Gatorade announced earlier today in the following release that Warwick Vets catcher Steph Morse has been selected as the Gatorade Rhode Island Softball Player of the Year:

In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade Thirst Quencher today announced Steph Morse of Warwick Veterans High School as its 2006-07 Rhode Island Softball Player of the Year.

Gatorade joins with RISE Magazine to name State Softball Player of the Year award winners representing 47 states and the District of Columbia. State winners are selected not only for their outstanding athletic performance, but also for meeting high academic-achievement standards while demonstrating exemplary personal character on and off the field. Morse, along with her fellow State Players of the Year, is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in early-June.

The junior catcher was the anchor of the Hurricanes, who lost in the double-elimination Division I state tournament. Morse hit .485 for Warwick Vets (12-9), which produced a team batting average of .220. Morse contributed nine doubles, six triples, 21 RBI and 22 runs scored, boasting a slugging percentage of .848. Behind the plate, Morse, a 2006 Providence Journal All-State pick as a sophomore, threw out 9-of-15 runners trying to steal.

Morse has maintained a 3.92 GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society, she is also a peer tutor, assisting other Warwick Vets students who are struggling academically.

“With a catcher, you can’t put it all down in statistics,” said Warwick Vets head coach Paul Kennedy. “She’s the reason we won the state championship last year, and she’s a big part of the reason we have a chance this year. She’s the type that doesn’t come around very often.”

Morse will begin her senior year of high school this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in football, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered by RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Morse joins recent Rhode Island Softball Players of the Year Samantha Shawn (2005-06, Westerly HS) and two-time winner Kayleigh Lotti (2004-05 & 2003-04, St. Raphael Academy) on the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.