Dolecki Establishes Legacy of Big Red Success

Former Glen Cove High School varsity boys' baseball coach Jon Dolecki's list of accomplishments is downright impressive. In 32 years pulling Big Red's reigns, Dolecki won 522 games while only having two losing seasons.

During his coaching tenure, Dolecki captured the New York State and the Long Island championships in 1986, the Nassau First-County Championships in 1986 and 1987, and the Nassau B County Championship in 1985. He also won 12 Division Championships and was the Long Island Runner-Up in 1987 and the Nassau County Runner-Up in 1989, 2004 and 2005.

And the accolades don't stop there.

The former Appalachian State University hurler also garnered the Nassau County Baseball Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1987. 

However, while Dolecki found his coaching success at the school very gratifying, he said, the relationships that he formed with his players and the impact that he had on them provided him with some of his most memorable moments as a coach.

"I can't say one moment is my favorite memory," said Dolecki, who taught architectural drawing and woodworking at the high school for 36 years. "I have multiple memories of all the kids I've coached over the years. Knowing you had an influence over their lives and knowing that you made a difference and inspired them to do great things, I think, is more important than winning any championships. They were some of the greatest moments of my life—outside of my family moments."

It's safe to say that the feeling is mutual among the former Big Red players he guided on and off the diamond.

"Mr. Dolecki wasn't only a great coach, he was like a father figure to all his players," said former Big Red centerfielder Adelki Paulino. "He taught us so many life lessons. He's my mentor. I always looked up to him and I have learned so much from him, not only about baseball but about life."

Because he'd invested so much painstaking time into keeping Glen Cove's baseball field in pristine condition, Paulino admittedly believes it should be renamed in the former coach's honor.

"The Glen Cove baseball field was one of the best fields in Long island because he took care of the field himself," said Paulino, who currently serves as Big Red's varsity assistant baseball coach. "He would go up to the field at 6a.m. and work on the field on the weekends and even cut the infield grass himself. The field should be renamed Jon Dolecki Field. He took care of the field like it was his baby."

As further testament to the overall positive impact Dolecki, who is now the assistant baseball coach at the US Merchant Mariner Academy in Kings Point, had on Big Red's baseball program, dozens of former Big Red players participated in the high school's second annual Alumni Baseball Game on July 17.

The game, Dolecki said, featured ex-Big Red players spanning four different decades, and as far away as California.

"Last year, was a surprise to me," Dolecki said about the first alumni contest, which served as part of his retirement party along with a dinner. "I got to see guys I don't get a chance to see. They'll always be a part of my extended family and there will always be a place in my house for them."

And it wouldn't be stretching the truth much when Patch says that GCHS baseball will always be a second home to Dolecki and the players he helped mold into the men they are today.