Crisp County star Megan Bloodworth named Gatorade Georgia Softball Player of the Year

The Albany Herald, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 18—Gatorade announced Megan Bloodworth of Crisp County High School as its 2020-21 Gatorade Georgia Softball Player of the Year on Friday.

Bloodworth is the first Gatorade Georgia Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Crisp County.

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 Bloodworth as Georgia'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, Bloodworth 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 senior shortstop led the Cougars (28-4-1) to the Class AAA quarterfinals this past season. The Class AAA Player of the Year, Bloodworth batted .621 with 15 home runs, 60 RBIs, 56 runs scored and an OPS of 2.107. A Premier Girls Fastpitch High-School All-American, she is a two-time First Team All-State selection and was ranked as the nation's No. 10 prospect in the Class of 2021 by Extra Inning Softball.

Bloodworth has volunteered locally on behalf of the Beta Club and youth softball programs.

"If there was a better player than Megan Bloodworth in the state of Georgia then I'm really glad we didn't play her," said Kevin Mobley, head coach at Pike County High. "She always makes her presence felt on the field — not just at the plate, where she was fantastic, but also on defense. She was easily the most dominant player that we faced."

Bloodworth has maintained a 4.31 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball on scholarship at the University of Alabama this fall.

Bloodworth joins recent Gatorade Georgia Softball Players of the Year Brooke McCubbin (2019-20, Locust Grove High School), Kelley Lynch (2018-19 & 2017-18, East Coweta High School), and Keara Napoli (2016-17, Cambridge High School), among the state's list of former award winners.

Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Bloodworth has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of their choosing. Bloodworth 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.