Sports

Parkview's Olson Named State's Top Player By Gatorade

Junior led Panthers to Class AAAAA state baseball title.

Parkview High School junior Matt Olson, who led the Panthers to the Class AAAAA baseball championship this season, has been named the Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year.

Gatorade, in association with ESPN Rise, announced the award last week.

This is the 26th year Gatorade has handed out the award, which honors players for their on-field and academic accomplishments. Olson is the second Parkview player (Jeff Francoeur, currently with the Kansas City Royals, was the first) to receive the award.

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He is now in the running for Gatorade’s national player of the year award.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound first baseman and right-handed pitcher, batted .460 with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs and a 1.060 slugging percentage, and compiled a 7-2 record with a 2.99 earned run average from the mound. Olson also was a Under Armour All-American selection.

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In the classroom, Olson has a 93.7 average and is a member of Parkview’s Beta Club. He also has been a volunteer with the Special Olympics.

“Matt Olson is a big-time player,” John Poitevint, the head coach of Region 8-AAAAA rival Dacula High School, said in a press release from Gatorade. “He has an explosive bat and can hit the ball out of any park. He’d rather take a walk than chase bad pitches and in my experience, the good hitters are the ones who believe their teammates will pick them up. It’s obvious that Olson has been coached to believe that.”


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