Thornburg, Martin, Walker, Diaz, Haggins enshrined in Polk County Hall of Fame

The Polk County Sports Hall of Fame was joined by five new members as Tom Thornburg, Brant Martin, Danny Walker, Matt Diaz and Odell Haggins were inducted into the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2022 on Tuesday night in the 2022 Polk County All-Sports Awards banquet at the RP Funding Center.

The annual Hall of Fame banquet began in 2000 and has been held every year except 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the event. The Class of 2020 was officially inducted last year.

The event also includes the Circle of Champions that honors individuals and teams that won state or national titles and the presentation of awards to the All-Sports winners and The Ledger's athletes and coaches of the year.

The highlight of the night is the induction ceremony.

Thornburg spent the bulk of his life behind the microphone. He started his first radio gig in Lake Wales before taking his talents over to Japan and back to Polk County. His family in the 1980s bought WWBL before he was dubbed “the voice of Polk County.”

Polk’s voice was helpful in putting the county’s athletes on the map through the years. Nothing delineates Thornburg more than him calling the game of a soldier’s son — a Polk County pitcher — as he was serving the country overseas representing the United States of America.

“I want to thank the committee for this tremendous honor,” Thornburg said after accepting his jacket. “I also want to recognize my fellow inductees who are real athletes. I appreciate the opportunities I’ve had to talk about them. I think I’ve done about 3,000 broadcasts in the last 60 years, and it’s been a pleasure.”

Martin’s pleasure was his public service and the game of golf. Martin, for all that he did in public service and golf, helped put Grasslands Golf and Country Club on the map; the Grasslands course is where the Major League Scramble with the Detroit Tigers is held. Additionally, he’s given back to the community in various organizations through the Rotary Club, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the Boys and Girls Club, among others, and, he helped create the Florida Southern College’s Diamond Club Pro Celebrity Golf Tournament.

Achieving in abundance as an amateur golfer in Polk County for close to 60 years, Martin played with golfing legends, including Andy Bean and Lee Janzen. He also played against Fred Ridley, among many other famous golfers. As a competitor, the Lakeland High School graduate was a low qualifier for the state of Florida in the World Golf Hall of Fame pro-am team championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina, made the USGA Inaugural US Mid-Amateur Golf Championship and won the silver medal and played at the prestigious Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.

“I’m honored to be here with all these young athletes. It’s wonderful at my age to see all these kids getting awards,” Martin said. “I’m a lifelong resident of Lakeland and Polk County, and I’m very proud of it. As a boy, I grew up playing all the sports like most kids because we didn’t have anything else to do. My father introduced me to golf. … I took very quickly to the game.”

Walker, an Auburndale High School graduate, started his journey as a Hall of Fame coach in the 2001-02 season. In totality, he secured 11 IBT team district championships, four dual district championships, four IBT regional titles, three dual regional titles, the 2018, 2019 and 2021 state dual championships, the 2018, 2019, and 2020 state IBT championships, 16 Polk County Championships and has been the head coach of 87 state placers and 13 state champions.

In 2018 and 2020, Walker was named Florida’s Coach of the Year and the 2018 NWCA Coach of the Year.

“I’m going to reiterate that seeing all these athletes lets me know that I chose the right path. Also, it lets me know that there’s some coaches out there that are doing some amazing things,” Walker said. “When I started this journey in 1998, this accomplishment and many others were just a thought. When I began coaching, I think it was more about saving me. … If you would have told me that I’d be up here getting inducted to this group of amazing athletes, coach and pillars of this community, I would have looked at you, laughed and said get out of here…”

Diaz excelled at Santa Fe Catholic as a baseball player and was a sophomore catcher who played on the Crimson Hawks' 1995 state championship team with his brother Zach. He then took his skills to Florida State and blossomed in the program, earning first-team All-American honors in 1999. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the '99 draft then spent 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, including stints with the Rays, Royals, Braves, Pirates and the Marlins.

The standout baseball star hit over .300 in three different years. He also competed in the National League Division Series with the Braves in 2010.

Diaz joined the Lakeland Christian baseball staff in 1999 as an assistant to Blaine Fox when the Vikings won the state championship. It was the first state title by a Polk team since Diaz's 1995 Santa Fe team.

He took over as head coach in 2020 and led LCS to the playoffs in 2021 and 2022.

“This is a huge honor,” Diaz said. “I see coaches, radio — what I wanted to do — golfing that I’m terrible at and trying to get better at as a retired baseball player. It’s just an honor to go into this group with you guys, so congratulations and thank you for letting me be a part of it. … I had the blessing of playing for some of the greatest coaches at every level of baseball."

Haggins, a Bartow native, arrived at Florida State as a linebacker, but switched to the defensive line. In 1989 as a senior, he produced 100 tackles, making him a first-team All-American. He was drafted in the ninth round in 1990 by the San Francisco 49ers, and in 1991, he played for the Buffalo Bills, who advanced to the Super Bowl.

He returned to Florida State and coached alongside legendary Seminole coach Bobby Bowden. In his 29th season on Florida State’s staff, he is now the longest tenured assistant coach at one institution in the country. Twice he has served as interim coach for the Seminoles, compiling a record of 4-2, clinching bowl eligibility twice in his time as interim coach; his team won the Independence Bowl in 2017 to finish the 41st consecutive winning season for the program.

Florida State’s coach was inducted into the program’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

"First of all, I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity,” Haggins said. “…This is an honor. … As you go back and look at Polk County, and I like to say this right here, if it weren’t for Polk County, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. … I’ll tell you this right here, young men, young ladies, I’m not a politician, I’m a real man. I’m a person with integrity and class. Rep your county, do well in your county — not just sports, (but) in life. Your education, your values in life, that will take you a long way.”

The event started out playing videos, commemorating Josephine Austin and Norm Benn — both Polk County Hall of Famers who died within the last nine months — as well as countless other Hall of Famers inducted over the years.

Austin, a 2018 inductee referred to as the "dean of girls" of high school coaches in Polk County, was instrumental as a Winter Haven basketball coach who changed high school athletics for girls and brought back girls basketball to high school.

Benn is the best Florida Southern women’s basketball coach in its history, capturing a total of five Sunshine State Conference regular-season titles and six post-season championships. Overall, Benn went 251-96 in his 12 seasons, was the SSC Coach of the Year in four seasons and was the South Region Coach of the Year in 1995.

The All-Sports Award winners were:

Charles Richardson Commissioner's Award for Perseverance: Marta Aranda (Southeastern guard)

Bernie Little Sports Executive of the Year: Dr. Panagiotis Lakovidis (Majority owner of Florida Tropics)

Female Amateur of the Year: Chelsi Williams (George Jenkins; 100-meter hurdles)

Male Amateur of the Year: Brendon Abdon (Lake Gibson wrestler; 160 pounds)

Professional Athlete of the Year: Trey Mancini (Baltimore Orioles first baseman/outfielder; Winter Haven High School)

Female Collegiate of the Year: Diamond Battles (UCF guard; Winter Haven High School)

Male Collegiate of the Year: Gage Braun (Southeastern wrestling)

Male Collegiate Team of the Year: Southeastern baseball

Female Collegiate Team of the Year: SEU women's basketball

Male Prep Team of the Year: Winter Haven High School basketball

Female Prep Team of the Year: Lakeland Christian School girls occer

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County All-Sports awards