of in Monument has been named the Gatorade Colorado baseball player of the year.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound pitcher was 8-1 with a 1.02 earned run average this spring. Tillotson had 86 strikeouts in 55 innings and led the Rangers to the Class 4A district finals. Also playing in the outfield, Tillotson batted .562 with four home runs and 40 RBIs. He scored 19 runs, walked 16 times, had 19 extra-base hits and had impressive on-base (.678) and slugging percentages (1.058).
Tillotson had a 3.46 grade-point average and donated his time to his school’s Spirit Club and Children’s Hospital Colorado, and is part of food drives serving those displaced by the Waldo Canyon fire.
The University of Nebraska signee is the Rangers’ first baseball player to earn Gatorade honors.
“I’m in my 22nd year coaching varsity baseball, and this kind of kid doesn’t come around very often,” rival Cheyenne Mountain coach Mark Swope said. “He’s one of the most dominant pitchers I’ve seen in a long time, and you don’t want to pitch to him on the offensive side, either, as he’s without question the best hitter in our league.”
Tillotson joins recent Gatorade Colorado baseball players of the year Ryan Madden (2014-15, Fairview), Max George (2013-14, Regis Jesuit), Griffin Jax (2012-13, Cherry Creek), Ryan Warner (2011-12, Pine Creek), Greg Bird (2010–11, Grandview), Marco Gonzales (2009-10, Rocky Mountain), Bryan Peters (2008–09, Rocky Mountain), Andy Burns (2007-08, Rocky Mountain) and Matt Presley (2006-07, Cheyenne Mountain) .
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
