Spanish Fork High senior Cy Nielson woke up around 8 a.m. Thursday morning to get ready for his graduation ceremony. Little did he know that he had news of another milestone waiting for him on his phone.
A text message from his coach revealed that Nielson had won the Gatorade Utah Baseball Player of the Year Award.
“I was at a loss for words,” Nielson told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I didn’t think that it would happen but it did and I was super excited.”
Nielson, a left-handed pitcher for the Dons who will play for Brigham Young, became the first baseball player from Spanish Fork to win the award since Kayden Porter won it back-to-back years in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Nielson had a 6-1 record and a 1.91 earned run average in his senior season with the Dons. He also boasted a .400 batting average, drove in 22 runs and hit two home runs. He held opposing batters to a .164 batting average.
Spanish Fork advanced to the quarterfinals of the 4A state championship tournament, but were eliminated by Desert Hills and Dixie in the double-elimination format. Nielson said the award got him “back in the spirit of baseball and how much I love it” after the season ended prematurely for his team.
Alex is an expat from Los Angeles who started his journalism career in 2013 after attempting, and failing, to become the next great rock star. He most recently covered local sports in Chico.