FULLERTON, Calif. – Incoming freshman Taylor Dockins from Norco High School was announced as the 2016-17 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year on Wednesday.
The Gatorade Company is in its 32nd year recognizing the nation's finest high school athletes and the Gatorade Player of the Year program yearly recognizes one winner in each state and the District of Columbia in 12 different sports and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. As the National Player of the Year, Dockins is also given the opportunity to give $1,000 grant to a youth sports organization of her choice and is eligible to win a $10,000 featured grant for her organization.
Dockins was selected from a national advisory panel of sport-specific experts and journalists from a pool of 360,000 high school softball players from across the nation. Dockins now is also a finalist for the Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, which will be presented in July.
In the circle, the right-handed pitcher led the Norco Cougars to a 31-1 overall record this year and a Southern Section Division I title, recording a 1.00 ERA and throwing 183 strikeouts in 203 innings. At the dish, Dockings had a .454 batting average with 30 runs scored, 27 RBI, and a .649 slugging percentage. She broke the Southern California record for career wins with 108 victories.
Dockins signed a letter of intent in November to play on the Cal State Fullerton softball team this upcoming fall along with Jody Cova, Hannah Johnson and Samantha Kennedy.
-- Courtesy of Gatorade and Cal State Fullerton Athletics
