CHICAGO – Nikki McGaffin of Fossil Ridge was named the 2021-22 Gatorade Colorado Softball Player of the Year, the organization announced Thursday, June 9. McGaffin is the second Gatorade Colorado Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from Fossil Ridge.
The senior right-handed pitcher led the Sabercats (24-4) to the Class 5A semifinals this past fall. McGaffin posted a 23-3 record with a 1.07 ERA, striking out 280 batters in 170 innings pitched while walking just 32. A two-time Class 5A Player of the Year, she also batted .466 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. She is a National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-Region selection and a three-time First Team All-State honoree.
“McGaffin was dominant in the circle and led the state in strikeouts,” said Gary Mares, head coach at Horizon High. “She was a dangerous hitter, too. She really dominated our league, and the rest of the field, for the past few years.”
McGaffin has volunteered on behalf of youth softball programs and the SHE Rescue Home, a safe haven for girls aged 5 – 16 years of age. She has maintained a 3.55 GPA in the classroom, and has signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball on scholarship at the University of Arkansas this fall.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes McGaffin as Colorado’s best high school softball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced in June, McGaffin joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Cat Osterman (2000-01, Cy Spring High School, Texas), Kelsey Stewart (2009-10, Arkansas City High School, Kan.), Carley Hoover (2012-13, D.W. Daniel High School, S.C.), Jenna Lilley (2012-13, Hoover High School, Ohio), Morgan Zerkle (2012-13, Cabell Midland High School, W. Va.), and Rachel Garcia (2014-15, Highland High School, Calif.).
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
McGaffin joins recent Gatorade Colorado Softball Players of the Year Katie Dack-Howell (2020-21, Rock Canyon High School), Laurin Krings (2019-20 & 2018-19, Loveland High School), and Ali Kilponen (2017-18, Valor Christian High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.