MONTGOMERY, Texas, June 20,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 38th year of
honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade
today announced Ava Brown of Lake
Creek High School in Montgomery,
Texas is the 2022-23 Gatorade National Softball Player of
the Year. Brown won the prestigious award for her accomplishments
on and off the field, joining an impressive group of former
Gatorade National Softball Players of the Year who have combined
for more than 17 gold medals and five National
Championships.
Brown was surprised with the trophy by her 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. Brown
beat out nearly half a million other student-athletes who play
softball nationwide, topping the list of state winners in softball
who collectively boast an incredible list of accomplishments,
including 30 with signed National Letters of Intent to play
softball at Division I colleges/universities and 27 with a GPA of
4.0 and above.
"Stats can sometimes be misleading, but in Ava Brown's case, they accurately reflect an
amazingly accomplished high school career, especially in 2023,"
said Brentt Eads, president and
executive editor of Extra Innings Softball. "Ava led her team to a
second straight Class 5 championship, pitching a one-hitter in both
title games, and punching out 15 batters in this year's state
final. She averaged 1.7 strikeouts per inning as a senior and never
lost a high school game against excellent competition in the Lone
Star State. She's a hard-thrower who hits her spots and overpowers
hitters while mixing speeds and displaying pin-point control. Also
a dangerous hitter, she drove in 65 runs and slugged almost .900
this past season, and she elevates her game as the stakes get
higher. She's one of the most productive high school players of the
past two decades."
The state's returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 5-foot-7
senior right-handed pitcher and first baseman led the Lions to a
44-1 record and a second straight Conference 5A state championship
this past season. Brown compiled a 27-0 record in the circle with a
0.53 ERA, firing a one-hitter with 15 strikeouts in Lake Creek's
8-0 win over Canyon High in the state final. Ranked as the nation's
No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball, Brown
struck out 292 batters while walking just 30 in 172 innings. At the
plate, the 2022 MaxPreps First Team All-American batted .462 with
nine home runs, 17 doubles, 65 RBI and a .888 slugging percentage.
She concluded her prep softball career with an 81-0 record and 830
strikeouts in the circle.
Brown has volunteered with her local chapter of the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes and as a youth softball coach.
Brown has maintained a 3.55 in the classroom. She has signed a
national letter of intent to play softball on scholarship at the
University of Florida this fall.
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, Brown 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.
"We are recognizing Ava as the top high school softball player
in the nation because of her dedication to excel as an athlete, a
student and a leader within her community," said Gatorade Portfolio
president and general manager Michael Del
Pozzo. "This award is about more than just on the field
play, and we look forward to seeing what Ava continues to achieve
on and off the field."
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,
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SOURCE The Gatorade Company