Two-way threat Terry named Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year

June 18, 2021 by Seth Polansky, AZPreps365


CHICAGO (June 18, 2021) — In its 36th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Kaitlyn Terry of Greenway High School as its 2020-21 Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year. Terry is the second Gatorade Arizona Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Greenway 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 Terry as Arizona’s best high school softball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in June, Terry joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Cat Osterman (2000-01, Cy Spring High School, Texas), Kelsey Stewart (2009-10, Arkansas City High School, Kan.), Carley Hoover (2012-13, D.W. Daniel High School, S.C.), Jenna Lilley (2012-13, Hoover High School, Ohio), Morgan Zerkle (2012-13, Cabell Midland High School, W. Va.), and Rachel Garcia (2014-15, Highland High School, Calif.).

The 5-foot-6 sophomore left-handed pitcher and infielder compiled an 11-4 record in the circle with a 0.29 earned run average this past season, leading the Demons (16-4) to the Conference 4A state quarterfinals. Terry allowed just 29 hits and 10 walks to go with 237 strikeouts in 97.1 innings pitched. Ranked as the nation’s No. 21 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Inning Softball and named the 2021 Skyline Region Player of the Year, she posted a .639 batting average with nine home runs, 14 doubles, 46 runs scored, 12 stolen bases and a 1.344 slugging percentage.

Terry has volunteered locally as a youth softball coach. “Kaitlyn has a bulldog approach to everything she does in the circle and at the plate,” said Janna Frandrup, head coach of Greenway High. “She makes it all look so effortless and is always striving to be the best player she can be.”

Terry has maintained a 3.38 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her junior year of high school 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 Player of the Year Selection Committee, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Terry joins recent Gatorade Arizona Softball Players of the Year Rylee Holtorf (2019-20, Sandra Day O'Connor High School), Carlie Scupin (2018-19, Tucson High Magnet School), and Marissa Schuld (2017-18 & 2016-17, Pinnacle High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

Through Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Terry has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of their choosing. Terry is also eligible to submit a 30-second video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.

To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $2.7 million across 1,117 organizations. Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.