CHICAGO (June 6, 2013) — In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Megan Betsa of Union Grove High School as its 2012-13 Gatorade Georgia Softball Player of the Year. Betsa is the first Gatorade Georgia Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Union Grove 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 Betsa as Georgia’s best high school softball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award announced in June, Betsa joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Alicia Hollowell (2000-01, Fairfield HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.), Angela Tincher (2002-03, James River HS, Va.) and Kenzie Fowler (2006-07, Canyon del Oro HS, Ariz.).
The 5-foot-9 senior right-handed pitcher led the Wolverines (32-7-2) to the Class AAAAA state championship this past season. The Class AAAAA Pitcher of the Year, Betsa posted a 30-5 record with a 0.36 ERA in the circle, striking out 463 batters in 235 innings pitched. She also batted .418 with four home runs and 32 RBI. A four-time First Team All-State selection, Betsa finished her prep career fourth in state history in both wins (95) and strikeouts (1,349).
Betsa has maintained a B average in the classroom. A member of her school’s yearbook staff, she has volunteered locally on behalf of youth softball programs.
“Betsa is an outstanding pitcher,” said Robert Townsend, head coach at Whitewater High. “She’s a hard-nosed player and she has very good command of all her pitches.”
Betsa has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball on scholarship at the University of Michigan this fall.
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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, 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.
Betsa joins recent Gatorade Georgia Softball Players of the Year Geri Ann Glasco (2011-12, Oconee County High School), Kelsey Mericka (2010-11, Kell High School), Lori Spingola (2009-10, Marist School), Hope Rush (2008-09, Eagle's Landing Christian Academy), Kelli Wheeler (2007-08, Lassiter), and Alicia Mills (2006 – 07, Sequoyah) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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