Joseph D. Valentino Memorial Scholarship

Starting with the 2019-20 academic year, UPIKE baseball will be awarding a scholarship in honor of one of their own.

On December 5, 2018, Joseph "Joe" Valentino, a UPIKE baseball alum, passed away at the age of 27 as a result of injuries sustained from an automobile accident. Valentino became a member of the Pikeville community in the Fall of 2012, transferring to UPIKE from College of the Sequoias in Northern California with his then-girlfriend and future wife Haley, who was coming to play volleyball. He then pitched his junior and senior seasons at UPIKE. 

On his senior day, Joe proposed to Haley and began their life together as husband and wife in eastern Kentucky as Joe began nursing school and Haley continued to serve in UPIKE athletics as the volleyball team's assistant coach. In 2016, the Valentino's had their first child together, Mia, who loves both UPIKE baseball and UPIKE athletics as a whole.

Even after his graduation, Joe continued to follow his passion for baseball as a local youth coach and teacher, providing lessons for young children all over eastern Kentucky. Joe loved to watch his players grow, both as young kids and as baseball players.

To honor his memory, Joe's family has established an endowed scholarship in his name to be given to future Bears baseball players for at least the next 10 years. The scholarship is a one-year scholarship worth $2,500 to be given to either a junior college transfer from California or a high school player from the eastern Kentucky area.

Previous Scholarship Recipients

 

Year	Name	Position	Previous School
2019-20	Hayden Jung	3B	College of the Siskiyous
2020-21	Trae McLemore	1B	Roane State