Al Stuhlmiller

Al Stuhlmiller

Al Stuhlmiller had the finest record of any high school baseball coach in Chautauqua County history and also one of the finest marks in Section 6 history.

Stuhlmiller coached baseball at Dunkirk from 1955-1983 and racked up an incredible 360-144 mark. He won 15 Division 1 titles, 10 sectional titles and two Supersectional titles, but the major disappointment was he wasn't able to compete in the New York State Toumament in Little Falls. His final team of 1983 was possibly his finest with just two losses, but was knocked out of a trip to the states by Sweet Home.

For 15 years, he coached the Marauders to three Division 1 titles en route to a 122-116 record. He also coached the bowling team and won a Division 1 title. In 1987 Dunkirk won the Chautauqua County rolloff title on the way to making the sectionals for the second time in four years.

Stuhlmiller was president of the Chautauqua County Athletic Directors and president of the Chautauqua County Athletic Council and member of the county committee. He served two terms as president of the CCAA Division 1, was chairman of Section 6 baseball and a member of the Section 6 baseball and basketball committees.

Born in Buffalo in 1929, Stuhlmiller moved to Gowanda and became quite a star in high school where he earned four letters in baseball, three in basketball, two in football and one in track. He played on an undefeated 15-0 basketball team in 1944 and a 19-0 baseball squad in 1947. Twice he was selected to the Cattaraugus County All-Star team for both baseball and basketball.

In his senior year, Stuhlmiller received the Bushnell Activity Trophy and after high school earned a partial baseball scholarship to Syracuse University. He led the baseball team in hitting as a sophomore and was the Most Valuable Player in his senior year when he received the Lew Carr Baseball Trophy.

He played one year of basketball at Syracuse and also won a scholarship key for academic excellence.

In 1951, Stuhlmiller signed with the New York Yankees and played a year at Amsterdam in the Canadian-American League.

He was once named one of the top eight coaches in the country by College Baseball Coaches of America. He was named from the districts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware.

In 1988 Stuhlmiller was honored with a special award from the New York State Baseball Coaches Association. In 1980, he was the outstanding coach in Section 6.

He has worked 15 years for the American Red Cross as a volunteer and in 1987 he was named Elk of the Year by Dunkirk Lodge No. 922.

Al Stuhlmiller was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. He died in 1998