Lakewood’s Bo Bichette Named 2016 Mr. Baseball
GAINESVILLE (June 8) – Senior shortstop Bo Bichette of Lakewood High School has been selected as the Florida Dairy Farmers 2016 Mr. Baseball following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and media representatives.
Bichette, who has signed to play baseball at Arizona State University, put together an amazing hitting record during the 2016 season, batting .576 with seven doubles, five triples and 13 home runs among his 38 hits. He also walked 32 times in his 100 plate appearances, including 19 intentional walks.
He finished with a .707 on-base percentage and a whopping 1.424 slugging percentage. He also stole 21 bases, struck out only seven times and made eight errors at shortstop for a .989 fielding percentage in 26 games.
Bichette, who previously was selected the Class 5A Player of the Year, tallied 179 points and garnered 12 of the 21 first-place votes in winning this year’s overall award. Finishing as runner-up was Class 9A POY Jordan Butler of Alonso (155), while Class 8A POY CJ VanEyk of Steinbrenner (118) finished third. Rounding out the voting were, Class 4A POY Max Guzman of Calvary Christian (114), Class 6A POY Drew Parrish of Rockledge (111), Class 2A POY Aldrich De Jongh of Lake Worth Trinity Christian (88), Class 7A POY Gavin Gillespie of Gaither (81), Class 3A POY Sam Keating of Canterbury (79) and Class 1A POY Micah Byrd of Lafayette (53).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 24th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
2016 FINAL VOTING RESULTS: (Points awarded on a 10-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis). Area winners in bold.
Player Total Points 1st-Place Votes
Bo Bichette, Lakewood 179 12
Jordan Butler, Alonso 155 5
CJ VanEyk, Steinbrenner 118 0
Max Guzman, Calvary Christian 114 1
Drew Parrish, Rockledge 111 1
Aldrich De Jongh, Trinity Christian 88 1
Gavin Gillespie, Gaither 81 1
Sam Keating, Canterbury 79 0
Micah Byrd, Lafayette (Mayo) 53 0
Past Mr. Baseball Winners:
1993 – Alex Rodriguez, Miami Westminster
1994 – Doug Million, Sarasota
1995 – Doug Blosser, Sarasota
1996 – Nick Stocks, Tampa Jesuit
1997 – Geoff Geotz, Tampa Jesuit
1998 – Felipe Lopez, Lake Brantley
1999 – Bobby Bradley, Wellington
2000 – Tony Richie, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville)
2001 – Casey Kotchman, Seminole
2002 – Edgar Ramirez, Miami Southridge
2003 – James Houser, Sarasota
2004 – Warren McFadden, Davie Nova
2005 – Andrew McCutchen, Fort Meade
2006 – Max Sapp, Orlando Bishop Moore
2007 – Michael Main, Deland
2008 – Casey Kelly, Sarasota
2009 – Patrick Schuster, New Port Richey Mitchell
2010 – C. T. Bradford, Pace
2011 – Jose Fernandez, Tampa Alonso
2012 – Lance McCullers, Jr., Tampa Jesuit
2013 – Tyler Danish, Plant City
2014 – Brian Gonzalez, Archbishop McCarthy
2015 – Dillon Brown, Mosley
