The OBSERVER

Daughter of former Dunkirk coach to hold meet and greet

The daughter of the late Al Stuhlmiller will be in attendance Saturday at Rookie's on the Lake to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Dunkirk's only state championship baseball team.

Rhonda Stuhlmiller McAnlis will hold a meet and greet at 7 p.m.

Anyone in attendance is encouraged to wear their Maroon and White. There will be special drink prices and refreshments will be served. Ultra Violet will provide the music at 9 p.m.

Al Stuhlmiller
Al Stuhlmiller

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.

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.

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, according to his biography at the Chautauqua County Sports Hall of Fame.

Also in attendance Saturday will be current Dunkirk baseball coach Frank Jagoda and a few players, as well as, Mayor A.J. Dolce.


The additional financial assistance of the community is critical to the success of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.
We gratefully acknowledge these individuals and organizations for their generous support.