Three baseball and eight softball players earned the honor of representing their state as the top high school athlete in their sport.
Gatorade announced its annual State High School Players of the Year, and among the group of distinguished honorees for 2017 are 11 Little League® Baseball and Softball alumni. The Gatorade State Player of the Year award recognizes the nation’s most outstanding high school student-athletes for their athletic excellence, academic achievement, and exemplary character.
Below are the 11 former Little Leaguers® who earned this year’s honors:
Gatorade Baseball Players of the Year:
- Cam Guarino, Maine – Falmouth Little League, 2013 Junior League State Championship
- Zach Kokoska, Pennsylvania – Latrobe Little League
- Seth Corry, Utah – Utah-Washington Little League, 2011 West Region Tournament Runner-up
Gatorade Softball Players of the Year:
- Danni Desjarlais, Alaska – Abbot-O-Rabbit Little League
- Avery Wheatley, Delaware – Delmar Little League
- Sydney Love-Baker, Washington D.C. – Northwest Washington Little League, 2012 Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament
- Tristin Achenbach, Montana – Choteau Little League
- Andrea Howard, New Mexico – Eastdale Little League, 2012 LLSWS Champion
- Morgan Ryan, Pennsylvania – Greensburg Little League, 2014 JLSWS Champion
- Kathryn Sandercock, Virginia – McLean Little League; made it to the Little League World Series finals
- Taylor Rhinehart, Washington – Woodinville Little League, 2011 Washington District 8 Champion
The Gatorade Player of the Year program is an athletic award program that annually recognizes one state winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states in 12 different sports for both male and female student-athletes.
Of the state winners, the Player of the Year program awards one national winner in each of the 12 sports. Since its inception in 1985, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has become one of the most prestigious high school athletic awards in the nation.
NOTE: If you know of a player that we have missed, please e-mail the information, including name, state award information, and the name of the city or town where they played Little League, to [email protected].