LaFayette High School assistant baseball coach Dan Torrenti was recently named by the Georgia Dugout Club at its recent convention as the Class AAA Assistant Coach of the Year and the school was awarded as the Class AAA Baseball Field of the Year in the state.

“Dan’s a baseball guy,” said LaFayette head coach Mike Dunfee, who himself was named as Class AAAA Assistant of the Year at Ridgeland in 2005. “We’re very fortunate to have him at LaFayette. He has high character and he's a man of faith and it’s good to have a guy like that around kids that you’re trying to mold into men.”

Torrenti came to LaFayette from Ridgeland with Dunfee three years ago. He is in his third year at LaFayette after spending two seasons with the Panthers.

Prior to that, he coached for three seasons at his alma mater McEachern High in Powder Springs. He played collegiately at Oglethorpe University.

“You don’t get into coaching for things like this, but it’s certainly a honor to get recognition and I’m humbled and appreciative,” Torrenti said. “I’m more proud of the Field of the Year honor. The community has spent a lot of time on it and we take a lot of pride in it.”

Dunfee agreed.

“A lot of people put a lot of hours into the field before I got here and we’re all doing our part to keep it up and improve it,” he said. “We still have some things we’d like to do, but as far as playing surfaces go, I think our field is one of the tops in the area.

“The coaches, players, parents and community have worked hard on it and to get recognized by the state says a lot about our program and community and we all should be proud of that.”

Ridgeland won Field of the year honors in Class AAAA in 2005