Remembering Shelly Dunkel. Palmer Trinity standout excels and state honors for Douglas baseball

Not long after long-time legendary football coach Buddy Goins passed away, Miami Springs High School lost another legend in Shelly Dunkel.

Dunkel, who was the same age as Goins, 86, died of natural causes on May 23.

Dunkel, who was the head of the school’s PE Department, spent 22 seasons heading up the Springs baseball program (1976-1997) compiling 265 wins and four district championships, 1979, 82, 90 and 91, along the way.

He turned out some big-time talent as well, most notably John Cangelosi (Class of ‘82) who played 15 seasons in the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. Cangelosi was a member of the 1997 Marlins World Series championship team.

Other great players Dunkel coached included former University of Miami All-American Frank Castro and Ivan Mesa and Tommy Gil, both of whom were named American Legion Players of the Year.

He worked briefly for the Miami-Dade County School Board office after retiring from Springs before having the baseball field at the school named after him in 2004. Dunkel, who was inducted into the MSSH Athletics Hall of Fame in 20014 (along with Goins) is survived by his wife Cyndy, three children, Laurie, Joel and Ericka and eight grandchildren. He was laid to rest at Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapels on May 25.

^{Bill Daley}

State baseball awards

Senior pitcher Christian Rodriguez of Stoneman Douglas High School has been selected the Florida Dairy Farmers 2023 Mr. Baseball, following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and media representatives.

Rodriguez led his team to its third consecutive Class 7A state championship with a 12-0 record, an 0.67 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched, with only 13 walks. He also had a .359 batting average with eight doubles, six home runs, 21 runs scored and 18 runs batted in.

He has signed to play baseball with the University of Florida.

With Rodriguez’s former teammate Roman Anthony winning the 2022 Mr. Baseball award, Stoneman Douglas became the third school with back-to-back winners, and the first since Tampa Jesuit’s Nick Stocks and Geoff Geotz won the award in 1996-97.

Also the state’s Class 7A Player of the Year, Rodriguez tallied 169 points and garnered 12 of the 19 first-place votes in winning this year’s award. Finishing as runner-up was Class 6A POY Caden McDonald of Sickles-Tampa (111), while Class 3A POY Liam Peterson of Calvary Christian-Clearwater finished third (65). Rounding out the voting were Class 5A POY Wes Mendes of Jesuit-Tampa (37), Class 4A POY Karson Lindsey of North Marion-Citra (32), Class 1A POY Bryson Howard of Chipley (10) and Class 2A POY Austin Schrowe of Canterbury-Fort Myers (5).

Todd Fitz-Gerald of Stoneman Douglas High School has been named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2023 Baseball Coach of the Year.

Fitz-Gerald, who was named the state’s top coach in 2021 and 2022, became the first coach to win the award three straight years, after guiding his team to a 29-0 record and its third consecutive Class 7A state championship. In becoming the first state team to finish an unbeaten season since Calvary Christian-Clearwater in 2017, Stoneman Douglas ran its current winning streak to 51 games, the second-longest streak in state history (Calvary Christian-Clearwater, 60).

In 12 years at Douglas, Fitz-Gerald has posted a 255-55 record with four state titles (2016, 2021-23). His career record of 505-121 includes a 10-year stint at American Heritage-Plantation where he won a state title (2008). He is the first four-time winner of the state coaching award.

Previously selected as the Class 7A COY, Fitz-Gerald won the overall award with 13 first-place votes and 172 points, ahead of Class 6A COY Eric Luksis of Sickles-Tampa (95). Class 4A COY Dale Hall of North Marion-Citra finished third (45) followed in the voting by Class 1A COY Andy Compton of Chipley (37), Class 3A COY Greg Olsen of Calvary Christian-Clearwater (22), Class 5A COY Mike Macey of American Heritage-Plantation (12) and Class 2A COY Matt Diaz of Lakeland Christian (5).

Central American Championships

Palmer Trinity School senior Maria Camposano Paiz not only won the race but also broke the Guatemalan record in the 100-meter hurdles in the under-18 division of the Central American Championships U18 U20 (Campeonato Centroamericano de Atletismo U18 U20 2023) in Guatemala City.

Her record-setting, winning time 14.67 seconds.

Camposano Paiz was recently selected to compete as part of the Guatemalan U18 Track & Field National Team.

“I got involved with the Guatemalan team because my parents are from Guatemala, and I have dual citizenship. I was honored to represent Guatemala as part of their U18 national team,” Camposano Paiz said in a release.

Camposano Paiz completed her first full track & field season with Palmer Trinity as a ninth grader. She has trained and represented Palmer Trinity School and a club team the past three years.

Camposano Paiz added, “PTS has played a very important role in my athletic career. Coach Tammy King was the reason I started running. She has trained and helped me achieve everything I have done. I also appreciate the other coaches outside of school who have played a role in me competing to the best of my ability.”

Submit summer sports info

For coaches and teams in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have high school level athletes competing in summer leagues, events and programs, email hssports@miamiherald.com.

They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.

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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone

jvarsallone@miamiherald.com