Blaze Alexander, Bishop Verot
Michael Matter, 18, Canterbury School, All Area (2016)
Anthony Churlin, Island Coast, Baseball
Michael Richey, Bishop Verot, baseball
Ben Specht, ECS
Ryan Stewart, Cypress Lake
Christian Velez, Mariner
Josh Winckowski, Estero
Tyler Shuck, Canterbury
Sam Keating, Canterbury
Bryce Van Horn, Ida Baker
Chris Schrowe, Ida Baker
How we select All-Area teams
The News-Press All-Area Baseball Player of the Year finalists.
At the conclusion of each high school season, The News-Press staff sends area coaches a nomination form to select and rank players for our All-Area first teams and to nominate athletes for second team and honorable mention.
A combination of The News-Press’ research and the coaches’ player rankings lead to the teams being selected and three athletes are named finalists for player of the year. The three finalists are invited to The News-Press All-Area Stars Banquet to be held Tuesday, May 31 at Germain Arena in Estero where the players of the year will be announced.
Player of the Year finalists
Michael Richey
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Senior
Highlights: The catcher hit .418 with two home runs and 27 RBI to lead the Vikings to District 4A-5 and Region 4A-3 titles and the Class 4A state championship game over the last two months of the season. The Ball State signee sported a .983 fielding percentage behind the plate.
Michael Matter
School: Canterbury
Year: Senior
Highlights: The Belmont University signee’s bat guided Canterbury to a 31-1 record, a Class 3A state title and a national ranking. He sported a .368 batting average with a home run, 18 RBI and 30 runs scored. On the mound, he was 3-0 in 15 appearances and struck out 36 over just 25 innings.
Anthony Churlin
School: Island Coast
Year: Senior
Highlights: The University of Central Florida recruit boasted a .438 average with three home runs and 15 RBI and scored 32 runs. The outfielder was 10-for-10 in stolen bases for 13-13 Island Coast.
First team
Second team
Bryan Eberle, Canterbury
Mike Marcelak, ECS
Felix Camacho, Island Coast
Luke Endsley, Ida Baker
Gunnar Byrd, Bishop Verot
Cooper Swanson, Canterbury
Gus Cunningham, Canterbury
Trevor Cramer, Bishop Verot
Christian Menendez, Ida Baker
Christian Proffitt, Ida Baker
Carter Smith, Canterbury
Andrew Arsenault, Mariner
Coach of the Year
Frank Turco, Canterbury
Frank Turco
School: Canterbury
Highlights: Turco has taken the Cougars to the state Final Four the last two years and broke through this season with a 2-1 win in 11 innings over Tallahassee Maclay and followed with a 6-0 win over Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic in the Class 3A final, winning the program’s first state championship. Canterbury finished 31-1 with a top-10 national ranking by MaxPreps.
Honorable mention
Bishop Verot: Carson Smith, Alex Irwin
Cape Coral: Spencer Roach, Matt McDade
Canterbury: Jake Crandon
Cypress Lake: Austin Hayman, Janmikell Bastardo
Dunbar: Andres Torres, Greg Dominguez
East Lee County: Dariel Garcia, Tyler Wade
Estero: Brody Howe, Kevin Long
Evangelical Christian: Matt Soletti, Jacob Lewis
Gateway: Jonathon Stockhausen, Nicholas Wiltgen
Ida Baker: Dillon Lewis
Island Coast: Miguel Vidal, Alex Perez
LaBelle: Matthew Price, Larry Rodriguez
Lehigh: Alejandro Olivert, Alier Martinez
Mariner: Mason Eicher, Justin Waibel
North Fort Myers: Peyton Bourque, Garrett Morgan
Oasis: Kevin Newton, Nick Oliveira
Riverdale: Tyler Prell, Tyler Yeager
South Fort Myers: Justin Hughes, Patrick Doyle
Southwest Florida Christian Academy: Max Rippl, Mike Gerwitz