May 18, 2018
Scott Berry and Dan Carr are among this year’s North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame inductees. Both are Mayville State University graduates. The pair, together with Brooks Bollinger and Laura Roesler, will receive the Cliff Cushman Award as they are inducted into the hall of fame at a banquet which will begin at 5:30 p.m. on June 16 at the Jamestown Civic Center. Cliff Cushman, a Grand Forks native and 1960 Olympian, lost his life in the Vietnam War. However, his legacy and inspiration live on. The evening will include the induction banquet, a social, and an auction. The awards program will be at the conclusion of the evening. Tickets are $35 each. Call 701-252-4835 to order tickets.
One of the most heralded and respected baseball coaches in America, Scott Berry runs one of the most outstanding college baseball programs in the nation at Mayville State University. A member of six halls of fame and an active participant in local, regional, and national baseball organizations, Berry has kept MSU on the collegiate baseball map for nearly four decades.
Since becoming the Comets head coach in 1982, Berry’s teams have won 23 regular season championships (including 17 in a row from 1986 to 2002), 21 conference tournament championships, and made 27 appearances in the NAIA national playoffs. The Mayville State Comets have won three NAIA regional titles under Scott Berry, won the 2002 Plains Super Regional title, and finished fifth place at the NAIA World Series in 2002.
Berry’s career record as a head coach after 35 years in the NAIA stands at 1,082-573-1, which is good for a winning percentage of 0.638 even though more than 75% of all MSU baseball games have been played on the road. Berry is the sixth active winningest coach in the NAIA, and all of his wins have come as the head coach of the Mayville State Comets.
Berry has been named as conference coach of the year 23 times, District 12 Coach of the Year nine times, and NAIA Region Coach of the Year four times. Berry has coached 44 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 26 NAIA All-Americans, and 25 players who have signed professional contracts.
In 1996, Berry was honored by his alma mater with his induction into the Mayville State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1998, the North Dakota Associated Press Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association awarded Berry with their highest honor, the “Special Achievement Award”. In 1999, Berry was recognized by his NAIA Great Plains Region coaching peers as being the Great Plains Region Coach of the Year. In 2001, Berry was named Region 3 Coach of the year. The NAIA awarded Berry with its highest honor by inducting him into the NAIA Hall of Fame for Baseball in 2002. In 2003, Berry was inducted into the North Dakota Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame. In 2009, Berry was inducted into the Christian Sports Commission Hall of Fame. In 2010 the baseball field at Mayville State University was named in his honor. Also in 2010, Berry received the NAIA “Robert E. Smith Achievement Award.” This award is presented to an NAIA coach or administrator who has demonstrated unselfish promotion of NAIA baseball. In 2011 Berry was awarded the FCA Jerry Kindall Character in Coaching Award. This award is presented annually to the college or high school baseball coach who best exemplifies the Christian principles of character, integrity, excellence, teamwork, and service on and off the baseball field. In 2014, Berry was inducted into the Central Cass Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the coaching staff of the 1980 Central Cass Football state championship team. In 2017, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) awarded Berry the “Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award” and inducted him into its prestigious ABCA Hall of Fame.
Dan Carr’s coaching career spans 41 years, with two years as a college coach. He has guided his high school boys basketball teams to 728 victories during his 39-year tenure. Carr has coached his Linton basketball teams to 22 conference titles and 18 district titles. Linton boys basketball teams have also been region runner-up titlists eight times and regional champions 11 times. The Linton Lions boys basketball teams have also been NDHSAA state runner-up titlists once (1987) and state champions three times (1984, 1985, 2009). Coach Carr has mentored his boys golf team to a regional championship and his girls golf teams to 10 conference titles and eight regional championships.
Carr’s coaching has resulted in his being selected NDHSCA Regional Coach of the Year seven times. He has also been named NDHSCA Boys’ Basketball State Coach of the Year two times (1984 and 2005). He was selected for these awards by his peers at each level. He was also named Girls Golf Regional Coach of the Year seven times and State Girls Golf Coach of the Year in 1995.
Dan’s 1984-1985 basketball team earned him High School Male Team Coach of the Year by the North Dakota Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Dan has coached the NDHSCA-Lions All-Star Basketball team four times (1984, 1985, 1987 & 2009). He was named National Federation State Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2007. Dan was nominated for National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) boys’ basketball Coach of the Year in 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2014. He was chosen by the NHSACA Selection Committee as NHSACA boys’ basketball COTY Finalist in each of those four years. He earned NHSACA Boys’ Basketball National Coach of the Year in 2014.
Coach Carr was named to the Central Lakes Community College (Brainerd, Minn.) Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003, the Mayville State University Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013, and the North Dakota Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2016 Carr became the winningest coach in North Dakota history.