There were a lot of worthy candidates this year in softball for the Gatorade National Player of the Year but this morning it was announced that the 2014 winner is…

… pitcher Taylor McQuillin of Mission Viejo (Calif.)

Taylor was surprised at her high school when Gold Medal winner and former Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year Amanda Freed showed up at her school and informed Taylor of the honor.

The junior pitcher committed to Arizona was named the Gatorade California State Player of the Year on June 5 when the honorees from every state was announced.

What likely helped clinch the award for Taylor was her standout performance in her team’s section title game when she gave up a lead-off single and then shut down Chino High without allowing another hit as Mission Viejo won 1-0 in a nine-inning nail-biter.

Here’s a list of several of her accomplishments on and off the field that contributed to her winning the prestigious award today:

• Led Mission Viejo to a 26-1 record and the CIF-Southern Section Division II Tournament championship
• Helped the Diabolos finish No. 1 in the StudentSportsSoftball.com FAB 50 national high school softball team rankings
• Posted a 25-1 record and a 0.69 ERA, with 316 strikeouts in 173.2 innings, and batted.323 with one home run and five doubles
• Fired four no-hitters, including two perfect games, and held opponents to a .120 batting average
• 2014 First Team All-County
• 2014 OC Register Softball Pitcher of the Year
• 2014 MaxPreps National Player of the Year Watch List
• Maintained a 3.97 GPA in the classroom and a member of National Honor Society
• Volunteer at local youth sports camps and Orange County Batbusters
• Literacy Outreach Teaching Assistant at Lake Forest Elementary School
• Verbally committed to play softball on an athletic scholarship at the University of Arizona

On a personal note, I’m happy to say that Taylor has contributed over 20 blogs to StudentSportsSoftball.com on topics ranging from avoiding burnout to handling the pressure of her team being ranked No. 1 all year.

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.

In addition to athletic excellence, the award recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.

This year celebrates the program’s 29^th anniversary. In that time, Gatorade has honored nearly 13,000 State Players of the Year and 260 National Players of the Year, including many of today’s top professional athletes, such as Peyton Manning, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Kerri Walsh, Derek Jeter, and Emmitt Smith. For more information, visit www.gatorade.com/poy.

We’ll have more on Taylor winning the award soon!