Douglas sweeps state’s top baseball honors. Edison flag football did well, too
Todd Fitz-Gerald of Parkland Stoneman Douglas High School is the Florida Dairy Farmers 2025 Baseball Coach of the Year following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and media representatives.
Fitz-Gerald, who won the state’s top coaching honor in 2016, won three consecutive times from 2021-23 before finishing as the runner-up in 2024. His Stoneman Douglas team finished with a 31-2 record this season and won the school’s fifth consecutive Class 7A title.
Previously selected as the Class 7A Coach of Year (making him eligible for overall state coaching honors in baseball), Fitz-Gerald (Miami Herald All-Broward Baseball Coach of the Year) won the overall award with 14 first-place votes and 173 points, followed by Class 3A COY David Fanshawe of Miami Springs (122).
Class 6A COY Joe Wardlow of St. Thomas Aquinas finished third (43) followed in the voting by Class 5A COY Humberto Bencomo of Miami Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy (29), Rural Class COY Jeromy Powell of Bonifay Holmes County (24), Class 2A COY Alan Kunkel of Orlando The First Academy (20), Class 1A COY Frank Turco of Fort Myers Canterbury (19) and Class 4A COY Bruce Aven of Plantation American Heritage (10).
▪ COACH, SCHOOL, TOTAL POINTS, FIRST PLACE VOTES
1. Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas, 173, 14
2. David Fanshawe, Miami Springs, 122, 6
3. Joe Wardlow, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, 43, 1
4. Humberto Bencomo, Miami Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy, 29, 0
5. Jeromy Powell, Holmes County, 24, 0
6. Alan Kunkel, The First Academy, 20, 0
7. Frank Turco, Canterbury, 19, 0
8. Bruce Aven, Plantation American Heritage, 10, 0
History / Baseball Coach Winners:
1993 – Clyde Metcalf, Sarasota
1994 – John Crumbley, Tampa Jesuit
1995 – John Carpenter, Lakeland Santa Fe
1996 – Rich Hoffman, Miami Westminster
1997 – John Crumbley, Tampa Jesuit
1998 – Howard May, Terry Parker
1999 – Scott Benedict, Wellington
2000 – Bob West, Bishop Kenny
2001 – Fred Burnside, Miami Southridge
2002 – Fred Burnside, Miami Southridge
2003 – John Crumbley, Tampa Jesuit
2004 – Pat McQuaid, Davie Nova
2005 – Ralph Henriquez, Key West
2006 – Scott Benedict, Palm Beach Central
2007 – Dave Wheeler, Orlando Bishop Moore
2008 – Tom Hilbert, Dunedin
2009 – Rick Turner, Naples
2010 – Charlie Warner, Pace
2011 – Landy Faedo, Tampa Alonso
2012 – Johnny Goodrich, Spruce Creek
2013 – Richard Labounty, Pensacola Catholic
2014 – Fred Burnside, South Dade
2015 – Craig Faulkner, Venice
2016—Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas
2017—Greg Olsen, Calvary Christian
2018 – Troy Cameron, St. Thomas Aquinas
2019 – Michael Fryrear, Plant City
2020 – No Winner Named
2021—Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas
2022—Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas
2023—Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas
2024— Jordan Yamamoto, Dwyer
2025—Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas
Stoneman Douglas Pitcher Named Mr. Baseball
Junior pitcher Gio Rojas of Parkland Stoneman Douglas High School is the Florida Dairy Farmers 2025 Mr. Baseball (the state’s top baseball honor) following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and media representatives.
Rojas, who led his team to a 31-2 record and the Class 7A state title, was the third Stoneman Douglas player in the past four years to win the award, joining 2022 winner Roman Anthony and 2023 winner Christian Rodriguez. Only Sarasota High School, with four Mr. Baseball honorees, has won the award more times than the Stoneman Douglas and Tampa Jesuit programs, which each have had three winners.
Rojas (Miami Herald All-Broward Pitcher of the Year) finished with a 12-0 record, an 0.72 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched, with only 16 walks. He also had a .388 batting average with 24 runs scored and 32 runs batted in. He has committed to play baseball with the NCAA Division I University of Miami.
Previously selected the Class 7A Player of the Year (to be eligible for Mr. Baseball honors), Rojas tallied 184 points and garnered 16 of the 22 first-place votes in winning this year’s award. Finishing as runner-up with 110 points was Class 6A POY Zack Malvasio of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, while Class 1A POY Brayden Harris of Orange Park St. Johns Country Day was third (61).
Rounding out the voting were Class 4A POY Cooper Moss of Panama City Arnold (46), Class 2A POY Aaron Watson of Jacksonville Trinity Christian (25), Class 3A POY Charlie Wilcox of Santa Rosa Beach South Walton (19), Class 5A POY Danny Machado of Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy (17) and Rural Class POY Bradley Garrett of Bonifay Holmes County (10).
▪ PLAYER, SCHOOL, TOTAL POINTS, FIRST PLACE VOTES
1. Gio Rojas, Stoneman Douglas, 184, 16
2. Zack Malvasio, St. Thomas Aquinas, 110, 2
3. Brayden Harris, St. Johns Country Day, 61, 2
4. Cooper Moss, Arnold, 46, 2
5. Aaron Watson, Trinity Christian, 25, 0
6. Charlie Wilcox, South Walton, 19, 0
7. Danny Machado, Archbishop McCarthy, 17, 0
8. Bradley Garrett, Holmes County, 10, 0
History / 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
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
2016—Bo Bichette, Lakewood
2017—Logan Allen, Orange City University
2018 – Caleb Roberts, St. Thomas Aquinas
2019 – Parker Messick, Plant City
2020—No Winner Named
2021 – Deric Fabian, North Marion
2022 – Roman Anthony, Stoneman Douglas
2023 – Christian Rodriguez, Stoneman Douglas
2024 – Johnny King, Naples
2025 - Gio Rojas, Stoneman Douglas
State flag football honors
Miami Edison High School flag football had a tremendous season, winning state for the first time..
Edison (state champ in Class 1A) became the second team in Miami-Dade flag football history to win state, after Palmetto did it last year.
Thus, Miami Herald All-Dade Flag Football Player of the Year Rakyia Louis of Edison was voted the Florida Dairy Farmers State Class 1A Player of the Year. Miami Herald All-Dade Flag Football Coach of the Year Vince Hall was awarded the state’s Class 1A Coach of the Year honors.
By receiving those accolades, both became eligible for the state’s top flag football awards -- Miss Flag Football and overall Coach of the Year, respectively,
In a final vote of statewide coaches, senior quarterback Haidyn Spano of Class 2A state champion Tampa Robinson High School was named Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Flag Football for the second consecutive year.
She completed 496-of-728 passes for 4,622 yards with 91 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. She also rushed for 613 yards on 123 carries with nine touchdowns. On defense, she had six interceptions and 84 tackles.
Overall Flag Football Coach of the Year kudos went to her coach, Class 2A Coach of the Year Joshua Saunders. He received that top state honor for the fourth time (2014, 2016, 2019, 2025) after leading Robinson to a 19-3 record and the Class 2A state title, the school’s ninth consecutive state championship. In 19 years at Robinson, he has posted a 295-33 record and 10 state titles.
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 33rd year of these unique awards, honoring the state’s top athletes and coaches in 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.
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For high school and middle school athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have summer sports results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
New athletic directors, coaches
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have new sports administration and/or coaching hires to announce, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
