Jesuit’s Andersen named 2026 Saladino Award winner

Tony Saladino’s grandson and Armwood High head baseball coach Noah Saladino presented Jesuit’s Wilson Andersen with the 2026 Saladino Award on Sunday night at an awards dinner at Josephine’s Italian Market in Brandon.

Story by Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
Photos by Mike Camunas, Creative Director

BRANDON – Jesuit’s Wilson Andersen has had a busy social calendar of late. Just shy of a month since earning the win in the FHSAA Class 4A State Championship game, Andersen graduated from Jesuit, was named the Wade Boggs Award winner by the Hillsborough County Commission and on Sunday evening was named the 2026 Saladino Award Winner – recognizing the top senior high school baseball player in Hillsborough County for more than 55 years.

“This is a real honor and its very special how nice the whole Saladino Family has been,” Andersen said. “Especially, with Mr. Saladino passing away (award founder Tony Saladino II died in August of 2025), this means even more to me because I know that he’s one of the big reasons Tampa baseball means so much.
“It really feels great to be a part of that.”

Tony “Tiger” Saladino III shares some memories of his parents and Saladino Award founders Bertha and Tony Saladino at the 2026 award banquet recognizing Jesuit’s Wilson Andersen.

On Sunday, along with his parents Dana and J. Carter Andersen, his head coach Miguel Menendez and assistant coach Louie Martinez, Andersen was presented with the award by the grandsons of the award’s founder, Nico and Noah Saladino at a dinner hosted at Josephine’s Italian Market in Brandon.

Recent Jesuit grad Wilson Andersen poses for photos with Cheryl and Tony Saladino III at an awards banquet honoring him as the 2026 Saladino Award Winner.

This season Andersen was 11-2 on the mound with a 1.62 ERA and 111 strikeouts – including 12 strikeouts in six-plus innings in the Tigers’ 9-0 win against Orlando’s Bishop Moore in the state final. Offensively, he hit .436 with 36 RBI, 11 doubles and four home runs in 2026.

Andersen, a Mississippi State signee who is currently ranked No. 108 on the Top Baseball Draft Prospect list on MLB.com, was a four-year varsity starter at Jesuit, winning two state titles, and helped the Tigers win the 2023 and 2024 Saladino Tournament titles.

On June 3rd, Andersen was recognized at the Hillsborough County Commission meeting and presented with the Wade Boggs Award.

A favorite spot of the late Tony Saladino, Josephine’s Italian Market honored the longtime Hillsborough County educator, tournament founder and Tampa baseball legend by setting up a table with his favorite meal. 813Preps would like to thank Joesphine’s Italian Market’s owners the Fox Family for their care for our late friend.

“I had so much fun making great memories at Jesuit, with all my teammates and all my coaches,” he said. “Just being at Jesuit has been such a blessing. But this (these awards) and being around all of these great people who care about high school baseball so much, who care about Tampa as a baseball town, to be a small part of that just feels amazing.

Andersen becomes the 57th player to earn the Saladino Award, which was first given in 1971 as a tribute founded by Bertha and Tony Saladino to honor the latter’s father Tony Saladino Sr. Andersen is the seventh Jesuit player to earn the award, joining former MLB player Dave Magadan (1980), Troy Kent (1992), Troy Carrasco (1993), Ryan Gloger (1999), current Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (2012) and the Tigers most-recent recipient, Noah Sheffield (2024).

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TONY SALADINO AWARD WINNERS
1971 – DAVIAN MENENDEZ (TAMPA CATHOLIC) & RICK FAULKNER (PLANT)
1972 – ANTHONY LAZZARA (TAMPA BAY TECH) & DAN BAZARTE (LETO)
1973 – MIKE HEATH (HILLSBOROUGH)*
1974 – NICK RAY (ROBINSON)
1975 – JOHN SHOUSE (CHAMBERLAIN)
1976 – SAMMY SPENCE (BRANDON)
1977 – DANNY PICKERN (PLANT CITY)
1978 – LENNY FAEDO (JEFFERSON)*
1979 – RICK FIGUEREDO (PLANT)
1980 – DAVID MAGADAN (JESUIT)*
1981 – VANCE LOVELACE (HILLSBOROUGH)*
1982 – RICHARD MONTELEONE (TAMPA CATHOLIC)*
1983 – JOHN RAMOS (PLANT)*
1984 – CHUCK DONAHUE (ROBINSON)
1985 – TINO MARTINEZ (JEFFERSON)*
1986 – GARY SHEFFIELD (HILLSBOROUGH)*
1987 – CHRIS MYERS (PLANT)
1988 – MIN PARK (LETO)
1989 – KIKI JONES (HILLSBOROUGH)
1990 – SALVY URSO (PLANT)
1991 – BRUCE THOMPSON (BRANDON)
1992 – TROY KENT (JESUIT)
1993 – TROY CARRASCO (JESUIT)
1994 – SCOTT GLASER (BRANDON)
1995 – MIKE VALDES (BLOOMINGDALE)
1996 – GREG HOWELL (BRANDON)
1997 – JASON ROMANO (HILLSBOROUGH)*
1998 – JEREMY GOMER (DURANT)
1999 – RYAN GLOGER (JESUIT)
2000 – PAUL WILLIAMS (GAITHER)
2001 – RYAN ANDERSON (GAITHER)
2002 – JOSH SAWYER (BRANDON)
2003 – BRANDON McARTHUR (ARMWOOD)
2004 – RYAN STRAUSS (BLOOMINGDALE)
2005 – CALEB GRAHAM (GAITHER)
2006 – CARMINE GIARDINA (DURANT)
2007 – TOMMY TOLEDO (ALONSO)
2008 – ALEX PANTELIODIS (ALONSO)
2009 – ROBERT BENINCASA (ARMWOOD)
2010 – JAMES RAMSAY (BRANDON)
2011 – JOSE FERNANDEZ (ALONSO)*
2012 – LANCE McCULLERS (JESUIT)*
2013 – TYLER DANISH (DURANT)*
2014 – ALEX FAEDO (ALONSO)*
2015 – KYLE TUCKER (PLANT)*
2016 – ANTONIO VELEZ (BRANDON)
2017 – DREW EHRHARD (WHARTON)
2018 – ROBBY MARTIN (JEFFERSON)
2019 – DYLAN ESKEW (SICKLES)
2020 – No award given (COVID-19)
2021 – SEAN HERMANN (DURANT)
2022 – JACK OWENS (BLOOMINGDALE)
2023 – CADEN MCDONALD (SICKLES)
2024 – NOAH SHEFFIELD (JESUIT)
2025 – JORDAN YOST (SICKLES)
2026 – WILSON ANDERSEN (JESUIT)

*  = winner reached the MLB

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