Spanish Fork High senior Cy Nielson woke up around 8 a.m. Thursday morning to get ready for his graduation ceremony. Little did he know that he had news of another milestone waiting for him on his phone.
A text message from his coach revealed that Nielson had won the Gatorade Utah Baseball Player of the Year Award.
“I was at a loss for words,” Nielson told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I didn’t think that it would happen but it did and I was super excited.”
Nielson, a left-handed pitcher for the Dons who will play for Brigham Young, became the first baseball player from Spanish Fork to win the award since Kayden Porter won it back-to-back years in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Nielson had a 6-1 record and a 1.91 earned run average in his senior season with the Dons. He also boasted a .400 batting average, drove in 22 runs and hit two home runs. He held opposing batters to a .164 batting average.
Spanish Fork advanced to the quarterfinals of the 4A state championship tournament, but were eliminated by Desert Hills and Dixie in the double-elimination format. Nielson said the award got him “back in the spirit of baseball and how much I love it” after the season ended prematurely for his team.
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