- Indiana
Bremen’s Erin Coffel named Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year for 2019
Kentucky-bound junior shortstop Erin Coffel has been named the Gatorade Indiana Softball Player of the Year, the company announced on Thursday, becoming the first athlete from Bremen High School to win the award.
Coffel was hitting .691 (.760 on-base, 1.543 slugging) with 16 home runs, 47 RBI and 66 runs scored, leading the Lions to a 26-2 record and a regional championship, after helping them to a runner-up finish in 2A last season. She became the IHSAA’s career home run leader earlier this month, and set the state’s single-season HR record last year (22).
“As a position player, Erin Coffel may be the most talented softball player I’ve coached against,” Knox High School head coach Jerry Gurrado was quoted in the press release. “She has a cannon for an arm, tremendous range and great instincts. At the plate, her game is off the charts. She has the best bat speed I’ve ever seen.”
As the state’s recipient of the award from Gatorade, Coffel gets a $1,000 grant that she can award to a local or national youth sports organization, and will be in the running for the national player of the year honors, to be announced next month.
Recent Gatorade Indiana Softball POY winners:
2018 — Ashley Prange, New Palestine
2017 — Alexis Holloway, Crown Point
2016 — Miranda Elish, Crown Point
2015 — Miranda Elish, Crown Point
2014 — Miranda Elish, Crown Point
