Bengal News
BRYANT NAMED GATORADE® NEVADA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 2, 2010) — In its 25th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Kris Bryant of Bonanza High School as its 2009-10 Gatorade Nevada Baseball Player of the Year. Bryant is the first Gatorade Nevada Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Bonanza High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Bryant as Nevada’s best high school baseball player.
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award announced in June, Bryant joins an elite alumni association of past state baseball award winners, including Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Roy Halladay (1994-95, Arvada West HS, Colo.), David Price (2003-04, Blackman HS, Tenn.), Chipper Jones (1989-90, Bolles School, Fla.), Derek Lee (1992-93, El Camino HS, Calif.) and John Lester (2001-02, Bellarmine Prep, Wash.).
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior shortstop led the Bengals (19-14) to the Class 4A Sunset Regional semifinals this past season, batting .484 with 22 home runs, 51 RBIs, 48 runs and a 1.312 slugging percentage. The 2010 Southern Nevada Player of the Year and a three-time team MVP, Bryant hit 13 home runs during a 13-game stretch to propel Bonanza into the state playoffs.
Bryant has maintained a weighted 4.78 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally as an elementary-school mentor and as a youth baseball coach.
“I'm not sure which is more impressive—his academic achievements or his athletic accomplishments,” said Bonanza High Head Coach Derek Stafford. “He’s earned such a high GPA throughout high school and has been a force on the field. His home run ratio per at-bat was about four to one, which is something that may never be repeated again in high school baseball.”
Bryant has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of San Diego this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in this month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
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 ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, 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.
Bryant joins recent Gatorade Nevada Baseball Players of the Year Jeff Malm (2008-09 & 2007-08, Bishop Gorman) and Taylor Cole (2006-07, Bishop Gorman) among the state’s list of former award winners.
To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
