Douglas' Rojas, Aquinas' Malvasio are Broward 7A-5A Baseball Players of the Year
St. Thomas Aquinas' Zachary Malvasio spearheaded one of the best hitting seasons for a team in county history, led by his own remarkable senior campaign.
Their efforts helped lead their respective teams to state championships.
Rojas, a junior, is therefore the Miami Herald's Broward County Baseball Pitcher of the Year for Classes 7A-5A.
And Malvasio, a power-hitting outfielder, is the Broward 7A-5A Baseball Player of the Year.
Rojas, a University of Miami commit, helped Douglas make history as the first team in Florida to win five consecutive state championships.
At a school already rich in tradition when it comes to dominant pitchers, Rojas stood out.
A 6-4, 190-pound lefty, Rojas was nearly unhittable at times, going 12-0 with 120 strikeouts and only 16 walks in 68 innings and compiling an 0.72 ERA.
Rojas' performances often helped Douglas navigate through tough stretches of the regular season as the Eagles found their footing and put together another impressive march to a championship.
'It's a once in a lifetime chance you get to do that. It's a feeling you can't re-create,' Rojas said about being part of a historic state title streak. 'It's only in that moment that you can experience something like that.'
Rojas worked his way back from an arm injury, which kept him from pitching during his sophomore season. But this year, even as he hit .375 with two home runs, eight doubles and 32 RBI, Rojas didn't miss a beat on the mound. Rojas threw a no-hitter against Flanagan and had four more one-hitters and three more games allowing two hits. The future potential early MLB Draft pick is committed to continuing to develop his game.
'I really work on my focus on the mound and try to stay consistent with it whether I'm in the bullpen, or playing catch, I just try to keep everything consistent,' Rojas said. 'This offseason, I'll be working more, trying to improve off this past season.'
The same can be said for Malvasio, who is itching to get to Orlando and join UCF where he will play his college ball this fall.
Malvasio hit .414 this season and a staggering 16 home runs as the key cog in a prolific Aquinas lineup, which hit 68 home runs overall.
'One of my favorite parts about this year was that up and down our lineup, we had studs,' Malvasio said. 'If one didn't get it done, the other did. I always got four or five at-bats per game and that's how you knew we were always scoring runs.'
Malvasio wasn't just about power at the plate, though. His consistent bat also produced 16 doubles and 48 RBI overall.
'It all started with the work in the offseason, in the weight room, outside of practice,' Malvasio said. 'I just had the discipline to keep going.'
Malvasio's efforts helped the Raiders secure their first state championship since 2018 and the program's fourth overall.
'It was an incredible ride from the start in the fall. To have that core returning, we all pushed each other and had the focus of winning a state title,' Malvasio said. 'We took it all pitch by pitch, game by game and stuck to the fundamentals and our team chemistry was off the charts. Everybody was together and wanted to win.'
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USA Today
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You have to feel for Joe Douglas. Unless you think Joe Douglas deserved this. He almost certainly deserved better … and yet he made his bed. Such is the enigma wrapped in a riddle that general managers of the New York Jets – or former ones in Douglas' case – must try to decipher. Up now? Rookie GM Darren Mougey, who's joined at the hip with rookie head coach Aaron Glenn – a tandem already providing significant indicators that they're learning from the mistakes of Douglas and his predecessors (and peers) while reaping the fruits of his more productive labor. Mougey spent the past three seasons as the assistant general manager of the Denver Broncos, possessing a front-row seat to the disastrous trade and extension for Russell Wilson and then the near-instant overhaul under coach Sean Payton, who had the team in the playoffs with rookie quarterback Bo Nix last season. Glenn? 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USA Today
5 days ago
- USA Today
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You have to feel for Joe Douglas. Unless you think Joe Douglas deserved this. He almost certainly deserved better … and yet he made his bed. Such is the enigma wrapped in a riddle that general managers of the New York Jets – or former ones in Douglas' case – must try to decipher. Up now? Rookie GM Darren Mougey, who's joined at the hip with rookie head coach Aaron Glenn – a tandem already providing significant indicators that they're learning from the mistakes of Douglas and his predecessors (and peers) while reaping the fruits of his more productive labor. Mougey spent the past three seasons as the assistant general manager of the Denver Broncos, possessing a front-row seat to the disastrous trade and extension for Russell Wilson and then the near-instant overhaul under Sean Payton, who had the team in the playoffs with rookie quarterback Bo Nix last season. Glenn? He came to Detroit with kneecap-biting rookie coach Dan Campbell in 2021 and helped him build an ascendent powerhouse by imbuing a culture that players invested into while identifying and rewarding those who emerged as franchise cornerstones or potential ones. And what are we seeing from the Jets now? Things atypical of the New York Jets. Just this week, they extended the contracts of wideout Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner, arguably the club's hardest-working, most marketable and (go figure) most talented players. And they did so not at the last minute but as soon as the duo – each won Rookie of the Year honors on their respective sides of the ball in 2022, when they were drafted by Douglas – became extension-eligible this year. The significance extends to numerous levels. Paying players obviously trending toward superstardom early is a Lions-type move, not a Jets-type move. Heck, it's a Howie Roseman-level move, and it's fair to say that the Philadelphia Eagles' mastermind architect is currently the league's top executive. And, sure, Gardner is now atop the financial pyramid for corners with a four-year, $120.4 million pact, but only incrementally so after it was quickly beginning to escalate in the aftermath of deals signed by Patrick Surtain II, Jaycee Horn and Derek Stingley II. Wilson (4 years, $130 million) is a veritable bargain at $32.5 million per year once his extension, like Gardner's, takes effect in 2027 – especially given how the receiver market has exploded, Ja'Marr Chase becoming the first to reel in a deal averaging more than $40 million in March. It's also indicative of the foundation that's taking shape when a pair of rising stars, both about to turn 25, fully buy into it before Glenn has coached a game and want to be linchpins of a long-hapless franchise that's sorely lacked them for most of the past 14 seasons – which coincides with the NFL's longest active playoff drought. 'Yup, Jets green has been running through me since the day they drafted me. Despite the ups and downs, the faith is mutual,' Wilson posted to his X account Tuesday. '(That) means the world to me. Excited to start a new version of the chase next week.' Gardner posted this: 'I appreciate the Jets organization for believing in me, my teammates for the blood, sweat, & tears we put in, and JETS NATION... I appreciate y'all supporting me.' The best football teams are typically helmed by players who work the hardest and are the most talented. When they're also young and willing to lead, a Lombardi jackpot just might follow. Furthermore, the deals for Gardner and Wilson not only tie them to the Jets for the next six seasons but will also provide Mougey the financial flexibility to continue augmenting the roster in the future. And there should be a lot of runway to draft, develop and sign players and/or make targeted forays into free agency. Aside from Wilson and Gardner, Pro Bowl defensive lineman Quinnen Williams is the only other first-rounder the Jets have taken in the last 13 years who's signed a second contract with the team. Pass rusher Jermaine Johnson and guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, also Round 1 choices by Douglas, could be next if they can stay healthy while regularly providing the top-tier abilities they've flashed in past seasons. (One other nod to Douglas. He had the foresight to trade safety Jamal Adams, whom he didn't draft, in 2020 and somehow got two first-round picks in return from the Seattle Seahawks, selections that basically brought Vera-Tucker and Wilson into the building.) But, as we know, Douglas, fired last November in the midst of a bitterly disappointing 2024 campaign, didn't prove to be the guy to end a championship drought that extends back to the legendary 1968 team. Part of that was due to circumstances beyond his control, collateral damage typical of the New York market – and longtime owner Woody Johnson's club specifically – even if Douglas was never one who provided much grist for the notorious media mill. However Glenn, a first-round pick of the Jets in 1994 and a topflight corner for them for eight years, understands his environs. Seemingly the anti-Rex Ryan, he's been all bite and no bark so far, largely eliminating the leaks and headlines that tend to swirl around this team – something that former quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom Glenn wasted little time firing (per Rodgers himself), claimed was an important objective in Florham Park … even if the four-time league MVP hardly practiced what he preached. Ah, yes, Rodgers. And Zach Wilson. And Sam Darnold. All reminders of Douglas' fatal flaw: failure to identify and obtain the franchise quarterback this franchise has been seeking five decades on from Hall of Famer Joe Namath's heyday. Douglas, who inherited Darnold when he was hired in 2019, should have immediately put the players, coaches and infrastructure around an obviously talented player rather than maroon him on a talent- and support-devoid island, not to be confused with Revis Island. Douglas should have provided Darnold with direct support by drafting Chase or offensive tackle Penei Sewell – ironically, he became a mainstay of the Lions' rebuild with Glenn – in 2021 rather than falling in love with Zach Wilson. (And make no mistake, I wrote the same thing with foresight, not hindsight, that year.) Instead, Douglas went for Zach Wilson, who put on a show at his BYU pro day four years ago but couldn't beat Coastal Carolina when it counted nor do much of anything in right in the NFL – despite having better talent and coaches around him than did Darnold, whom Douglas exported to the Carolina Panthers. Then, after two years of the Zach Wilson Experience – naturally, the headlines he generated off the field created a bigger stir than anything he did on it – Douglas was compelled, by choice or order, to trade for Rodgers in 2023. You know the rest. Again, the Jets don't play a game that counts for another 53 days. But the 53-man roster seems to be shaping up nicely as Mougey and Glenn reinvest in Douglas' wins while seemingly accruing some of their own after crafting a draft class that was almost universally praised in April. That followed the fairly high-reward, low-risk signing of quarterback Justin Fields in March. 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For now, things are not necessarily quiet around the Jets as training camp approaches and the new money flies around while Glenn and Mougey literally take care of business. But, as Douglas could surely tell you, that's hardly business as usual in these parts. All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.
USA Today
7 days ago
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Notre Dame ‘27 recruit Julius Jones Jr. will play in the ‘26 Under Armour All-America game
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