broke the single season record for most strikeouts in a season and a player who broke the record for most home runs in a season that had stood for 33 years.  His 2018 team overcame a rash of season ending injuries to advance to the NJCAA Region semi-finals again falling just short in their quest to defend their 2017 title. The 2019 CCBC Catonsville team once again advanced all the way to the NJCAA Region XX semi-finals losing two heartbreaking 1 run games to finish out another season with at least 25 wins.  

Coach Blue graduated from Cuyahoga Heights HS (located just outside of Cleveland) in 1981 and is a member of the Cuyahoga Heights High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  He is a former first baseman/outfielder that played for the University of Toledo (1981-84) and the University of Central Florida (1985).  During his career at Toledo, he was one of the final 60 players selected after tryouts for the 1983 Pan American Games.  He hit .343 in his final season at UCF for a team that won a school record 55 games and he graduated in the fall of 1986 with a degree in elementary education.  He has coached at the high school level in both Maryland (Mt. Hebron HS) and Florida (Colonial HS and Lake Highland Prep) prior to arriving at CCBC Catonsville in the fall of 1997.  He actively works with the Oriole Advocates Charitable Foundation and was selected as a "Birdland Community Hero" by the Baltimore Orioles in 2016 for his efforts regarding collection drives of new/gently used baseball or softball equipment that are shipped by the Oriole Advocates to underprivileged children across the globe.  He was enshrined as a member of the CCBC Athletic Hall of Fame in November of 2018.  He has been a teacher for 33 years and currently teaches science in the Howard County Public School System at Dunloggin Middle School.  Coach Blue has been married to Melissa Dandino Blue for 22 years and has a daughter named Alexa who is a college cheerleader in her junior year at Syracuse University.