Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year: Kyle Skipworth

California standout named nation's top high school performer

In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes,
The Gatorade Company, in partnership with RISE Magazine, today
announced senior catcher Kyle Skipworth of Patriot High School
(Riverside, Calif.) as its 2007-08 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.

   Skipworth becomes only the second student-athlete from California ever
to win Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year recognition, joining
former NFL quarterback and Major League Baseball reliever Chad Hutchinson
(1994-95, Torrey Pines HS/San Diego).

   The award, which recognizes not only athletic excellence, but also high
standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on
and off the field, distinguishes Skipworth as the nation's best high school
baseball player. A national advisory board comprised of sportswriters and
sport-specific experts from around the country helped select Skipworth from
the more than 477,000 high school baseball players nationwide. Skipworth is
now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the
Year award, to be presented at a special afternoon ceremony prior to The
ESPY Awards in July.

   The 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior catcher produced a .543 batting average,
51 runs scored, 47 RBI and 13 home runs, leading the Warriors to a 27-3
record and the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section
Division IV state postseason tournament semifinals. A projected first-round
pick in this week's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft,
Skipworth compiled a 1.117 slugging percentage and .627 on-base percentage
this spring. An Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic selection,
the left-handed-hitting Skipworth set a California state record when he put
together a streak of 18 consecutive hits in 18 official at-bats this
spring. He reached safely in 25 straight plate appearances during the span.

   In only his second season as a full-time catcher after playing left
field and third base as an underclassman, Skipworth was rated the No. 1
throwing arm at last summer's 17-and-Under World Wood Bat Association
(WWBA) Championships in Georgia. He gunned down more than 70-percent of
would-be base-stealers in his career.

   A 2007 Area Codes Games participant, Skipworth helped the 2007 USA
Baseball Junior National Team to a bronze medal at the COPABE "AAA" Pan
American Junior Championships in Mexico. During the offseason, the Jurupa
Little League product also played for the Angels Elite Scout Team and the
ABD Bulldogs travel team. In the summer of 2006, Skipworth was a standout
for the gold-medal-winning Team USA squad at the COPABE "AA" (Under-16)
Youth Pan American Championships in Venezuela.

   Skipworth has maintained a 3.81 GPA in the classroom. He donates his
time generously to the Jurupa PONY League Pinto Division as a volunteer
coach, volunteer umpire and youth instructor.

   "He's the whole package," said Head Coach of rival Orange Lutheran High
School Mike Grahovac. "Being a former catcher I can really appreciate
everything that he's been able to accomplish. Kyle's just a tremendous
athlete with a great arm behind the plate. Offensively, he can just
flat-out hit."

   Skipworth has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at
the Arizona State University this fall, but is also projected as a
first-round selection in this week's Major League Baseball First-Year
Player Draft.

   "Without question, Kyle is deserving of recognition as the nation's
best high school baseball player based on his statistics on the field and
the impact his play had on Patriot's success," said Gatorade Senior Vice
President of Sports Marketing Jeff Urban. "But he is also a shining example
to peers and aspiring young players of what a leader and a student-athlete
should be. He represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the
Year recipient."

Source: Gatorade