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Scarafile Honored by Scouts' Association for Service

12/12/2007 3:51 PM

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Cape Cod Baseball League President Judy Walden Scarafile
Honored by Scouts’ Association for Service to Baseball
 

CAPE COD, Mass. – Judy Walden Scarafile, president of the Cape Cod Baseball League for the past 16 years, was honored recently by the Mid-Atlantic Professional Baseball Scouts Association when she was named winner of the Service to Baseball Award during the organization’s 17th annual awards banquet at Cal Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md.


Judy Scarafile with Johnny Pesky and John Garner sitting at the stands at Fenway Park (2006) during the afternoon before the CCBL 2006 All Star players were to be honored as part of the  pre-game Red Sox ceremonies.

     Scarafile was forced to cancel her appearance at the event at the last minute due to the illness of her mother, so it was presented in absentia by the association’s president, Ty Brown. “I was enormously disappointed to miss this event,” she said. “But I spoke with several people in the organization and they totally understood that I couldn’t leave my mom.”

     Her plaque, which has arrived safely at the Scarafile home in Barnstable, cites her “Outstanding Contributions and Service to Baseball.”

     “Judy is truly the most deserving recipient of this award that we’ve had ,” said Brown, the group’s president for the past eight years. “She was selected not for any single accomplishment, but because of her service to baseball throughout the years. Her incredible energy, her selflessness and her dedication and love of the game have inspired the volunteers, players and fans who have made the Cape League the number one summer college baseball league in the nation.

     “I have been known Judy and have been tremendously impressed by her since I was general manager of the (Brewster) Whitecaps in their first season,” said Brown, the son of former Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Joe Brown. “I think she was a vice president at the time, but it was obvious that she was a force to be reckoned with. Since becoming president, she has provided solid leadership and vision. She certainly deserves much of the credit for the league’s continued growth and success.”

     Featured speaker at the scouts’ Nov. 16 banquet was New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, who also received the Executive of the Year Award. Two scouts -- Howard McCullough of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Bob Quinn of the San Francisco Giants – were welcomed into the organization’s Hall of Fame.

     Scarafile, who has led the Cape Cod League as president since 1991, is no stranger to awards. She was honored by the Hyannis Chamber of Commerce as its 2002 Citizen of the Year. She also received the American Red Cross’s Clara Barton Award and was named Amateur Baseball Woman of the Year by USA Baseball. Recognizing her achievements, the Cape League bestowed its ultimate tribute in 2003 when it inducted her into its Hall of Fame – the first woman to be so honored.

     In typical Scarafile fashion, she downplayed the latest honor. “I consider this to be as much about the Cape Cod Baseball League as about me,” she said, pointing out that the efforts of scores of volunteers across the Cape, both at the team and league levels, are the reason for the league’s success. 

     Nevertheless, Scarafile has spent much of her life working on behalf of the Cape League. Starting as an official scorer in 1970, she served as assistant publicist, publicity director, secretary, deputy commissioner and vice president. Then, in 1991, she was elected president and has settled nicely into the role over the past 16 years.
 

John Garner, Jr.
Director of Public Relations & Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394
[email protected] 

Joe Sherman
Web Editor
(508) 775-4364
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