Jesuit’s Wes Mendes, who guided the Tigers to consecutive state championship game appearances, was named the Class 5A player of the year for the second straight year by the Florida Dairy Farmers. 

Mendes, a Mississippi signee, went 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA on the mound and hit .404 with five homers and 36 RBIs at the plate. 

His production helped Jesuit back to the 5A state final after winning the title last season. In this year’s champion game, the Tigers fell just short of repeating with an 8-5 loss to Plantation American Heritage.

The winners in each classification were selected through voting from a statewide panel of baseball coaches and media representatives. They are now eligible to be named the overall winner in the state, which will go through another round of voting and likely be announced later this week.