By Gary Curreri

There will be no Class 5A state title for Pompano Beach High School this season.

The Golden Tornadoes, which had won back-to-back District 14-5A titles and fell in last year’s state championship game, came up short in this year’s district final to North Broward Prep (9-4) and followed that loss up with a 3-2 setback on the road against Ft. Pierce Lincoln Park.

Two days following the loss, Pompano High School Manager Joe Giummule announced he was stepping down after four seasons at the helm. Giummule went 76-29 over four seasons leading Pompano to two district championships, three regional appearances – one which led to a state appearance and another to regional finals.

The year before Giummule took over, the Golden Tornadoes were 8-15. They went 14-10 in 2015; 20-7 in 2016, 24-4 last season and 18-8 this past year.

“I’d like to thank Coach (Jason) Frey for giving me the opportunity to coach at Pompano,” Giummule said. “We turned an academic magnet program where kids applied because of school to a school kids applied to be part of state-ranked baseball program.”

He cited teaching and coaching at different schools as the primary reason for resigning. Giummule teaches middle-school reading at Cross Creek, a K-12 emotional behavioral disability school in Pompano. He would commute after school to coach the Golden Tornadoes. He would still like to coach baseball in Broward County if he can find a school with a teaching position.

“I’ve made some great friends, coached some great players and I can leave knowing I left the Pompano baseball in a better place,” Giummule added. “Unfortunately, Pompano was unable to get me a teaching job during my four years as a coach.”

The Tornadoes were unable to overcome injuries to their top two pitchers – ace Trevor Kniskern (Pepperdine signee) and Chase Costello (LSU) down the stretch. Kniskern battled a back injury, while Costello injured his pitching hand sliding into second base.

Mike Schuler (FAU signee) stepped in and filled the void down the stretch and fared well. Schuler tossed a complete-game in the loss to Lincoln Park. He gave up three unearned runs in the game and scattered four hits.

Schuler also went the distance in a complete-game, one-hit win over Coral Springs Charter School. Schuler fanned eight and didn’t allow an earned run in the 3-1 win over the Panthers.

Shuler finished the season with a 4-2 record with two saves and a 1.35 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. He led the team with three complete games. He led the team with 12 stolen bases and 32 runs scored to go a long with a .337 BA.

Kniskern led the team with a .400 BA, was second in stolen bases and third in runs scored with 26. He also had a team-leading 27 RBI and was second in HRs with three. Kniskern was 5-1 this season with a 1.51 ERA and 64 Ks in 37 innings.

By Gary Curreri

After putting “pen to paper” five Pompano Beach High School seniors are hoping to make even more history.

Five baseball players from the school recently became the first early signees from the school to ink national letters-of-intent with Division 1 college programs.

Trevor Kniskern, who was named the Dairy Farmers Player of the Year in Class 5A, led the way signing with Pepperdine, while Dillon Abell (University of New Orleans), Chris Ajello (Asbury College), Chase Costello (Louisiana State University) and Mike Schuler (Florida Atlantic University) also signed to play at the next level during national early signing day in the school’s auditorium earlier this month.

The fab five from Pompano Beach have been setting records and making history since they arrived and hope to bring a state championship back to the school this season. The team came up a run short against Jacksonville Bolles in the Class 5A state semifinal game.

“This is crazy,” said Kniskern, who helped Pompano Beach win their first ever regional final and reach the state’s final four. “I have been looking forward to this day my whole life. Ever since I started to play baseball, I always thought I have to make it to college and it is finally here. It is definitely a weight off your shoulders.

“I am banking on going to school,” said the 17-year-old from Lighthouse Point. “I don’t think my draft stock is that high, but we will see in three years. It should be up there.”

Kniskern said he has learned a lot of communication skills with the team and said, “When I was talking to all of the different coaches for colleges, I got to work on my speaking abilities. I’ve learned a lot.”

Being exposed to a lot of tight situations on the mound, where he is the team’s ace, has helped in close ballgames. He finished 11-1 last season on the hill for the Tornadoes.

“I have been able to channel my nervousness to do well on the field,” Kniskern said. “Last year, we fell short and we are going to use that as motivation to keep it going and stay focused on the goal and that is to win a state championship, and win the first ever one for Pompano Beach High School. I am very proud of this group of guys. we have been making history together and it is really exciting to be doing all of this with them.”

“These are the most we’ve had up on this stage at one time on this day,” said Pompano Beach Athletic Director Jason Frey, as he addressed friends, family, peers and others during the 40-minute ceremony. He noted that the players on stage also excel in the classroom with a 3.75 combined cumulative GPA.

Pompano Beach’s Costello, 17, said he hardly slept the night before signing day. Ironic, since he said he’s dreamed of the moment ever since he started playing.

“I was very anxious for this day to come,” Costello said. “Today was just amazing. It just came up so quick. I loved it. I loved every minute of it.”

Ajello joked of his recruiting trip to the Christian school.

“It was a little weird because everyone was really nice,” Ajello said with a laugh. “One of my coaches, who played for Coach Giummule, said, ‘don’t worry about it, you’ll get used to it.’”

The biggest reaction and laughter of the morning came from Abell as he recounted the singing on the bus ride home after winning the regional title last year in addition to his reasons for his college choice.

“I chose them (New Orleans) because they gave me the best offer,” Abell said, “and I wanted to be away from home.”

Two years ago, the Tornados won their first district title in 55 years and now have won two straight. The team won their first regional championship and also advanced to the state final four for the first time in school history.

“It’s the first time we have ever had any early signees,” Giummule said. “This is the group I came in with, so that makes it a little more special. I came in with these guys and all five of these guys who have signed have been in the program all four years. It is all about them, their families and their dreams coming true.

“Today is a sweet day and I will worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” Giummule said of the pending graduations of the players after the season. “A lot of hard work was put into this and I thank my booster club for making sure that this was set up and organized. I am appreciative of them. It is hard for their families. Good families produce good kids and this is the product of a good upbringing.”

The group was among the thousands of senior athletes around the country to sign their national letters-of-intent. Only football, soccer and men’s water polo athletes could not sign during the early signing period.

By Gary Curreri

Pompano Beach baseball coach Joe Giummule said pitching and defense was his team’s strong suit as they advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals for the first time in school history.

Golden Tornadoes’ junior pitcher Trevor Kniskern took the mound against defending state champion Jacksonville Bolles and allowed the first two batters to score before settling down and pitched a gem.

Unfortunately for Kniskern and his teammates, Bolles went on to secure a 2-1 victory over Pompano Beach and then dispatched Bishop Moore, 7-2 in the title game the following day at Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers to capture their second straight state championship. It was also Kniskern’s first setback in 12 decisions.

“They gave us a good right jab in the first inning,” Giummule said. “We weathered the storm, and I guess we just ran out of gas.”

Kniskern gave up all three of his hits to the first five batters he faced – good for two Bolles runs – but retired 14 consecutive batters from the end of the first to the sixth inning.

Bolles’ Max Ferguson and Austin Knight, both Tennessee commits, reached on a single and double, respectively. Ferguson scored on an RBI groundout by Brendon O’Neil, and a ground rule double by University of Virginia commit Hunter Barco double drove in Knight.

“I felt a little awkward [in the first inning],” said Kniskern, a Pepperdine commit. “Their whole lineup is pretty decent. I just had to work through the count, start off strong – changeup, fastball – work ahead. That first inning was a little bumpy, and after that I was settling in.”

The Tornadoes (24-4) got a run back in the second when senior left fielder Austin Carney doubled down the left field line to score junior shortstop Chase Costello.

Giummule said his team practiced coming from behind and winning a state championship since the first day of practice, so when the Tornadoes came up in the bottom of the seventh, he was confident.

The Tornadoes threatened in the bottom of the seventh as pinch hitter Alex Skirvin walked and senior catcher Jeremy Davis singled down the left field line and advanced to second on the throw to third base putting the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Pompano junior center fielder Mike Schuler, who earlier in the game made a diving catch in center field to keep the game close, hit a slow chopper up the middle that Ferguson handled and threw to first to get him by a step and end the game.

“The second baseman made a helluva play and he was out by half a step,” Giummule said. “Sometimes baseball isn’t fair. We deserved to win the game. We made tremendous play after tremendous play, as did they. We were just on the short end of the stick today.”

The Tornadoes reached states for the first time by knocking off powerhouse Miami Pace 9-0 in a regional final before other regional wins over Cardinal Gibbons and LaBelle. Pompano Beach is only three years removed from a stretch of four consecutive losing seasons.

Giummule believes his team can reach the state championship game next year.

“If things go as they have in the past, we should be right back in this spot next year,” he said. “From that starting line-up, we lose two starters, our catcher and our left fielder and we return our juniors and a lot of our pitching staff. You got to have some breaks and you got to stay healthy and there is no doubt in my mind that we will be back in this position. We just have to stay healthy.”

By Gary Curreri

When the Pompano Beach High School baseball team kicked off the season, coach Joe Giummule believed his team was good enough to return to the Class 3A regional championship.

The team was ousted 9-3 by Monsignor Pace last year in the Regional championship game, and Giummuli is hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself. With an 8-4 win over Cardinal Gibbons in the Region 4-5A semifinal game on Tuesday, Pompano and Pace are on a collision course set for Tuesday in Miami.

“They are really a talented team,” said Pompano Beach coach Joe Giummule, who is chasing his first regional title in four tries. This is his second attempt at Pompano. He was an assistant at Deerfield Beach (2002) and Taravella (2001) when those squads reached the regional finals.

 Starting pitcher Trevor Kniskern got the win for the Tornadoes against Cardinal Gibbons as he went six innings and gave up just one walk and two hits while fanning 10 Chiefs’ batters.

The right-handed junior also helped his own cause with a two-out double and scored on a Chase Costello single. Costello, who ended the day 2 for 3 with three RBIs, came around to score on an Austin Carney base hit.

 Pompano Beach added a pair of runs in the third, fourth and sixth. Costello, Mike Schuler and Chris Ajello had two hits each. Ajello also scored three times.

“We just wanted to put the pressure on their defense,” said head coach Joe Giummuli, in his third year at Pompano. “We wanted to get things moving.”

Now, his team sets its sights on its second straight regional final game, against host Miami Pace next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Pompano Beach (26-3) has outscored the opposition 193-69 this season and takes on a Spartans (26-5-1) team equally as dangerous as they have outscored its opponents 314-116. Pace knocked Highlands Christian out of the regional finals last season.

Highlands Christian falls

Daniel Malay led Highlands Christian Academy with a two-run home run in the Region 4-3A final contest, while going 1-2 at the plate for the Knights in a 6-5 loss to Archbishop Carroll.

The Knights, which led 5-0 in the game, allowed six runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, ended the season at 10-13. Archbishop Carroll improved to 26-2 with the won.

PBMGA seeks members

Pompano Beach Men’s Golf Association welcomes new members of all playing levels to their Wednesday tournaments. Dues are $35 per year. Wednesday tournament greens fees are discounted. They alternate playing the Pines and Palms Courses.  There is a prize pool fee of $5 when you participate in the weekly tournament.  Additional information may be found on the website at http://www.pbmga.com.