The South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association recognized two Lake City High School athletic department staff members Wednesday, March 19, at its annual spring conference in Charleston.
The SCAAA Awards program recognizes individuals for their commitment and contributions to education-based interscholastic athletics.
Panthers football head coach Ronnie Baker was a recipient of the Braveheart Award given in recognition of an individual who has exhibited a ‘spirit of bravery’ and ‘courage’ while enduring a ‘trying personal experience and continuing to perform their daily duties.
Baker suffered traumatic, life-threatening injuries when a tractor-trailer collided with the mini-bus he was driving as he and four student-athletes were returning home from a football camp at South Carolina State University.
Baker was named the Panthers’s head coach in February 2019. He was an assistant coach at Lake City High from 1998-2004 where he coached running backs and defensive secondary. During that period, he also coached varsity girls’ basketball and boys’ track and was a third-grade teacher at Lake City Elementary School.
Baker also has served as an assistant coach at Marlboro County High School from 2004-2006, as defensive coordinator at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School from 2006-2008 and as co-offensive coordinator at Fairfield Central High School from 2008-2009. He was head varsity football coach at Eau Claire High School from 2009-2012 and defensive coordinator at Lexington High School from 2012-2013. Baker was defensive coordinator at Sumter High School from 2013-2015 and at Chester High School from 2015-2017.
Lake City High School Athletic Director Matt Apicella was named the State 2A Athletic Director of the Year.
His selection marks the second time he has earned this honor, including his selection as the State 3A Athletic Director of the Year in 2019. He has also been named the Region Athletic Director of the Year four times.
Apicella has served as Lake City High’s athletic director for 12 years and is the varsity baseball head coach. Since being named athletic director, he has focused on student-athletes performing community service. Under his leadership, the school’s student-athletes have performed over thousands of hours of community service work.