By PAUL GOTHAM
Dave Brust, who guided Monroe Community College Baseball to the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II World Series, was named East District Coach of the Year as announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
Brust’s Tribunes finished 38-10 and won the East District Championship to clinch a spot among the top 10 teams in the national tournament.
The award, presented by ATEC Sports – manufacturer of training equipment and the Official Training Equipment of Major League Baseball – is voted upon by ABCA member coaches as part of the All-America and Coach of the Year committees for all nine divisions of college baseball.
“It’s nice to be recognized by your peers,” Brust said by phone. “The college provides an incredible amount of support in so many ways. So, it’s nice that the college gets recognized also.”
The award will be presented during the 2027 ABCA Convention on January 7-10 in Chicago.
Brust has won 330 games over 13 seasons. His teams also reached the World Series in 2016, ’18 and ’19. He was named NJCAA D2 Region Coach of the Year in 2015, ’16, ’18 and ’19 as well as East District Coach of the Year in 2016, ’18, ’19 and ’26.
“It’s especially nice to receive this national award considering that Coach (Dave) Chamberlain put MCC Athletics and MCC Baseball on the map,” said Brust who is a member of the MCC Athletics Hall of Fame and the Section V Baseball Hall of Fame. “It means a lot to continue that tradition.”
Brust’s squad put together arguably the best six-game stretch in program history to advance to the NJCAA World Series. The Tribunes opened the postseason with a sweep on the road of UConn-Avery Point in the sub-district series.
The following weekend MCC beat host Westchester Community College to open the East District Championship before taking back-to-back decisions over Mercer County Community College (NJ). Monroe opened the World Series with a win over Iowa Central Community College before falling to eventual champion, Pearl River (MISS) and Frederick Community College (MD).
Ten student-athletes from that team have since gone on to four-year schools including five at the Division I level.
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