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Welcome to the Mills Godwin Baseball Program
Mills Godwin Baseball has a strong tradition of competitive baseball excellence. We stress team baseball and a "We over me" attitude. Godwin High School has won 2 State Championships (1987 and 1999), 9 Central Region Championships and 16 District Championships and over 485 wins since 1982 (487-152 .762 winning percentage). Numerous players have gone on to play at the college and professional level. We hope you enjoy our web site and we hope to see you at a Godwin Baseball game in the future. This site is not affliated with Godwin High School and is maintained by Coach John Marano.
America the Beautiful
Wednesday, October 1
Adam Taylor, Godwin Baseball Alum 1995 Get's Head Coaching Job at Franklin and Marshall College
Godwin Baseball Alumnus, Adam Taylor has been named the head baseball coach at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. F & M College is a Division 3 school in the the Centennial Conference. Adam played shortstop and pitched(1993-1995) while leading the Godwin Eagles to 3 Colonial District Championships and 2 Central Region Championships during his 3 years on the varsity. The biography below details his career as a player and coach. Adam is a great college recruiter and a student of the game. He is one of the most intelligent baseball players ever to wear the Godwin Baseball uniform. His knowledge of the game, his experience and his strong work ethic will enable him to be very successful as a college head coach. Adam joins Billy Berry as former Godwin Baseball players who have gone on to become college head coaches. Coach Berry is the head at Tennessee Weslayan College in Athens, Tennessee. The Godwin Baseball program congratulates Adam and his wife Julie on this new position and wish them much success! Way to go Adam! Adam Taylor Adam Taylor was named the College’s 46th baseball coach on October 1, 2008. He takes over the program after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at William & Mary. “There was no shortage of quality candidates for this position,” said Epps. “When it came down to it, Coach Taylor was the perfect fit for both the College and our program. He has a proven record of attracting talented ballplayers to academically rigorous institutions at all levels and we are confident that he will capitalize on the program’s current upward trajectory.” Working closely with William & Mary’s catchers and hitters, Taylor was instrumental in the Tribe’s successes over the past two seasons, as the squad led the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in team batting average in 2007 (.319) and 2008 (.343). W&M led the CAA in 2008 in doubles (155), triples (17), and total extra base hits (247). The Tribe finished third in home runs with 75 round trips. No CAA team struck out less in 2008 than William & Mary. Additionally, Taylor helped guide a number of individual players to outstanding seasons. The Tribe produced six American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-East Region honorees and a pair of All-Americans during Taylor’s stint. Highlighting this list was All-American third baseman Greg Sexton, who finished the season ranked second nationally with a .455 batting average. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 10th round last summer, Sexton was honored as the CAA Co-Player of the Year and was selected to five All-America teams. Taylor takes over an F&M program that has appeared in all but one Centennial Conference Championship (CC) Tournament since the 2002 season. The Diplomats captured the CC crown in 2005 and 2006, and sat at the top of the regular season standings in 2007. F&M has also topped the 20-win plateau in five of the past seven seasons. The Ivy League has taken notice of the Diplomats’ recent successes with Taylor’s immediate predecessors, Brett Boretti (Columbia) and Bill Walkenbach (Cornell) having been scooped up by Ivy institutions. "It is an honor to be named the next Head Baseball Coach at Franklin & Marshall College.” Said Taylor. “Coach Walkenbach did a tremendous job leading this program. I am looking forward to the challenge of continuing to build on the rich baseball tradition here at F&M." Taylor joined the Tribe staff in 2005 after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Richmond, where he worked primarily with the outfielders and headed the Spiders’ recruiting. During the 2003 season, Taylor helped lead the Spiders to a 48-13 record, an A-10 Conference West Division Championship, an A-10 Conference Tournament Championship and a No. 2 seed in the Palo Alto Regional at Stanford University. Richmond was ranked as high as No. 9 in the national polls in the 2003 season. During Taylor’s tenure at Richmond, the Spiders had 10 players drafted in the MLB Amateur Draft, and he was responsible for recruiting five players who were either drafted out of high school or have been drafted since his departure. Prior to working with the UR program, Taylor was the assistant coach at Guilford College in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) for two seasons and Greensboro College one year. At Guilford, Taylor was responsible for hitting, infield defense instruction and recruiting. In 2002, the Quakers finished with a 30-14 record. During his tenure at Greensboro, Taylor served as a baseball assistant and strength and conditioning coach. During the summer of 2002, Taylor served as an assistant coach for the Winchester Royals of the prestigious Valley Baseball League. While with the Royals, Taylor coached Kevin Kouzmanoff, the starting third baseman for the San Diego Padres. Taylor, a native of Richmond, Va. and graduate of Mills Godwin High School, lettered four years as a third baseman at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. He garnered Virginia Sports Information Directors’ All-State honors as a junior before earning his bachelor’s degree in economics and business in 1999.
Wednesday, September 10
Honoring the 1999 State Championship Team in 2009
The Godwin Baseball program will hold a reunion of the 1999 State Championship team during the 2009 season. At a game still to be determined we hope to have all the players from that team to return to Godwin for a 10 year reunion. That was indeed a special Godwin Baseball team. That team set most of the offensive records currently held. Defensively it featured the best double play tandem ever with Tripp Vint at shortstop and Robbie Gragnani at second base. The 1999 State AAA player of the Year, Tommy Edelblut finished his career with 28 wins in 3 seasons. In a total team effort the Godwin Eagles went thru the 3 game state tournament and recorded 3 shut outs, a feat never before accomplished at the state level.
We need all players from the 1999 State Championship team to contact Coach Marano so we can get your address, phone number and other vital information. Understandably some players will be harder to find that others so if you know the whereabouts of a former teammate please let us know. We hope EVERY player from that team will be a part of this 10 year reunion. You can contact Coach Marano at Godwin High or via email. We look forward to hearing from one of the most outstanding teams to ever grace the field at Godwin High School.
Contact Coach Marano at
Mills Godwin High School, 2101 Pump Road, Richmond, Va. 23238 804.750.2600, coachjam24@aol.com
Tuesday, August 12
Fornataro Promoted by Cardinals
Eric Fornataro, Godwin Baseball Class of 2006 and June 2008 MLB draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals has been promoted from the Rookie League Gulf Coast Cardinals to the Appy League Johnson City Tennessee Cardinals. Eric posted a 2-2 record with a 1.74 ERA in the GCL striking out 19 in just over 30 innings. Congratulations to Eric on his promotion to Single A baseball.
Saturday, July 12
Reed Gragnani Commits to The University of Virginia
Rising senior and 3 year varsity starter Reed Gragnani has made a verbal committment to play for the Cavaliers of The University of Virginia starting with the 2010 season. He will join former Godwin 3B, Sophomore Tyler Biddix on the UVa. team. This past season Reed hit .525 for Godwin with 2 homeruns, 19 RBI and 12 stolen bases while playing shortstop for his 3rd season on the Godwin Baseball team. His .525 batting average is the second highest in Godwin Baseball history after John Bunch his .574 in the 1980's. Reed was 1st Team All District, All Region, All Metro and Honorable Mention All State as well as the 2008 Colonial District Player of the year. As a Junior he was selected by his teammates as Best Offensive Player on a team that had a .380 team batting average and won the Colonial District Regular Season Championship. Congratulations to Reed on accepting his scholarship to play in the ACC with the University of Virginia.
Wednesday, June 11
Fornataro Inks Contract with Cardinals
Former Godwin Baseball player Eric Fornataro, class of 2006 has signed a professional baseball contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Eric pitched for Godwin in 2005-2006 and upon graduation attended Pensacola Junior College in 2007. In 2008 Eric transferred to Miami-Dade Junior College where he was the leading pitcher on a very strong MDCC team. Eric, now throwing 92-95 mph was drafted in the 6th round by St.Louis. Eric will look very good in the Cardinal uniform which is the best looking uniform in professional baseball. Congratulations to Eric and to his parents Mark and Cindy Fornataro. It has been quite a spring for the Fornataro family. Younger brother Chris, a standout Godwin football player became a invited walk-on next year as a running back for the Trojans of the University of Southern California which has a excellent film school that Chris will attend. Last Thursday, the day Eric was drafted younger brother Chris graduated from Godwin. Best of luck to Eric as he begins his professional baseball career.
Tuesday, June 10
2 Eagles Selected to All-State Baseball Team
Junior Reed Gragnani, a shortstop and senior Travis Lane an outfielder were both selected as Honorable Mentions to the 2008 Virginia AAA All-State team. Reed hit over .570 for the season and was the Colonial District Player of the Year. Travis hit over .400 this season and has been selected to play in the Coaches All Star Game in Hampton this July for the East squad. Congratulations to Reed and Travis on this high award.
Friday, June 6
Reed Gragnani Named to All Metro First Team
Junior shortstop and 3rd year varsity starter Reed Gragnani has been selected to the Richmond Times-Dispatch's All Metro First Team as a shortstop. Reed finished the 2008 season hitting .577 with 3 doubles, one triple, 2 homeruns and a team leading 13 stolen bases on the year. Also Reed has been selected to play in the Virginia Commonwealth games in Roanoke this July. The best 64 underclassmen in the Commonwealth meet to play 4 games in front of dozens of college and professional scouts. Congratulations to Reed on being name to the Commonwealth games AND the All Metro first team for 2008
Thursday, June 5
Former Eagles Justin Bristow and Eric Fornataro Drafted in MLB Draft
Two former Godwin Baseball players have been drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft. Justin Bristow (Godwin 2005) was drafted in the 5th round of the Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft by the Chicago Cubs. Bristow played two years for Auburn University before transferring to East Carolina where this season he put together a 9-2 record for the Pirates coached by Billy Godwin. Eric Fornataro (Godwin 2006) was taken in the 6th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. This season Eric had a very successful season pitching at Miami Dade CC. In 2007 he played for Pensacola Junior College. Both Bristow and Fornataro were drafted as pitchers. They join Matt Moses, Charlie Yarbrough, Kris Rochelle and Davis Stoneburner as former Eagles drafted by professional baseball teams. Congratulations to Eric and Justin and best of luck in professional baseball.
Friday, May 30
Eagles Lose in Regional Semifinals 8-4
The Godwin Eagles 2008 season came to an end in the regional semis against Cosby High School, currently ranked number 1 in the state. The score was 8-4. Starting pitcher Freshman Matt Lees took the loss to finish 6-2 on the season. The Titians took a 1-0 lead in the first when leadoff hitter Ronnie Shaban hit a homerun to start the game. Later Cosby used a combination of singles and bunts to put 3 more runs on the scoreboard to take 4-0 lead into the fourth. On a 3-2 count junior District Player of the Year, Reed Gragnani his a mamouth homerun to put Godwin on the scoreboard. The next hitter senior Nick Caporale also hit a homerun to make it 4-2. Later Nick Caporale hit a hard line drive to center field with the bases loaded to close out another inning. With the score 5-3 Cosby added a 3 run homerun to take a 8-3 lead into the 6th. Senior Ryan Ross came in to relieve Lees and finished the inning while allowing no runs. The Eagles who had more hits in the game than Cosby got runners to second and third with 2 outs when sophomore second baseman Erik Payne hit a hard line drive toward third base. The Titians third baseman snared the hard hit ball denying Godwin at least 2 more run. In the seventh Godwin loaded the bases with no outs. Sophomore Adam Blankinship hit a hard line drive to the pitcher who started a 1-2-3 double play. The Eagles finish the season 18-6. This was a very young team that returns 8 of the 10 starters used most of this season. It was a season which saw us win the District Championship, have the district player of the year (Gragnani) 1st team district and Regional players Travis Lane, Matt Lees and Reed Gragnani. Unranked at the beginning of the season the Eagles were ranked 4th in the Central Region by several organizations. It saw Coach Marano winning his 200th game as head coach since taking over the program 10 years ago and it witnessed him getting the Godwin "G" tattooed on his arm as the result of a bet with the team that if they won the district he'd get the tattoo. We wish the best of luck to our graduating seniors Kyle Gragnani, Robbie Schnizler, Robbie Garrett, Travis Lane, J.J. Gwaltney, Ryan Ross, Eric White and Nick Caporale. Special thanks for a great season go to Godwin announcer Blake Peddicord, Thomas Threatt for his moral support in the dugout and Clyde Ragsdale our team bus driver. Lastly thanks to Coach Billy Browning, Godwin AD who is retiring after 19 years as AD and a tremendous supportor of all things Godwin.
Tuesday, May 27
Eagles Defeat Matoaca in Region Quarterfinals 5-4
In a very exciting game the Godwin Eagles defeated Matoaca by a score of 5-4. The Eagles took a 5-2 lead into the 6th inning and Sophomore Adam Blankinship worked out of a bases loaded one out situation to end the Warrior threat. In the bottom of the 7th Blankinship started the inning but after 2 runners got on base the Eagles came with Senior Nick Caporale. An infield single loaded the bases and and walk forced in a run to make the score 5-4. Freshman Matt Lees entered the game with bases loaded and no outs. With the infield in a ground ball was hit to Nick Caporale at first who threw to the plate to force out one runner. With bases still loaded and one out the Warriors attempted a suicide squeeze play and the batter popped the ball up to Lees along the third base line who caught the ball for the second out and Lees promptly ran the ball to third base to take out the runner from third on the force. Sophomore Erick Payne contributed 2 doubles on the night and Senior starting pitcher Robbie Garrett guided the Eagles into the 4 inning with a solid pitching performance. The Eagles raised their season record to 18-5 and move into the Regional Semifinals on Thursday against Cosby High School. The game will be held at RF & P park. Game time is 7.30pm. We hope you will attend.
Monday, May 19
All Colonial District Baseball Team Loaded with Eagles
The Colonial District 2008 Baseball Champions Mills Godwin, is proud to announce the Godwin players selected to the All Colonial District Baseball Team. Making Honorable Mention All District was Junior catcher Jack Saladino, Senior Pitcher Robbie Garrett and Sophomore Utility player Adam Blankinship. Making Second Team All District was Senior Outfielder Nick Caporale and Sophomore Designated Hitter George Moore. Making First Team All Colonial District was Senior Outfielder Travis Lane, Junior Short Stop Reed Gragnani and Freshman pitcher Matt Lees. Selected as the Colonial District Player of the Year is Godwin Junior Short Stop Reed Gragnani. Congratulations to these players for being named All Colonial District.
Wednesday, May 14
Godwin Eagles Claim 2008 Colonial District Championship
On Senior Night, the Godwin Eagles won the Colonial District regular season championship by defeating Deep Run 2-1 in 8 innings. Junior Zack Meeks hit a walk off single in the bottom of the 8th to wrap up the victory and the automatic bye to the 2008 Central Regional Tournament. Sophomore Adam Blankinship picked up the win in relief. Adam came in to relieve Senior Robbie Garrett in the top of the fifth. Robbie went 4.1 innings giving up 7 hits, all singles. Garrett walked 3 and struck out 4 while giving up one run. Blankinship entered the game with 2 on and 1 out in the fifth. In all Blankinship gave up 1 hit in 3.2 innings while walking one and recording 3 strikeouts. Meeks went 2-3 contributing a double and the Eagles recorded 7 hits for the night. Entering the bottom of the 7th down 1-0 Godwin freshman Matt Lees delievered a pinch hit double to left centerfield. Sophomore Erik Payne reached 1st on a bunt single that moved Lees to third. Payne was picked off first and Sophomore Tyler Lane received a walk. Senior Travis Lane dropped a bloop single into right field to score Lees and tie the game. In the bottom of the eight, Senior Kyle Gragnani doubled to right field. Junior Jon Gordon pinch ran for Gragnani. Next Blankinship recevied a intentional base on balls and both runners advanced on a passed ball by the Deep Run catcher. On a 0-1 count Zack Meeks hit a single to right field to score Gordon and secured the 2008 District Championship. The win improves our district record to 11-1 and 14-4 overall. This is also our 16th district championship since Godwin opened in 1981. We close out the regular season Thursday with an away at Douglas Freeman. Congratulations to the 2008 Godwin Eagles for winning the Colonial District Championship!
Sunday, March 9
Former Coach Chris Marinak to Work in the Baseball Comissioners Office
Former Godwin Baseball Varsity pitching coach, Chris Marinak is currently finishing up his MBA at Harvard University. He has already received a job offer and in June will be working in New York City. Chris will be working in the Commissioners Office of Major League Baseball. He will be dealing with such areas as labor relations and player contracts. Chris graduated from the University of Virginia in 2002 where he pitched on the UVa. baseball team for four years and was a team captain. After graduation he got a job working for Capital One and also came to Godwin High School to inquire about a coaching position. Chris handled our pitching staff from 2003 thru 2005 and did an excellent job. He later moved to DC where he continued to work for Capital One but also continued to coach at James Madison High School again as a pitching coach. The Godwin Baseball program is very excited for Chris and wish him well in his new position working with Major League Baseball.
Thursday, January 17
Coach Marano Selected to Serve on ABCA All-American Committee
Godwin Head Coach John Marano has been selected as the District 2 representative on the High School All-American Selection Committee by the American Baseball Coaches Association. District 2 consists of the states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, DC, West Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsyvania. Coaches in those states who have players of All-American caliber are strongly urged to contact Coach Marano at coachjam24@aol.com. The All-American selection committee will meet in Omaha, Nebraska in June during the College World Series to select the All American teams.
Wednesday, November 21
Something to think about.....
I’ve had enough success for two lifetimes; my success is talent put together with hard work and luck.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball star
“Nellie Fox, who was my idol growing up, told me early in my career that the guys who last the longest are the ones who do the most to help their teams win,” Morgan said. “So that’s what I did — put the team first.”
Joe Morgan-Cincinnati Reds 2nd Baseman and Hall of Famer, ESPN Broadcaster
Resolve to never quit, never give up no matter what the situation.
Jack Nicklaus
Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any ONE thing. Abraham Lincoln
In all things do your best. the man who has done his best has done everything. The man who has done less than his best has done nothing. Charles Schwab
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John Kennedy, 35th U.S. President
Coach Fitz's Management Theory......Click on Something to Think about. Its a long article but well worth reading. It was written by the author of "Money Ball".
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/magazine/28COACH.html?ex=1395810000&en=50d8b2c04733d10d&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
Centerfield (Let's Go!)
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