Meigs County High School pitcher Ashley Rogers is the Gatorade Tennessee softball player of the year after leading the Lady Tigers to their second Class A state championship in a row.
The 5-foot-10 right-hander, who has committed to the University of Tennessee but has another year of high school to go, went 33-3 for the 41-3 Lady Tigers in 2017, with a 0.27 earned run average, 441 strikeouts and only 10 walks in 208 innings, a .406 batting average, seven home runs and 45 runs batted in. She was Tennessee's Class A Miss Softball in 2016.
The Gatorade award honors all-around excellence as well as athletic prowess, and Rogers has maintained a 4.0 grade point average at Fairview Christian Academy, which does not field a softball team, and has given volunteer service to her church's summer camp and youth missions. The state honor comes with a $1,000 grant she can designate for a youth sports organization, and she becomes a candidate for national player of the year.