The Class of 2023 featured three athletes — Shannon Aitken, soccer; Brad Baisley, baseball; and Drew Weatherford, football — basketball coach Dave Puhalski and Darrin Horne, recipient of a lifetime service award.

Guest speakers in the past have included famous athletes like former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Derrick Brooks and boxer Antonio Tarver. That tradition was upheld with this year’s speaker Lou Piniella, who grew up playing baseball in Tampa.

Piniella, whose playing career spanned 16 seasons, was the 1969 Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Royals and two-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees. He also managed five teams, winning the 1990 World Series for the Cincinnati Reds.

“You people have had a very distinguished group of speakers,” he said. “I’m flattered that you asked me.”

Aitken, a record-setting goalkeeper, now coaches girls soccer at Steinbrenner High. She backstopped the Gators to a state championship in 2003 and the University of Tampa to the 2007 Division II national title.

“It was her work ethic and drive. She wanted it,” longtime Land O’ Lakes coach Vicky King said.

Baisley, the son of Gators coach Calvin Baisley and one of three brothers to play professional baseball, won numerous awards in baseball and basketball. He spent seven seasons in pro ball with the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and Yankees.

“Land O’ Lakes was part of my life, longer than when I was here,” said Baisley, who as a youngster spent time with his father and in recent years has helped coach.

Weatherford, one of six brothers to play football for the Gators — although soccer-playing sister Grace is the family’s lone state champion — was a record-setting quarterback for Land O’ Lakes. He later starred at Florida State.

A song entitled “Goodness of God” played during a slide show of his career, afterward prompting Weatherford to say, “It’s indicative of my life.”

Puhalski, an assistant for three state basketball championships at Ocala Vanguard High, coached seven conference players of the year at Land O’ Lakes. He tallied 479 wins with six district and conference titles with the Gators.

In 2022, the school’s gym was named in his honor of Puhalski, who credited faith, family and his players for his success.

Horne, a football and baseball standout who later played baseball at Florida College in Temple Terrace, has been a 14-year member of the booster club, including time spent as the vice-president and director.