For the second consecutive year, Buchholz baseball coach Ron Brooks finished second in the voting for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 6A Coach of the Year.
Brooks, who recently stepped down as both baseball coach and athletics director, led the Bobcats to their second straight state championship game appearance.
Buchholz defeated Wharton (Tampa), 3-0, on May 16 in the FHSAA Class 6A State Semifinals at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, but lost to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), 8-3, in the title game the next day.
The Bobcats (33-3) set a program record for victories, and they had the most wins in the state regardless of classification.
Joe Wardlow of St. Thomas Aquinas was named the Class 6A Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to a 29-6 record and the school’s first state baseball title since 2018. He defeated Brooks in total voting points, 142-129.
Brooks was one of two baseball coaches to be selected in the top three of the voting for his class.
Trenton coach Chris Marlo finished third in the voting (71 points) for the Rural Class Coach of the Year behind state champion Holmes County (Bonifay) coach Jeromy Powell (195 points) and state runner-up Lafayette (Mayo) coach Tim Hanson (112).
The Tigers advanced to their second straight final four under Marlo before losing to Lafayette, 5-1, in the FHSAA Rural State Semifinals to finish the season 24-5.
Oak Hall School’s Gavin Jones and Trenton’s Jordan Marlo finished third in the voting for top overall player in their respective classifications.
Jones (53 points) was third in Class 1A behind Brayden Harris (151 points) of St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) and Gabriel Blaxburg (82 points) of Canterbury (Fort Myers) after leading the Eagles (9-11) with a .559 batting average and a .612 on base percentage.
The Santa Fe College signee also led OHS in hits (38), doubles (11), triples (3), home runs (4), runs batted in (35) and slugging percentage (.985).
Jordan Marlo finished third (60 points) behind Bradley Garrett of Holmes County (147 points) and Hyatt Ricardson of Lafayette (135 points).
The University of West Georgia signee led the Tigers with a .513 batting average and a .652 OBP.
He also led Trenton in runs scored (38) and slugging percentage (.763), and he was second on the team in hits (39), doubles (10), and home runs (3), and was third with 20 stolen bases and a .945 fielding percentage.
Here are the seven individual class finalists for the 2025 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Baseball and Baseball Coach of the Year have been announced following balloting by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and prep media representatives.
Every finalist was the leading vote-getter in his classification, making each one the Player of the Year or Coach of the Year in his class.
The two overall winners will be announced on Monday, June 9, following a final round of balloting by coaches and media.
The following are the 2025 Mr. Baseball Award finalists:
Gio Rojas, Junior, Pitcher, Stoneman Douglas (Parkland), Class 7A Player of the Year
Led his squad to the state title with a 12-0 record. Posted a 0.72 ERA in 68 innings pitched with 119 strikeouts and 16 walks. He had a .388 batting average with 24 runs scored and 32 runs batted in. Committed to the University of Miami.
Zack Malvasio, Senior, Outfield, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), Class 6A Player of the Year
Helped his team to the Class 6A title by hitting .414 with 16 doubles, 16 home runs, 45 runs scored and 48 runs batted in. Signed with the University of Central Florida.
Danny Machado, Senior, Shortstop, Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale), Class 5A Player of the Year
Helped his squad to a 19-13 record by hitting .442 with 6 doubles, 5 home runs, 36 runs scored, 20 runs batted in and 16 stolen bases. Signed with Florida Atlantic University.
Cooper Moss, Senior, Pitcher/Third Baseman, Arnold (Panama City Beach), Class 4A Player of the Year
Led his team to the state final four with a 7-2 record, a 0.63 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 78 innings pitched. He had a .390 batting average with 23 runs scored and 23 runs batted in. Signed with the University of Florida.
Charlie Wilcox, Senior, Pitcher, South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach), Class 3A Player of the Year
Helped his team to a Class 3A state runner-up finish with an 8-1 record and a 1.31 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. He hit .375 with 16 runs scored and 24 runs batted in. Signed with Georgia Tech.
Aaron Watson, Senior, Pitcher, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville), Class 2A Player of the Year
Helped his team to a Class 2A state runner-up finish with an 8-0 record and a 0.59 ERA with 119 strikeouts and 13 walks in 72 innings pitched. Committed to the University of Virginia.
Brayden Harris, Junior, Pitcher/Outfielder, St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park), Class 1A Player of the Year
Helped his team to a state runner-up finish with an 11-0 record and a 0.55 ERA with 149 strikeouts and 23 walks in 76 innings pitched. Hit .391 with 20 runs scored and 27 runs batted in. Committed to Florida State University.
Bradley Garrett, Senior, Pitcher, Holmes County (Bonifay), Rural Class Player of the Year
Helped his team to the Rural Class state title with an 8-2 record and a 1.15 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched. Hit .432 with 29 runs scored and 28 runs batted in. Signed with Northwest Florida State College.
The following are the 2025 Baseball Coach of the Year finalists:
Todd Fitz-Gerald, Stoneman Douglas, Class 7A Coach of the Year
Led his squad to a 31-2 record and a fifth straight Class 7A state title.
Joe Wardlow, St. Thomas Aquinas, Class 6A Coach of the Year
Led his squad to a 29-6 record and the school’s first state baseball title since 2018.
Humberto Bencomo, Mater Academy, Class 5A Coach of the Year
Led his team to a 27-6 record and the school’s first state baseball title since 2014.
Bruce Aven, American Heritage (Plantation), Class 4A Coach of the Year
In his second coaching stint at American Heritage, Aven finished as the 2024 state runner-up, and in 2025 led the program to the state title with a 29-6 record, Aven’s second state championship (2012) with the Patriots.
David Fanshawe, Miami Springs, Class 3A Coach of the Year
Led his team to a 28-3 record and the Class 3A state championship, the school’s first state title.
Alan Kunkel, The First Academy (Orlando), Class 2A Coach of the Year
In his first year at TFA, Kunkel led his team to a 30-4 record and the Class 2A state title, adding to a pair of state championships (2016 and 2018) Kunkel won as head coach at Calvary Christian in Ft. Lauderdale.
Frank Turco, Canterbury (Fort Myers), Class 1A Coach of the Year
Led his team to a 28-11 record and the Class 1A state title, the school’s first state championship since Turco led the program to three straight state titles from 2016-18.
Jeromy Powell, Holmes County (Bonifay), Rural Class Coach of the Year
Led his squad to a 25-4 record and the first-ever Rural Class state championship. It was Powell’s second state title after winning the Class 1A championship in 2022.