- Sport: Builder Baseball
- Team(s): Coached numerous younger Rep. teams along with the Orillia Juniors and the Orillia Majors
- Position: Builder/Volunteer
- Years Active: 1960's-2010
- Nominated In: 2023
Dean Heliotis is being inducted into the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame as a builder.
His name is synonymous with baseball in Orillia. From 1965 until 2008, he coached at various levels including mosquito, peewee, bantam, midget and junior and also helmed the Orillia Majors for several years.
But many won’t forget 1969. He and co-coach Gander Ross had been fired by the Orillia Majors.
They were coaxed into coaching the city’s junior team and promptly turned the ragtag group into a dominant team. In a twist of irony, the juniors met the Majors that year for the league championship and the young guns prevailed, winning the title in front of more than 2,400 fans who jammed into the fabled Lions Oval to watch the seventh and deciding game that Thanksgiving weekend.
He also coached the 1992 Orillia bantams and the 1996 Fenelon Falls peewees to Ontario crowns during his illustrious career.