NEWARK, DE -- Brian Fleury, a former University of Delaware baseball standout, lost his 20-year battle with Hodgkin's disease last Friday. He was 40-years-old.

An all-conference catcher, Fleury played two seasons for the Blue Hens after transferring from Georgia Tech. In his two years at Delaware, he played in 74 games, notching a career .320 batting average with 55 runs batted in.

In his first season with the Blue Hens, he won the 1990 East Coast Conference Player of the Year award after hitting .339 with 31 RBI and 28 runs scored.

As a captain his senior year, Fleury led the Hens to a 34-8 record. During the season, he posted 37 hits, including 10 for extra bases.

After the 1991 season, Fleury was honored as a GTE/CoSIDA third team Academic All-American. He was just the 12th Blue Hen ever to earn the honor.

During his collegiate career, he excelled in the classroom and on the baseball field while also volunteering his time at the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta and for Delaware's chapter of the Leukemia Society of America.

Prior to attending Delaware, he helped lead Georgia Tech to the 1987 Atlantic Coast Conference championship after hitting .356 with eight home runs.

After retiring as a player, he became the head baseball coach at Delbarton High School in Morristown, New Jersey, where he led his teams to nine conference championships in ten seasons.

A teacher, coach, and athletic director at Delbarton, he is survived by his wife, Jen (Root) Fleury, a former standout lacrosse player for Delaware, and their six-year-old son, Tim.

For more information on Brian, please read Joe Hofmann's article at the Daily Record by clicking here.