Abington Heights junior pitcher Nick Bradley has been named Gatorade Pennsylvania Baseball Player of the Year, according to a June 3 morning press release.
Gatorade is in its 40th year of honoring the nation’s elite high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
The award recognizes Bradley as the state’s top high school baseball player and adds him to a list of distinguished Gatorade Players of the Year, which includes Gary Sheffield in Florida in 1986 and Clayton Kershaw in Texas in 2006.
The selection was made based on Bradley’s performance heading into the District 2 semifinals.
To that point, Bradley was 9-0 with an 0.39 earned run average in 21 game and had struck out 86 batters while walking just nine in 53 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters were batting just .104 against Bradley.
The nation’s No. 156 prospect in his class, according to Baseball America, Bradley was also batting .478 with an on-base percentage of .506, a slugging percentage of .739 and 30 RBI in 21 games.
Bradley has volunteered locally by cleaning a local cemetery and repairing grave sites. He also has donated time as a youth baseball instructor. He carries a 94.4 weighted average at Abington Heights.
