In its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade announced the winners of the 2019-20 Gatorade Players of the Year, which includes 89 prominent high school athletes whose first chapter of their athletic career includes time spent on the Little League® Baseball and Softball fields. Of the 89 alumni, three were named the National Player of the Year in their respective sport while St. Louis Park (Minn.) Little League graduate, Paige Bueckers, was named the Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport. Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
Below are the 2019-20 Gatorade State Players of the Year who played Little League growing up (*denotes National Player of the Year for their respective sport):
Baseball (27)
- Alaska – Leland Wilson – Anchorage (Alaska) West LL
- Colorado – Jack Moss – Cherry Creek LL (Aurora, Colo.)
- Connecticut – Jared Burrows – Waterford (Conn.) LL
- Delaware – Lorenzo Carrier – Canal LL (Bear, Del.)
- Washington, D.C. – Collin Bosley-Smith – Capitol City LL (Washington, D.C.)
- Georgia – Jordan Walker – Belvedere LL (Decatur, Ga.)
- Illinois – Ed Howard – Jackie Robinson West LL (Chicago, Ill.)
- Indiana – Ryan Lynch – Robertsdale LL (Hammond, Ind.)
- Iowa – Calvin Harris – Altoona (Iowa) LL
- Maine – Hunter Owen – South Portland (Maine) American LL
- Massachusetts – Josh Baez – Methuen (Mass.) West National LL
- Nebraska – Max Anderson – Keystone LL (Omaha, Neb.)
- Nevada – Carson Wells – Paseo Verde LL (Henderson, Nev.)
- New Hampshire – Connor Hujsak – Goffstown (N.H.) Junior Baseball LL
- New Mexico – Noah Brewer – Paradise Hills LL (Albuquerque, N.M.)
- New York – Jason Savacool – Baldwinsville (N.Y.) LL
- North Carolina – Ryan Clifford – South Durham (N.C.) LL
- North Dakota – Cole Hage – Fargo (N.D.) LL
- Oregon – Mick Abel – Cedar Mill LL (Portland, Ore.)
- Rhode Island – Brad Lombardi – East Greenwich (R.I.) LL
- South Carolina – Caden Grice – Northwood LL (Taylors, S.C.)
- Tennessee – Robert Hassell – Nolensville (Tenn.) LL
- Texas – Jared Kelley – Refugio (Texas) LL*
- Utah – Cooper Vest – Dixie LL (St. George, Utah)
- Vermont – Jack Ambrosino – South Burlington (Vt.) LL
- Washington – Malakhi Knight – Marysville (Wash.) LL
- West Virginia – Austin Dearing – Hurricane (W.Va.) LL
Softball (10)
- Alaska – Sabrina Jolin – Abbott O Rabbit LL (Anchorage, Alaska)
- Connecticut – Abby Ota – Jesse P Sanford Boys and Girls Club LL (Redding, Conn.)
- Delaware – Tayler Vitola – MOT LL (Middletown, Del.)
- Washington, D.C. – JoJo Scurry – Capitol City LL (Washington, D.C.)
- Hawaii – Liliana Thomas – Kailua (Hawaii) LL
- Iowa – Mikayla Houge – Central Iowa LL (Polk City, Iowa)
- Maine – Bella Dickinson – Scarborough (Maine) LL
- New Hampshire – Sam Wiberg – Lamprey River LL (Raymond, N.H.)
- Vermont – Meghan Connor – St. Albans (Vt.) LL
- Virginia – Emerson Aiken – Tuckahoe Softball LL (Henrico, Va.)
Boys Basketball (9)
- Delaware – Elijah Allen – Dover (Del.) LL
- Hawaii – Christmas Togiai – Ewa Beach (Hawaii) LL
- Idaho – Austin Bolt – Southwest Ada LL (Boise, Idaho)
- Indiana – Trey Kaufman – Silver Creek LL (Sellersburg, Ind.)
- Maine – Bryce Lausier – Bangor (Maine) West Side LL
- Montana – Rollie Worster – Missoula (Mont.) Westside LL
- Tennessee – Johnathan Lawson – Memphis (Tenn.) LL
- Vermont – Logan Wendell – St. Johnsbury (Vt.) LL
- Washington – Paolo Banchero – Seattle (Wash.) Central LL
Girls Basketball (4)
- Maine – Emily Archibald – Kennebunk-Kennebunkport (Maine) LL
- Minnesota – Paige Bueckers – St. Louis Park (Minn.) LL*
- Named the Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year
- New York – Sonia Citron – Eastchester (N.Y.) LL
- Rhode Island – Megan Bodziony – South Kingstown (R.I.) American LL
Boys Cross Country (8)
- Georgia – Graham Blanks – Athens (Ga.) LL
- Hawaii – Hunter Shields – Kihei (Hawaii) LL
- Kentucky – Conner O’Shea – Richmond (Ky.) National LL
- Louisiana – Will Dart – Bossier (La.) LL
- Michigan – Carter Solomon – Plymouth Canton (Mich.) LL
- New York – Sam Lawler – Pittsford (N.Y.) LL
- Rhode Island – Jack McLoughlin – Cumberland (R.I.) LL
- Washington – Wil Smith – Spokane (Wash.) South LL
Girls Cross Country (2)
- New York – Katelyn Tuohy – Stony Point (N.Y.) LL*
- Vermont – Ava Thurston – Clyde Whittemore LL (Waterbury, Vt.)
Football (10)
- California – Bryce Young – Glendora (Calif.) American LL
- Connecticut – Jack Wallace – Trumbull (Conn.) LL
- Idaho – Austin Bolt – Southwest ADA LL (Boise, Idaho)
- Iowa – Hunter Dekkers – Sioux City (Iowa) Northwest LL
- Massachusetts – Kalel Mullings – Newton (Mass.) West LL
- Michigan – Cameron Martinez – Roosevelt Park (Mich.) Youth Athletics LL
- Missouri – Isaiah Davis – Joplin (Mo.) LL
- Pennsylvania – Julian Fleming – Central Columbia LL (Bloomsburg, Pa.)
- Rhode Island – James Osmanski – North Kingstown (R.I.) American LL
- Wyoming – Garrett Coon – Sheridan (Wyo.) LL
Boys Soccer (8)
- Delaware – Drew Blackwell – Brandywine LL (Wilmington, Del.)
- Hawaii – Johnnie Dodge – West Oahu (Hawaii) LL
- Michigan – Aidan O’Connor – Southern West LL (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
- Nevada – Caden Buckley – Summerlin North LL (Las Vegas, Nev.)
- Oklahoma – Will Edwards – Tulsa (Okla.) National LL
- Oregon – Scott Gustafson – Ashland (Ore.) LL
- Pennsylvania – Dom Reiter – Quaker Valley LL (Sewickley, Pa.)
- Vermont – Cullen Swett – Williston (Vt.) LL
Girls Soccer (2)
- Maine – Kristina Kelly – Knox (Maine) Suburban LL
- Rhode Island – Faith Hutchins – South Kingston (R.I.) American LL
Boys Track and Field (5)
- Maine – Jarett Flaker – Scarborough (Maine) LL
- Michigan – Dylan Targgart – Coldwater (Mich.) LL
- Montana – Julius Mims – Billings (Mont.) Heights National LL
- Oregon – Micah Williams – Rose City LL (Portland, Ore.)
- Rhode Island – Darius Kipyego – Warwick (R.I.) American LL
Girls Track and Field (3)
- Connecticut – Tess Stapleton – Fairfield (Conn.) Girls Softball LL
- Maine – Victoria Bossong – Cumberland/North Yarmouth (Maine) LL
- New York – Katelyn Tuohy – Stony Point (N.Y.) LL
Volleyball (2)
- Arizona – Jaelyn Hodge – Queen Creek (Ariz.) Heat Softball LL
- Illinois – Lexi Rodriguez – Sterling (Ill.) LL
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year Program, including the full list of winners for 2019-20, visit PlayeroftheYear.Gatorade.com.
NOTE: If you know of a player that we have missed, please e-mail the information, including name, state, sport, and the name of the city, town, and league where they played Little League, to [email protected].