CARLSBAD’S NOLAN PERRY NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Nolan Perry of Carlsbad High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade New Mexico Baseball Player of the Year. Perry is the sixth Gatorade New Mexico Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Carlsbad High School.
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 Perry as New Mexico’s best high school baseball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award to be announced in June, Perry joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo High School, Mich.), Jon Lester (2001-02, Bellarmine Preparatory School, Wash.), David Price (2003-04, Blackman High School, Tenn.), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas), Rick Porcello (2006-07, Seaton Hall Preparatory School, N.J.) and Kris Bryant (2009-10, Bonanza High School, Nev.).
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior shortstop and right-handed pitcher posted a .436 batting average with 8 home runs, 37 runs scored and 34 RBI this past season, leading the Cavemen to a 27-4 record and Class 5A state championship. The state’s No. 1 prospect as rated by Perfect Game, Perry also drew 11 walks to go with a .523 OBP and .745 slugging percentage for an OPS of 1.268 in addition to 10 steals in 11 attempts. He compiled a 10-1 record on the mound with a 0.42 ERA and a WHIP of 0.50 along with 115 strikeouts against just nine walks, surrendering only 24 hits in 66 innings.
Perry is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Carlsbad, NM, and is active in the church’s youth group and ministry. He has also volunteered locally with the Shorthorn Little League and the Cavemen Baseball Summer Kids Camp, where he coaches young players while teaching the fundamentals of the game. “Nolan is as good as they come on and off the field,” said Carlsbad High School head coach Cody May. “He is soft-spoken and always says yes sir and yes mam. He leads by example every single day. He is great in the classroom and stays level-headed at all times.”
Perry has maintained a 3.04 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at Texas Tech this fall.
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.
Perry joins recent Gatorade New Mexico Baseball Players of the Year Matthew Cornelius (2020-21, St. Pius X High School), Noah Brewer (2019-20, Rio Rancho High School), Hayden Walker (2018-19, St. Pius X High School), and Chase Silseth (2017-18, Piedra Vista High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Perry has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. Perry is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.
