Frank Jagoda

EDITOR’S NOTE: Frank Jagoda II one of 11 inductees of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023. The other inductees are Bob Barlette, Sheldon Battle, Kirsten Green, David Hinson, Bruce Johnson, Scott Kindberg, Fred Larson, Marty Nichols, Jay Sirianni and Amy (King) Swanson. These 11 individuals will be formally inducted at the CSHOF’s 41st annual induction banquet on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 20, 2023, at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club. Tickets are available for $50 at the CSHOF, 15 W. 3rd St., Jamestown; at the Jock Shop, 10 Harrison St., Jamestown; and at Matt’s News, 93 E. 3rd St., Dunkirk. Tickets are also available by calling banquet chairman Chip Johnson at 716-485-6991 or online at www.chautauquasportshalloffame.org.

It’s hard to find a person who bleeds the maroon and white of the Dunkirk Marauders with greater passion than 2023 Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee Frank Jagoda II, first as an outstanding athlete and later as a celebrated coach.

Jagoda was born in the northern Chautauqua County city in 1961. He was a multiple-time all-star performer in the Dunkirk Little League and Babe Ruth League. His Dunkirk Little League team finished fourth in New York State in 1973 and his Dunkirk Babe Ruth team was second in the state in 1974.

Jagoda, a 1979 graduate of Dunkirk High School, played both baseball and basketball for the Marauders and was selected as his senior class’ most athletic student. In basketball, he was a two-time Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association all-star and a team captain, but it was in baseball where he really excelled.

Jagoda was a three-time CCAA all-star pitcher, posting a career 24-7 record with a miniscule 1.01 ERA. He tossed nine shutouts and struck out 268 batters. The Marauders won two league titles, two Section VI crowns and one Super-Sectional championship during his tenure with the teams coached by CSHOF inductee Al Stuhlmiller (Class of 1988).

Jagoda, the Marauder captain his senior year, set Section VI marks for career wins, season and career shutouts, career strikeouts and career earned run average.

Jagoda pitched for the University at Buffalo from 1980-1985, achieving a 6-1 record. He graduated from UB in 1985 and earned an advanced degree in 1986. After college, he pitched for the Kitchener Panthers (1985) and Toronto Maple Leafs (1986) in an independent league in Canada.

After jobs in Sherman, Silver Creek and Forestville, Jagoda was hired as a middle school counselor at his alma mater in 1990 and started his journey to becoming the individual who has coached the most athletic events (baseball, basketball, tennis and football combined), in Dunkirk school history. But it was on the baseball diamond where Jagoda was best known.

In 28 years as head coach of the Marauder nine, he has earned 366 wins, surpassing the legendary Stuhlmiller. Jagoda’s squads have won nine league titles, five sectional crowns and two Far West Regional championships (2007 and 2011).

Jagoda has mentored 10 All-WNY players, sent 45 players to college baseball and had four players become professionals. He has also coached teams in Little League (six years), Babe Ruth (12 years), American Legion six years), Buffalo Police Athletic League (six years) and All-American Amateur Baseball Association (four years).

Jagoda has been a Dunkirk City Recreation umpire and basketball referee for 25 years.

Jagoda, who retired as a school counselor in 2019, but still coaches the Dunkirk High baseball team, resides in his hometown.