Arundel High's Bernie Walter, in 1998 The Sun's 1998 Metro Baseball Coach of the Year for a record fourth time, has been selected as the American Baseball Coaches Association Diamond Sports Division II National Coach of the Year.

With more than 5,000 members, ABCA is the world's largest baseball coaches association. Members include college, high school and sandlot coaches.

Walter, who led his top-ranked Wildcats (22-4) to a Maryland-record eighth state championship last spring and state-record 12th appearance in the final four, received the award at the coaching organization's annual banquet on Jan. 2 in Atlanta.

The award was Walter's fourth national Coach of the Year honor since 1975.

In 1991, Walter received the Easton Sports Master National Coach of the Year award for his contributions to baseball. And the National High School Baseball Coaches Association and National Federation of Interscholastic Coaches honored him in 1993 and 1996, respectively.

Pub Date: 1/07/99