Lakewood Ranch softball player named Gatorade Florida Player of the Year

Lakewood Ranch High senior softball player Avery Goelz has made history. 

Goelz, a first baseman, was named the 2020 Gatorade Florida Player of the Year on Thursday, becoming the program's first player to receive the award. Goelz hit .591 with three home runs, 13 RBIs and a 1.894 OPS in eight games during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season. The award also takes academics into account, and Goelz hold a 4.25 weighted GPA, according to the award press release. 

Goelz, who will play for Florida next season, is the fourth-ranked recruit in the class of 2020 by Extra Inning Softball. In April, the Observer talked with Goelz about her standout season, which also had her named one of MaxPreps' top-100 high school athletes, in all sports, in the 2020 class. 

Goelz is now a candidate for the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year Award, which will be announced in June.  She is the second area athlete to receive Florida's Gatorade award in 2019-2020, with Braden River High junior O'Mariah Gordon winning the Girls Basketball Player of the Year Award in March.