Douglas’ Fitz Gerald and Heritage’s Macey are the Broward Baseball Coaches of the Year
At a school like Plantation American Heritage, major league talent has never been scarce.
But for over a decade, a state championship had been elusive.
That ended this season when a young Patriots squad won their first state title since 2012 in Class 5A.
Stoneman Douglas has also had no shortage of college and pro talent although winning championships has not been an issue.
But the Eagles took things up a notch this season, going a perfect 29-0 on their way to their third consecutive state and national championships.
As such, the architects of those seasons - Stoneman Douglas coach Todd Fitzgerald and American Heritage coach Mike Macey - are the Miami Herald’s Baseball Coaches of the Year for Broward County.
Fitz Gerald is the winner for Classes 7A-6A as his squad dominated the competition, extending their winning streak to 51 consecutive victories - the longest active streak in the country.
Stoneman Douglas became the first team in South Florida to not lose or tie a game in a season while winning the school’s fourth state title overall. The Eagles are also the second Broward team to ever win three consecutive state titles, joining Archbishop McCarthy.
“I’m nothing without these guys and we’ve worked hard all year long,” Fitz Gerald said. “For them to bring it for 29 straight in South Florida and to go out the way we did, it’s pretty special.”
Macey watched a team led mostly by underclassmen, but nonetheless talented, surge in the second half of the season and defy the odds on its way to Fort Myers.
The Patriots upended longtime rival Archbishop McCarthy, the top seed in its region. And then, thanks largely to the pitching tandem of sophomore Talan Holiday, the Miami Herald’s 5A-2A Co-Pitcher of the Year and freshman Spencer Krasner as well as the Herald’s 5A-2A Player of the Year Spencer Butt, Heritage topped Lake City Columbia and six-time state champion Tampa Jesuit on its way to its third state championship.
“The brand and the tradition is back where it belongs,” said Macey, who was an assistant coach on the Patriots’ two previous championship teams and its 2009 state runner-up team. “It’s been the goal for 11 years now and it’s finally back.”
