Janet Schrader, Democrat Reporter

Suwannee baseball had a lot to celebrate at their annual awards banquet Tuesday, May 20. They went undefeated in district play and leaped out with 15 straight wins to start their season. That was the best start Suwannee baseball has ever had. The undefeated district performance made it three out of four recent years Suwannee went undefeated in the district for regular season play.



It was a great year for Suwannee baseball but also a tough year. Suwannee beat Santa Fe in both regular season games but lost a heartbreaking district title game to Santa Fe by one run, 4-5. Santa Fe went on to play in the final four of the state playoffs and was eventually defeated by Eustis who went on to win the state title.



“You’re going to get knocked out of the playoffs more than you’ll make it to the final four,” Head Baseball Coach Ronnie Gray said.



Gray said it’s all about winning 20 games. “The number is 20,” Gray said. “If you win 20 out of 28 games you have a good program.”

Suwannee’s final record was 23-4.



The banquet opened with JV Coaches Harvey Williams and Andy Day passing out the junior varsity awards. JV sophomores this year were Ty Fillyaw and Jon Bell. Freshman included Taylor Abercrombie, Ross Arantino, Rob Carboneau, Billy Moran, A.J. Jenkins, Michael Keene, Ben Newman, Mark Radford, Nick Reppert, Chad McGallier, Michael Tillman, Josh Wigglesworth (Wiggy) and Zach Davis.



Individual awards for the JV were passed out next. Coach Day had nothing but praise for his JV boys.



“These guys came ready to play,” Day said. “There was never any need to pump them up. They had a great year. They got the job done.”



The JV did have a great year. They went undefeated.

JV Offensive Award went to Ty Fillyaw. Fillyaw batted consistently over 500 for the entire year.

JV Pitching Award went to Nick Reppert. Reppert has a whole bag of good pitches, off-speed, change-ups and fast balls.



JV Defensive Player went to Rob Carboneau. Carboneau plays short stop and Day said he had quick feet and quick hands.



Most Improved Player went to Taylor Abercrombie at catcher, which is one of the most overlooked positions on every baseball team. The catcher works behind the plate during pitching and batting practice, in the bull pens and in the games.



The JV Head (hustle, effort, attitude and desire) went to Jon Bell.

The JV Tenth Man Award went to Mark Radford.



The JV Academic Award went to Taylor Abercrombie with a 3.9 GPA.

Head Baseball Coach Ronnie Gray then took the podium and passed out the letterman awards. There were two three-year letterman, Tyler Chambliss and Clint Hale.

Second-year letterman included D.J. Montgomery, Andrew Bass, Brad Davis, Wade Skinner, Garrett Brown and Ryan Stovall.



First-year letterman were Jon Marrero, Don Wainwright, William Yanossy, Rheed Baldwin and Taylor Abercrombie.



Winning Academic Underclassman was Rheed Baldwin with a 4.0.

Winning the Upper Classman Academic Award was Garrett Brown with a 3.9.

Pitcher of the Year for varsity went to Brad Davis. Davis went undefeated this year 8-0 and undefeated for his entire high school career at 13-0. He threw 60 strikeouts this season.

“Pitching is the one constant at Suwannee High,” Gray said. “The success of our program is based on pitching.”



Defensive Player of the Year went to Jon Marrero. Marrero transferred into Suwannee High this year and added a lot to the Bulldog team.



Gray said this was the greatest defensive team Suwannee has ever had. “We made 23 errors in 25 games. No one made any mistakes,” Gray said.



Marrero committed only four errors all year playing mid-field/second base.

Offensive Player of the Year went to Ryan Stovall. Stovall led the team with a 360 batting average. He had 23 RBI’s and made only six errors at short stop a position that requires a lot of ball handling.



The varsity HEAD Award went to Tyler Chambliss. Chambliss will be going off to play ball at FSU on a scholarship next year.



Most Improved Player went to Clint Hale. According to Gray, Hale became tougher and more aggressive as a player this year. He had a 433 batting average, the team’s highest. Last year he hit 250. Hale is a competent left-handed pitcher that Suwannee counted on.



The Tenth Man Award went to Don Wainwright.



“Wainwright has a lot of potential on the mound. He became a starting center fielder and hit well over 350.”



The last award passed out was the Coach’s Achievement Award. There is a plaque with the names of all the winners of this award on it in the field house. It’s a very prestigious award for any Suwannee High baseball player and this year’s award went to Tyler Chambliss.



Regular season Bulldog baseball is over for this year. But all you baseball junkies will be pleased to know there will be summer baseball to look forward to. Look for more info on schedules and dates in your Suwannee Democrat.



Janet Schrader may be reached by calling 1/386/362-1734 ext. 132 or by e-mail at janet.schrader@gaflnews.com.