ATLANTA — Kelley Lynch, a 19-year-old Coweta County athlete, has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month for her outstanding sports achievements.
Lynch was named Gatorade National Player of the Year, the first-ever softball player to win the award, and Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year Award.
Lynch attended East Coweta High in Sharpsburg, Ga. and graduated this year. After leading her team to a state championship two years in a row, Softball America ranked Lynch as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019.
Before graduating, Lynch helped her team achieve go 32-2, going 17-0 individually with a 0.27 ERA on the mound.
She also pitched in at the plate, batting .436 with three home runs and 25 RBIs.
Team USA signed Lynch immediately after her high school graduation, and has been helping grow her skills all summer.
Lynch told The United States Olympic Committee, "Getting the opportunity to represent USA on the junior team is the biggest accomplishment of my life so far. It has always been my dream, and I am so blessed to get the opportunity."
“There are almost six million student-athletes who participate in the sports that our 12 nominees play,” Gatorade executive Brett O'Brien said in a release. “Kelley and Bobby won because of their accomplishments both on and off the field, which is what makes Gatorade Athlete of the Year the most prestigious award in high school sports.”
The cover of Sports Illustrated shows Lynch leaning shoulder-to-shoulder with other Gatorade National Player of the Year, Bobby Witt Jr., a baseball player from Tennessee who was one of the top picks in the MLB Draft.
Copies of the Lynch/ Witt Sports Illustrated cover can be purchased for $19.95 online.
Lynch is slated to play softball for the University of Washington, beginning in the fall.
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