CHICAGO — In its 40^th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Connor Larkin of Cherry Creek High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Colorado Baseball Player of the Year.  
 
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Larkin as Colorado's best high school baseball player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Gary Sheffield (1985-86, Hillsborough High School, Florida), Clayton Kershaw (2005-06, Highland Park High School, Texas) and Konnor Griffin (2023-24, Jackson Preparatory School, Mississippi). 
 
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior first baseman, outfielder and left-handed pitcher led the Bruins (23-5-1) to the 5A state tournament title. Larkin batted .457 with 11 home runs, 37 RBIs and 28 runs. He was also 2-0 on the mound with a 2.41 earned run average with 31 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings pitched. 
 
Larkin has volunteered locally with Boys Team Charity, a volunteer organization dedicated to developing an altruistic spirit in young men through active participation of parents and sons in philanthropic projects in their communities. He has also donated his time as an assistant coach of the Creek Bruins Black U9 baseball team in Centennial. “Larkin has come up huge in big games and big moments,” said Scott Henry, head coach at Grandview High School. “He's the biggest offensive threat we faced all year.” 
 
Larkin has maintained a 3.46 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play baseball at the University of Oklahoma this fall. 
 
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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. 
 
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations. 
 
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.