Tennessean's Mid-State Player of the Year

Congratulations to Kelsey Cartwright on not only being named the Tennessean’s Mid-State Player of the Year, but also Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Tennessee.  Kelsey joins former Lady Cougars Danielle Pieroni (2003, 2004, 2005), Natalee Weissinger (2006), and Devon Schmidt (2008) in receiving this prestigious honor from the Tennessean.  Kelsey also joins Danielle (2004, 2005) in receiving the statewide Gatorade award honoring the best softball player in the entire state.  Here is the Gatorade press release:

In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE, today announced Kelsey Cartwright of Goodpasture Christian School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Tennessee Softball Player of the Year.  Cartwright is the third Gatorade Tennessee Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Goodpasture Christian 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 Cartwright as Tennessee’s best high school softball player.

Cartwright is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in June.

The 5-foot-8 senior shortstop produced a .480 batting average, 52 runs scored and 36 RBI this season, leading the Lady Cougars (42-5-1) to the Class AA state championship game, where they fell to Unicoi County, 3-1.  A three-time returning Class AA First Team All-State selection as named by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, Cartwright collected 12 home runs, 12 doubles and two triples this spring.  The 2007 and 2008 District 8-AA Most Valuable Player, she compiled a .902 slugging percentage and .561 on-base percentage.  She led Goodpasture to four state championships from 2005-2008.

Cartwright has maintained an A average in the classroom.  She has volunteered at a local nursing home and as part of a community cleanup effort as well as on behalf of her church’s youth group, an elementary school literacy-outreach program and an area food bank.

"The only negative thing about her is the fact that she’s not a freshman," said Goodpasture Head Coach Lee Phillips. "My life would be a whole easier if she were. I’ve never had a hitter that batted nearly .500 for her career. As a power hitter, she only struck out three times in nearly 130 at-bats. She’s just a great player—maybe the best we’ve ever had."

Cartwright has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball on scholarship at Auburn University 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. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE, 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.

Cartwright joins recent Gatorade Tennessee Softball Players of the Year Holly Thomas (2007-08, Ooltewah), Baillie Lott (2006-07, Brentwood), and Tiffany Baker (2005-06, East Ridge) among the state’s list of former award winners.

The Auburn University signee and Goodpasture student since Kindergarten concluded her career with 4 State Championships (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) and a state runner-up (2009), school career records in batting average (.470), doubles (71), Homeruns (44), and RBI’s (191).  She and fellow seniors Megan Bryant and Tiffany Hibbs finished their careers with 216 wins against just 36 losses.  Congratulations to Kelsey on receiving these outstanding honors