FRANKLIN, Ind., June 7, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- In its 38th year of honoring the
nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced
Max Clark of Franklin Community High
School in Franklin, Ind. is the
2022-23 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year. Clark won
the prestigious award for his accomplishments on and off the field,
joining an impressive group of former Gatorade National Baseball
Players of the Year who have combined for more than four MLB MVP
awards, 42 All-Star appearances and 27 MLB first round draft
picks.
Clark was surprised with the trophy by his family, coaches and
teammates at school. Check out a video of the announcement
here.
The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes athletes not
just for their excellence on the playing surface, but for their
commitment in the classroom and impact in their community. Clark
beat out nearly half a million other student-athletes who play
baseball nationwide, topping the list of state winners in baseball
who collectively boast an incredible list of accomplishments,
including 39 with signed National Letters of Intent to play
baseball at Division I colleges/universities and 35 with a GPA of
3.5 and above.
"Max Clark is another standout in
the fine tradition of past Gatorade National Baseball Player of the
Year honorees," said Jim Callis,
senior writer for MLB Pipeline. "He might well be the best
all-around player in this year's draft as a center fielder with
four tools that grade as at least 'plus' to go with developing
power. He's starred both in the Indiana high school ranks and also on the
international stage with Team USA."
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior center fielder batted .646 with
six home runs, 33 RBI and 45 runs scored this past season, leading
the Grizzly Cubs (14-14-1) to the Class 4A sectional semifinals.
Clark is the nation's No. 1 draft prospect in the Class of 2023 as
rated by Prep Baseball Report and he's also the state's two-time
returning Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. In addition to an
.808 on-base percentage and a 1.215 slugging percentage, he also
stole 35 bases and made just two errors in the outfield this
spring.
A basketball and football standout and member of the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes, for which he has served as president, Clark
has volunteered locally on behalf of his church youth group and has
donated his time as a youth baseball coach.
Clark has maintained a 3.97 GPA in the classroom. He has signed
a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at
Vanderbilt University this fall, but is
projected as a first-round selection in July's Major League
Baseball draft.
In addition to excellence on and off the field of play, Gatorade
Players of the Year also pay it forward for the next generation. As
part of Gatorade's Play it Forward initiative, Clark will receive a
grant to give to a 501c3 youth sports charity, which includes
Gatorade's social impact partners – Athlete Ally, Laureus
USA, Move United, Women's Sports
Foundation and Up2Us Sports – supporting Gatorade's ambition to
fuel the future of sport.
"Winning Gatorade Player of the Year is truly an incredible feat
because you have to distinguish yourself from so many tough
competitors," said Gatorade Portfolio president and general manager
Michael Del Pozzo. "Nearly half a
million student-athletes play high school baseball nationwide, and
Max stood above them all."
Each year, a selection committee evaluates the nation's top
talent to choose one state winner from each of the 50 states as
well as Washington D.C., in 12
different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross
country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and
girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In all, 608
athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one
national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program,
check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit
playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on
Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at
instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
About The Gatorade Portfolio
The Gatorade Portfolio, a
division of PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), is a connected performance and
wellness ecosystem built to fuel all athletes and exercisers.
Bringing together Gatorade, Fast Twitch, Propel, Evolve and Muscle
Milk, the Gatorade Portfolio is the most complete offering in the
category today, with a broad range of personalized solutions at
every stage of the athlete journey. This integrated system of
brands is built on Gatorade's 57-year history of studying athletes
and is fueling the future of athletic performance and wellness by
delivering solutions across hydration, protein, energy and all-day
nutrition to fuel consumers, no matter how or why they sweat. For
more information and a full list of product offerings, please visit
www.gatorade.com.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by
consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200
countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more
than $86 billion in net revenue in
2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods
portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade,
Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product
portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages,
including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail
sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo
Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that
puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will
create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries
and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/max-clark-named-2022-23-gatorade-national-baseball-player-of-the-year-301845390.html
SOURCE The Gatorade Company