On May 21, the Carbon High School Baseball Banquet was held to award the team for their achievements throughout the season. Lisa S. Pappas-Peirce of the Tony Pappas Memorial Scholarship (TPMS) announced Catcher of the Carbon Dinos, Jace Barlow, as the Most Valuable Player for the 2023-24 season. Barlow finished the season with a .407 batting average. He led his team in RBIs with 28, home runs with four, triples with three and doubles with 13. He also led the team with a .495 On Base Percentage and a .790 Slugging Percentage.
Barlow received a trophy and a college scholarship from the Pappas family. His name will be added to the trophy plaque in Grand Canyon Hall at Carbon High. Barlow was very honored when awarded the scholarship. The Pappas family has been awarding this scholarship for 44 years, marking it the oldest scholarship at Carbon High. Tony graduated from Carbon High in 1976 and played baseball from age six, until his untimely passing in 1984.
The Tony Pappas Memorial Scholarship was started by Helen Pappas-Segura in 1982, just three months after the death of her brother, Tony. The scholarship is family-funded and was established to help the Pappas family deal with the loss they endured when Tony suddenly passed. Tony was anticipating a professional baseball career when an untimely coal mining accident claimed his life at the age of 24.
The past recipients of the prestigious award are as follows: 1982 Tony Gianoulis, 1983 Mike Vea, 1984 Jeff Otterson, 1985 Mike Smuin, 1986 Vaughn Olson, 1987 Kirk Reid, 1988 Steve Cave, 1989 De Jones, 1990 Jeff Jewkes, 1991 Eric Llewelyn, 1982 Johnny Gianini, 1983 Craig Wright, 1984 Travis Cloward, 1985 Derek Martinez, 1996 Andy MacLean, 1997 Conan Curtis and Ben Jewkes, 1998 Jonathan Vasquez, 1999 Ty Alderson, 2000 Tyler Grundy and Matt Holt, 2001 Senior Class State Champions, 2002 Matt Jewkes, 2003 Jamal Lewis, 2004 Troy Grundy and Mike Smith, 2005 Senior Class State Champions, 2006 Chase Julian and Adam Martinez, 2007 Bradley Wilde, 2008 Ron Herrera, 2009 Josh Denison, 2010 Beau Rich, 2011 Hayden Basinger, 2012 Julian Tamllos, 2013 Bryce Blackburn and Dakota Cisneros, 2014 Dominic Rondinelli, 2015 Jared Lesser, 2016 Cole Fossat and Anthony MacLean, 2017 Gavin Robinett, 2018 Cody Lowe and Chandler Kinsinger – great-great nephew, 2019 Braxton Bennet and Ty Anderson, 2020 Kaleb Nelson and Tyler Wright, 2021 Brayton Nielsen, 2022 Jordan Fossat. 2023 Ridge Nelson and 2024 Jace Barlow.