GAINESVILLE (June 2) — The nine individual class finalists for the 2016 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Baseball and Baseball Coach of the Year have been announced following balloting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and prep media representatives.
Every finalist was the leading vote-getter in their classification, making each one the Player of the Year or Coach of the Year in their class. The two overall winners will be announced following a final round of balloting by coaches and media.
Following are the nine finalists for the 2016 Mr. Baseball Award. Â Area winners in bold.
Jordan Butler, Jr., Pitcher/1B, Alonso, Class 9A Player of the Year
Butler helped his team to the state Final Four by posting an 11-1 record with a 0.54 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 78 innings pitched. He also batted .406 with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 4 home runs, with 23 runs scored and 27 runs batted in. He has committed to the University of Florida.
C J VanEyk, Jr., Pitcher/INF, Steinbrenner, Class 8A Player of the Year
The Florida State commit led his team to the state title, posting a 12-1 record with an 0.77 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched. He also had a .346 batting average with 4 doubles, 3 triples and 10 runs batted in.
Gavin Gillespie, Sr., Pitcher, Gaither, Class 7A Player of the Year
Gillespie, a Seminole Community College signee, led his squad to the state title by posting an 11-2 record with an 0.79 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 89 innings pitched.
Drew Parrish, Sr. Pitcher/OF, Rockledge, Class 6A Player of the Year
Parrish led his team to the regional finals with a 10-1 record and a 0.59 ERA, striking out 109 batters in 59 innings pitched. He hit .476 with 10 doubles, 4 triples and 25 runs batted in.
Bo Bichette, Sr., Shortstop, Lakewood, Class 5A Player of the Year
Bichette, an Arizona State signee, had a .576 batting average with 7 doubles, 5 triples and 13 home runs. He scored 47 runs, had 41 runs batted in and was walked 32 times, including 19 intentional, and had a 1.424 slugging percentage.
Max Guzman, Sr., Catcher, Ft. Lauderdale Calvary Christian, Class 4A Player of the Year
Guzman, a Florida International signee, helped his team to the state championship by hitting .480 with 12 home runs, 33 runs scored and 36 runs batted in.
Sam Keating, Jr., Pitcher/OF, Canterbury, Class 3A Player of the Year
Keating helped Canterbury to the state title by posting an 11-0 record with an 0.34 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched. The Clemson University commit also hit .286 with 23 runs scored.
Aldrich De Jongh, Sr., Pitcher/OF, Lake Worth Trinity Christian, Class 2A Player of the Year
De Jongh led his team to the state title with an 11-0 record and a 0.12 ERA, while striking out 83 batters in 57 innings pitched. He hit .390 with 3 home runs, 20 runs scored and 33 RBI.
Micah Byrd, Sr., P/INF, Lafayette, Class 1A Player of the Year
Byrd, a College of Central Florida signee, led his team to the state title with a 9-2 record and a 1.06 ERA, with 107 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched. He hit .483 and drove in 28 runs.
Following are the nine finalists for 2016 Baseball Coach of the Year:
Todd Fitz-gerald, Douglas, Class 9A Coach of the Year
Fitz-gerald led Douglas to a 27-2 record and the state championship. In 5 years at Douglas he has a 104-29 record and his overall record in 15 years of coaching is 349-97, with another state title (2008) and two other Final Four appearances (2002, 2009) at American Heritage.
John Crumbley, Steinbrenner, Class 8A Coach of the Year
Crumbley led his squad to a 27-5 record and the state championship. In 29 years as a head coach he has posted a 715-188 record (seven years at Steinbrenner, 22 years at Tampa Jesuit) with four state titles and 12 Final Four appearances.
Nelson North, Gaither, Class 7A Coach of the Year
North led Gaither to a 20-9 record and the state title. In his two years at Gaither, North has posted a 36-24 record.
Rich Bielski, Archbishop McCarthy, Class 6A Coach of the Year
Bielski led McCarthy to a 29-2 record and its sixth state title in the past seven years. In 18 years as a head coach (eight at McCarthy and 10 at Hialeah), Bielski has posted a 439-120 record, including two more state titles at Hialeah (2001-02).
Mike Boswell, The Bolles School (Jacksonville), Class 5A Coach of the Year
Boswell led Bolles to a 28-3 record and the state title. In 11 years at the school he has posted a 237-72 record. In 17 years overall (six at Englewood) he has a 375-116 record, with another state title in 1999.
Alan Kunkel, Calvary Christian, Class 4A Coach of the Year
In his first year at Calvary Christian, Kunkel led his squad to a 22-9 record and the school’s first state title. His overall record in eight years (seven at Orangewood Christian) is 142-90 with a state runnerup finish in 2011.
Frank Turco, Canterbury, Class 3A Coach of the Year
Turco’s squad went 31-1 record and won the state championship. In two years at Canterbury, Turco has posted a 53-6 record. His overall record in 16 years (14 at Estero) is 336-122 with a state runnerup finish in 2013.
Miguel Cuello, Lake Worth Trinity Christian, Class 2A Coach of the Year
Cuello led his squad to a 24-6 record and the state championship. In 12 years as a head coach he has compiled a 261-67 record, with two state runnerup finishes (2007 and 2010).
Tim Hansen, Lafayette, Class 1A Coach of the Year
Hansen led his squad to a 21-6 record and the state title. His overall record in three years is 62-18.
Final voting numbers by class listed below:
Class 9A
Player School Points
Jordan Butler Alonso 139
Colton Welker Douglas 130
Andy Arguelles Columbus 91
Coach School Points
Todd Fitz-gerald Douglas 190
Joe Weber Columbus 97
Jesse Marlo West Orange 93
Class 8A
Player School Points
CJ VanEyk Steinbrenner 140
Kirby McMullen Forest (Ocala) 75
Joe Sheridan Hagerty 73
Coach School Points
John Crumbley Steinbrenner 157
Jered Goodwin Hagerty 90
Jose Alvarez Westland Hialeah 52
Class 7A
Player School Points
Gavin Gillespie Gaither 113
Christian Del Castillo Belen Jesuit 85
Scott Dubrule Venice 72
Coach School Points
Nelson North Gaither 165
Craig Faulkner Venice 105
Luke Marabell Creekside (St. Johns) 50
Class 6A
Player School Points
Drew Parrish Rockledge 90
Nick Agosto Mosley 86
Alex Carballo McCarthy 74
Coach School Points
Rich Bielski Archbishop McCarthy 155
Jon Hudson Mosley 113
Dale Hall North Marion (Citra) 41
Class 5A
Player School Points
Bo Bichette Lakewood 105
Hamp Skinner Bolles (Jacksonville) 100
Chris Rodriquez Monsignor Pace 68
Coach School Points
Mike Boswell Bolles (Jacksonville) 158
Tom Duffin Monsignor Pace 117
Tom Dooley Melbourne Central Catholic 59
Class 4A
Player School Points
Max Guzman Calvary Christian 119
Julian Bosnic Berkeley Prep 87
Matt Ellmyer Benjamin 64
Coach School Points
Alan Kunkel Calvary Christian 170
David Nelson Bishop Verot 86
Richie Warren Berkeley Prep 61
Class 3A
Player School Points
Sam Keating Canterbury 117
Elijah Gill University Christian (Jacksonville) 61
Carson Ragsdale Bishop McLaughlin 42
Coach School Points
Frank Turco Canterbury 168
David Saliba Santa Fe Catholic 106
Drew Sherrod Maclay 51
Class 2A
Player School Points
Aldrich De Jongh Lake Worth Trinity Christian 150
Caleb Gray Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville) 79
Josue Riviera Seacrest Country Day 42
Coach School Points
Miguel Cuello Lake Worth Trinity Christian 180
Kurt Dugan Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville) 112
Bryan Maples Trinity Christian (Deltona) 43
Class 1A
Player School Points
Micah Byrd Lafayette (Mayo) 164
Trevor Castell Chiefland 73
Aaron Robinson Milton Central 66
Coach School Points
Tim Hansen Lafayette (Mayo) 160
Kyle Parnell Chiefland 104
Mike Roberts Milton Central 56
